Influencer marketing agency, TAKUMI, announces the launch of the Influencer Marketing Trade Body (IMTB), a not-for-profit professional membership organisation dedicated to building a robust and sustainable future for the influencer marketing industry.

Led by Influencer Marketing professional Scott Guthrie, TAKUMI is one of the six founding member organisations alongside leading marketing and media agencies including Ogilvy, Tagger, INCA, The Fifth and Whalar, with a senior member from each organisation sitting on the IMTB Board of Management. IMTB’s Board of Management will collaboratively manage the newly formed trade body. The board will act in the interest of the institution’s members, the industry and society.

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The IMTB is designed to celebrate professionalism within the industry, improving business decisions whilst respecting consumers and creators. It is committed to enhancing influencer marketing by protecting and improving its reputation, pioneering progressive ideas, increasing transparency and supporting profitability.

The IMTB promotes industry collaboration, with new influencer marketing agencies or influencer marketing platforms encouraged to join as a corporate member. The trade body will speak as a unified voice, earning a place as a trusted source of research, guidance and education to the benefit of the industry.

The IMTB has already:

• Advised on an inquiry by The Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport into Influencer Culture.
• Provided industry insight as part of the review process of ISBA’s Influencer Marketing Code.
• Developed its own Code of Conduct.

Jim Meadows, Chief Strategy Officer of TAKUMI says: “TAKUMI is honoured to be a founding member of the Influencer Marketing Trade Body. As the influencer marketing sector grows and marketers increasingly allocate more budget to creator-led content, it’s integral that industry professionals are held to account to uphold the highest standards of practice by an independent board.

“TAKUMI maintains the importance of fair and rigorous regulation through the use of the latest technological developments in the industry and our 11-step vetting process to protect consumers, brands and creators. We believe that the inauguration of the IMTB will help to protect and enhance industry professionalism and create a sustainable future for influencer marketing.”

Scott Guthrie, founder of IMTB says: “The influencer marketing industry is growing at speed. Market size has increased 30-fold since 2015. Its contribution to total global advertising spend has near-doubled in the past two years. As a channel we’ve shifted from the peripheries towards the centre of multi-channel marketing campaigns. Now is the time to professionalise our industry through better accountability, better governance, a unified voice and through the promotion of best practices. The Influencer Marketing Trade Body is dedicated to helping the influencer marketing industry realise its full potential”.

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