As I have written in the December blog, I had a chance to write a message to Blackpink’s Jennie through the gifting requested by her stylist team. Since then I have been involved in various influencer/celebrity gifting processes.
At Fruity Booty the process of gifting is
- The marketing manager (or me, when finding someone new) gathers people to gift, inputs them onto a spreadsheet
- Contact them through Instagram or email, asking them if they would like any piece to be gifted
- I would then organise the delivery for them, if the order is international, I pack them myself. When gifting to a close friend of the brand or a celebrity, I write them messages.
- Post them
- When delivered, the influencer (hopefully) posts our product onto their page
Most of the celebrity giftings or magazine styles are requested through the PR agency, and the marketing manager handles the influencers.
↓ An example of the request email from the PR agency
People may have a negative opinion towards influencers – some may assume that “they get free gifts just because they’re pretty.” “they’re not working hard, they don’t understand anything about having actual jobs” – which I believe is a completely normal opinion to have! To be honest, I used to think like that a little too. However, since I started getting involved in the gifting process, I’ve learnt their effective impact. Once we gifted to an Australian influencer who shared our pieces on her Instagram, she got over 2000 clicks to our account, and we could see an increase in the Australian sales for that week. Although it feels disappointing when the influencers do not post anything after receiving our gifts (actually only around half of them posts — this could be because of: the pieces not fitting them, the pieces were not what they imagined, since they’re underwear it’s difficult to post, etc), but it is satisfying to see a gifting that works effectively.
↑ Upton, B. (2025) ‘another sweet summer came and went’ [Instagram]. 11 March. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/DHDLMQ0y1a8/?img_index=1 (Accessed 11 March 2025).
I’ve been helping with the gifting process in various ways, which makes me feel that my role is valued. For example, to expand our customers geographically, especially into Asia, I’ve been looking into Asian influencers and models to send a gift. When choosing them I consider if they align with our brand image, their content and following, their past PRs, etc. Also, it’s very important to consider if they are willing to post themselves in lingeries — we could gift them clothings, however, since we are an underwear brand we would like to gift them lingeries! We do not want to pressure them if they do not feel comfortable — which opposes the brand bible — thus we try and choose people who are comfortable and confident.
There was a Japanese model I had always adored, and I got to send her a gift with my message included in Japanese! Like Jennie, it felt fascinating to have the opportunity to connect with someone you’ve been admiring.
↑ I was delighted to know that they liked the people I’ve accumulated. Compared to when I first selected a few people to send gifts to, I feel I have a better understanding of who (what kind of person they are, their content, their style, etc) the brand is willing to gift. This made me realise that I now deeply understand the brand concept and image — I properly feel that I am part of the Fruity Booty team.
Gifting to influencers is a significant marketing strategy recently. It was interesting to learn how the brand selects who to gift, how they get into contact, and seeing their power.
For Jennie, it felt even more special and surreal as I have been following her since I was 13 — I still remember when and where I was when I first listened to a Blackpink song. When I started the placement, I never thought I would have an opportunity to write a message to Jennie and organise the gift for her. This made me realise that I might be taking a step closer to my dream?
Also, I never thought my Korean skill that I gained through years of following Korean culture and Duolingo could actually be utilised!
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