Repositioning KOCs: Consumers and Trust – An Effective Strategy for Brands

Once seen as a symbol of authenticity and a way to build lasting trust with customers, Vietnam’s KOC market is now going through an “inflation” crisis. The number of KOCs has skyrocketed, but quality has declined sharply. Reviewing products they have never used, over-the-top promotion, and misleading information are becoming common, leaving consumers increasingly disappointed and eroding their faith in the authenticity that KOCs were once known for. This reality poses a serious challenge for businesses looking to make effective use of KOCs and influencers in the near future.

The KOC Craze: Exploring the Powerful Pull of Authenticity

Over the past two years, the influencer marketing landscape in Vietnam has gone through a dramatic revolution. Whereas brands used to prioritize partnerships with famous artists and KOLs, a new “star” has now stepped onto the stage: the KOC.

The concept of the KOC, short for Key Opinion Consumer, began to take shape and spread quickly from around 2019-2020, fueled by the review craze on social media. Alongside the rise of KOCs came the strong growth of the affiliate model, which allows any user to become a KOC and earn attractive income. Unlike KOLs, KOCs do not need millions of followers. From standout faces like Hà Linh and Kiên Review to lesser-known TikTokers with just a few thousand followers, anyone can become a “star”.

The ease of entering the KOC field and the attractive income have drawn many young people to set up review channels on social media. This has led to a sudden surge in the number of KOCs in Vietnam in recent times.

KOC: A Magnet That Draws Consumers Through Standout Authenticity

The strong appeal of KOCs comes from their “authenticity”. KOCs are real consumers who share opinions and reviews based on their own experience with a product, delivering the most genuine and approachable information. In a landscape flooded with ads from celebrities and KOLs, their authenticity has become a solid anchor for consumer trust.

KOCs who speak frankly and dare to call out poor-quality products are usually highly rated and trusted by consumers. Hà Linh, with her honesty and decisiveness, is a prime example of this power.

KOC: The New “Stars” Reshaping Consumer Shopping Habits

In just the past two years, the explosion of KOCs has sparked a revolution in the shopping habits of Vietnamese consumers. In the past, consumers had to rely on many different sources of information, from newspapers to celebrity posts, to make a purchasing decision. Today, they can access product information directly and authentically through KOC reviews.

KOCs are not only a valuable source of information but also play an important role in driving purchasing behavior. By attaching affiliate links in their reviews, they make it easy for viewers to jump straight to a purchase page while watching the content. Their rise has noticeably changed the shopping journey of Vietnamese consumers.

Growing trust in KOCs has made brands increasingly dependent on them. This is clearly reflected in the boom of livestream sessions and advertising campaigns in partnership with them, with collaboration values reaching tens of billions of VND over the past year. Brands are constantly looking for ways to partner with popular KOCs and squeeze into their livestream sessions to quickly boost sales.

The KOC Boom: Consumers Are Re-Evaluating the Credibility of Product Reviews

In the first half of 2024, consumers began to view KOCs with growing suspicion after a series of shocking incidents. Most notably, a price list for luxury food reviews by many KOCs leaked on social media, revealing fees of tens of millions of VND for people with no experience in the culinary field. This led consumers to wonder whether their reviews can remain authentic when they are taking such huge sums of money.

On top of that, quite a few KOCs are now abusing the concept of a “review” without actually trying the product. They post review videos every single day, even though feeling the effects of a product, especially skincare items, usually takes one to three months. The flood of review videos has made consumers doubt whether they truly use the products or simply give hasty reviews to collect advertising fees.

On social media platforms, consumers increasingly complain after trusting their reviews and receiving products that fall short of expectations. Many prominent KOCs have been criticized for inaccurate reviews that lack real-world experience. These incidents are raising concerns that trust in their authenticity is being seriously shaken.

Meanwhile, the number of KOCs in Vietnam is exploding at a rapid pace, yet the quality of reviews has not improved significantly. At this rate, consumers may soon feel overwhelmed by information and gradually lose trust in them, just as happened with traditional advertising in the past.

