As COVID-19 restrictions shut down shoots advertising around the world, the creativity and value in influencer content has soared.
To recognise the outstanding work of creators, Vamp are awarding 10 creators in their global community, who have shown ingenuity and originality throughout the pandemic, with individual awards. Each will receive a voucher so they can invest in taking their creativity even further.
“All too often influencers’ abilities are underestimated and their skills are overlooked.” said Vamp’s Co-Founder Aaron Brooks. “We’re in awe of the creativity and resilience our community has shown this year and wanted to showcase their work and celebrate them as the sophisticated marketers they truly are.”
While big crew and budget shoots were cancelled, creators have filled the gaps, wowing us with their innovation. With our community’s help, Vamp have completed more than 613 campaigns in lockdown, delivering value for our clients when they needed it most. We’re delighted to recognise their achievements.
And the winners are…
Australia
@monicadong wins The Creative Experiment Award. For turning her lockdown into an experiment by challenging her creativity through video.
“I am completely overjoyed to be awarded this. Lockdown has been hard. I lost a lot of work and in the beginning it was difficult to stay motivated. It is huge to know my efforts are being recognised!
Being in lockdown has forced me to be versatile. I established a routine and spent my time improving and learning more about video making.
Editing takes up a lot of work and time so the most important thing, I believe, is having the passion for it. To other creators I’d say you don’t have to spend all your money on camera accessories, work with what you have. I wanted a 360 degrees shot, so I just went into the kitchen and used a lazy Susan!”
@connieandluna wins The Creative Pivot Award. Travel creator turned house-bound creator. Connie was able to adapt to this new way of life, without it hindering her creativity.
“I’m in Melbourne so we’ve been in lockdown for the majority of the past seven months. It’s definitely been quite a challenge, especially for those who create content in industries that are currently restricted. I usually spend half the year creating travel content, this year it’s mainly been home-based content.
This award win is such lovely news. I hope to create content people can be inspired by during these times, and to share ideas and content that is relevant. Thinking about what my audience might be interested in reading and seeing during these times inspires my work.”
Europe
@_mymycracra wins The Creative Growth Award. For using lockdown to work on his content quality and creativity levels, making 2020 his growth year.
“This award means a lot to me. During lockdown I thought about what I want to post and decided to be more genderless, because that’s a fight i’m passionate about. I’m blessed Huawei let me express that in our collaboration. I’m getting older and felt like my Instagram had to change, and lockdown has made that happen.
To create my content, I bought sheets in different colours for backgrounds. I love sheets, they give a sensation of volume. For ideas I used Pinterest a lot and found accounts on Instagram that give me chills. That’s what I love about social media, to be able to discover creativity from all around the world.”
@glindaizabel wins The Creative use of Photoshop Award. For turning a backyard shot into a magical work of art, thanks to her amazing Photoshop skills.
“Italy was the first country in Europe to enter lockdown, so it’s been a hard time. I was completely unaware that the last time I left my home to shoot content was going to be my last day of ‘freedom’ for a while. But looking back, I can say my creativity helped me cope with the emotional stress that came along with the situation.
Winning this award feels like a dream! I see it as a sign that giving up on my goals isn’t an option, even when it feels like nothing is going to plan.
Working with Vamp also gave me the motivation to grow as an artist. I always aim to learn new techniques to push my Photoshop skills and I never let fear stop me from doing the things that’ll help me achieve my goals.”
@nando_kuschel wins The Innovation Award. For thinking outside the box and painting a miniature toy van to match his own and recreating outdoor scenes at home in Germany.
“I am speechless! This award is truely an honour, especially when there are so many creatives in the community – winning this award makes me really proud of myself.
As a travel creator, lockdown had a huge impact on my work. I lost out on many jobs which made it harder for me to focus on my creativity. So I decided to use this time to experiment with new techniques and learn new skills.
I’ve seen the idea of shooting with a miniature van in a diorama before, and wanted to create one myself for Vamp’s campaign with Huawei, since I was unable to physically travel. I painted the toy van to match my real one, and use anything I could find to create the dioramas. It took a while to make things work, but after some persistence I found the results I was looking for.”
Middle East
@yasminyousri_ wins The Authenticity Award. For staying true to herself and using personal life experiences to make her content even more authentic.
“I am speechless about this award! Hard work really does pay off. I try my best to be innovative while remaining authentic. I believe I have a responsibility to share genuine and relatable content with my followers. They’re actually the ones who push me to create authentic content.
Knowing that my audience will pick up on any inauthenticity, I stick to my roots and remember why I started in the first place – especially when collaborating with brands.”
Singapore
@lecinlurvee wins The Triple-Threat Award. For being able to write, produce and host her own half-an-hour Live stream for Shopee, blowing us away with her dedication and creativity.
“I’m so grateful that Vamp has recognised my efforts to create fun and engaging content. Hosting lives can be very nerve-wrecking so being prepared with a script and encouraging engagement from your audience helps.
I certainly wasn’t prepared for lockdown, but getting into the right mindset to embrace these changes helped me to adapt.”
@ardaisy_ wins The Newbie Videographer Award. For using this time at home to strengthen her creativity in other content formats like video, while still impressing the client.
“Lockdown certainly took a toll on my mental health, which affected my creativity. Now that work is picking up again, I’ve expanded my skills to include video content. To do this, I focused on achieving the same end results when styling my flatlays: Making the products look good by paying attention to my set theme, complementary colours and the rule of thirds.
I’ve never won anything before, so winning this award is a lovely surprise! It’s also really encouraging to stay motivated and creative. ”
Indonesia
@meizalrossi wins The Creative Animation Award. For combining two of his talents to create show-stopping animations that take his content to the next level.
“Winning this award was such a pleasant surprise as it’s an appreciation for my work. It’s also given me the motivation to continue creating innovative content by experimenting with video and animation.
I’ve learn that to become more innovative, you must first know your strengths and learn how to optimise them. It’s crazy what new ideas will pop into your head – like mixing media. I also suggest playing around with different forms of content to avoid getting complacent. Complacency isn’t going to make you stand out amongst the wider creator community.”
Japan
@fuka_09 wins The Versatility Award. For getting out of her comfort zone and showing us just how versatile she can be with her content creation.
“It’s an honour to receive this award and has actually boosted my confidence, especially since lockdown challenged me to switch up my strengths from travel photography to flatly photography.
It was frustrating that I couldn’t travel around Japan to shoot my content, but I thought being in lockdown was the perfect opportunity to practice new photography techniques and skills. It’s important to take on campaigns and shoots with a broader perspective on photography. We need to challenge ourselves in order to grow as content creators.”
