Razorfish Doubles Down on Social Capabilities with In-House Creator Capabilities

Razorfish has announced the launch of​ ​the Razorfish Creator Colab, which it dubbed in a press release “a select team of in-house social strategists developing made-for-platform content”. These creators specialise in identifying cultural moments and tapping into them to create experiences that consumers care about. 

The offering has five essential elements. They’ll be spotting trends on social to turn brands themselves into trendsetters; working to hone authentic social personas and voices for brands; creating experiences tailored to specific social platforms; optimising content for success by analysing and responding to engagement and performance data; and driving efficiency by pulling together cross-disciplinary experts to create a one-top-shop for social strategy and creative.

In terms of skilling up for the new department, Cristina Lawrence, EVP of consumer and content experience at Razorfish, says they were able to train up digitally native candidates and staff who were already excelling in social roles. “Creating content is self-expression for them. So, it was natural that the best candidates for the social brand work we do for clients would also have experience creating content for social and knowing what works, what’s trending, what resonates, and what’s top of mind within the cultural zeitgeist. It's an extension of their digital lives and who they are.

“Agencies like our own have always worked with creators outside our walls,” Cristina continues. “But if we already have that talent in-house, why aren’t we tapping into it as well? By leveraging our own talent base of creators, we are now able to bring our clients creator content at the speed of culture. It allows us to have the sharpest minds with seats at the table to craft those influencer and creator strategies in real time.”

The Razorfish Creator Colab is an offering for current clients but can work for any brand looking to leverage the power of creator voices to enhance its social strategy and connect with new audiences. It makes up just a piece of Razorfish’s overarching approach to social and is not meant as a replacement to working with outside creators and influencers, but a starting point for enhancing speed and efficiency.  “The Razorfish Creator Colab complements a brand’s overall social media approach,” says Cristina. “Our creators specialise in identifying impactful cultural moments, and maximising those opportunities in relevant, meaningful, and authentic ways.”

An example of the Razorfish Creator Colab in practice was a recent project with Trojan condoms. The goal was clear: make condoms cool again and get young people to put safety first – starting with Trojan. But how could this iconic brand quickly become relevant with gen z and millennials? As an emerging platform with a massive and growing audience, TikTok was the natural home for the brand's big push.

 Razorfish leaned into authentic creator-led community engagement while navigating the difficulties around maintaining brand guidelines and adhering to regulatory requirements while talking about sex. They got busy making TikToks - not ads - and infusing Trojan into relevant conversations about sex, relationships and pop culture. 

Trojan is now the number one sexual health brand on TikTok, garnering over 100 million views since launch without any media spend, and in just over a year, the page was followed by 600,000 more people. The brand's latest product, Bareskin Raw, launched organically on TikTok and sold out on Amazon within two hours. What's more, the TikTok product launch led to a 165% increase in organic web traffic compared to results from other brand launches. 

In some of Razorfish’s upcoming research on generation alpha, the agency is seeing that this younger cohort admires content creators more than celebrities and traditional athletes. It shows the increasing influence that creators have on feelings, perceptions and purchasing decisions. 

“But this isn’t just about younger generations like alphas or gen z,” says Cristina. “Creators are influencing and providing value to consumers across generational cohorts in authentic ways. This offering prioritises that and is inclusive to all audiences. For brands hoping to stay relevant as today’s consumers change and as social platforms evolve, they need to be at the forefront of what’s happening, when it’s happening. This offering gives brands that ability.”

The Razorfish Creator Colab is part of Razorfish’s Consumer and Content Experience practice, which is on something of a roll, having created nearly 400,000 assets in 2023, leading to 150 million engagements and over a billion content views. With the creators now in-house, they’ll be hoping to surpass that in 2024.