A Strategy for Tapping KOC “Authenticity”: What Should Brands Do?

The uncontrolled growth of KOCs not only erodes consumer trust but also brings major risks for brands. Many brands have struggled and spent hundreds of millions of VND on bookings, only to see results fall short of expectations because the content they produced was too commercial, lacked authenticity, and was not persuasive enough. Some brands have even faced criticism for making exaggerated claims about their products.

To make effective use of KOC “authenticity” and avoid these risks, brands should keep a few important lessons in mind:

Brand Building or Boosting Sales? Define Your Goal Before Using KOCs

Many people assume that having a KOC create a review video and add an affiliate link will both raise brand awareness and drive sales. In practice, however, this strategy often fails to deliver optimal results.

Brands typically have two main goals when working with KOCs: increasing brand awareness (Branding) or driving sales (Push sale). For a Branding goal, authenticity is the key to a successful campaign. To achieve it, brands need to invest in in-depth review content and use multiple videos so consumers can clearly see the product experience unfold. Skillfully combining positive and negative feedback also strengthens authenticity.

For a Push sale goal, brands and KOCs should focus on highlighting the product’s strengths. Review videos can be paired with affiliate links, offer exclusive deals to viewers, and be backed by livestream sessions to drive sales effectively.

Set Higher Standards When Choosing Quality KOCs

A common mistake brands make when partnering with KOCs is focusing only on surface-level numbers such as follower counts and engagement, while overlooking the factors that actually drive sales, such as the KOC’s quality and fit with the product.

Some cases show that a KOC’s fame does not necessarily guarantee strong sales. For example, a collaboration between Phạm Thoại and a brand with a budget of up to 220 million VND brought in sales of just over 20 million VND, because the product and the promotion strategy were a poor match. Conversely, people with a modest following but excellent content quality, solid expertise, and a good fit with the product category can generate impressive sales.

To choose the right KOC and get the best results, brands should consider the following factors:

• Is the KOC’s field related to the product? How good is their content?
• Does the KOC have deep knowledge of the industry?
• Do the KOC’s style and values match the brand’s culture?
• Is the engagement on their videos, and the way users engage, genuinely sincere, or are there signs of seeding abuse?
• What are the KOC’s actual sales results with other brands in the same industry?

Ensure Content Quality: Guide Skillfully Without Over-Interfering

One of the factors that undermines KOC authenticity is brands controlling and restricting content too heavily. Instead of encouraging creativity and real experience, many brands require KOCs to praise the product excessively while hiding every flaw. This makes reviews feel inauthentic and unconvincing.

In addition, brands need to keep an eye on KOCs’ abuse of seeding. Some KOCs use seeding tools excessively to generate lots of fake comments, which discerning consumers can easily spot. Keeping content authentic is the key to building lasting trust with customers.

The KOC’s Perspective: What to Know to Create Authentic Reviews

Given today’s KOC inflation, you need a clear strategy to protect your personal credibility. First, it is important to be selective about which products you review. Avoid promoting or accepting too many reviews in a short period, as this can reduce the authenticity and quality of your content.

In addition, KOCs should build in-depth knowledge of the field they are reviewing. Review content grounded in understanding and expertise helps them maintain credibility and the trust of both consumers and brands. Investing in knowledge and content quality is the most effective way to preserve an authentic and trustworthy image.

Conclusion

In short, the “KOC inflation” phenomenon will have a considerable impact on the influence of this group of influencers and on how brands work with them. Most importantly, brands need to recognize that the strength of KOCs is their authenticity. To get the most out of this strength, KOC content must stay honest, not be overly controlled, and skillfully balance praise with criticism. Only then will authenticity truly shine and deliver lasting value for both brands and KOCs.

>> See more: Influencer Marketing Guide: Everything You Need to Know

 

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By Khánh Huyền

Source: Marketing AI