Matthew Pike

Influencer, Blogger, Content Creator

In a social media world where there are quite literally thousands of influencers making a living from using their looks, tastes and followings, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the ones that firstly are actually effective and have genuine talent, but also ones that are aligned with your brand aesthetics and philosophy. We came across Matthew Pike a while ago and have enjoyed following his travels and watching him teach us, literally, about some of the amazing fashion brands, stores and more importantly beers that exist in our rapidly consuming world. In any case, its always about being inspired isn't it?

- We've enjoyed following the blog and your presence on social platforms for sometime now, how do you go about choosing the brands you partner up with?

"That’s kind of you to say so. Each social platform is different, and I do tailor them, somewhat, to what I feel is right for each. Well, I’ve always been obsessed with design and the people behind the design, but also colour, use of typography etc but also brands with an engaging or unique story."

- We see you working a lot with British brands, is that a conscious effort on your behalf or are you simply seeing more unique homegrown brands coming out nowadays?

"It’s a conscious effort on my part, for sure. But I wouldn’t necessarily stick to the homegrown brands if I didn’t believe in them. I’ll go where the quality and intrigue is. Supporting the local economy is important but buying into products that last and are of the highest quality is the main aim for me, regardless of the country of origin. Out of interest, a couple of my favourite British brands are AJOTO, Instrmnt, Universal Works + Dan Marc - you can see there’s been a shift away from stuffy traditional British brands so a more forward thinking mindset."



- You clearly have an interest in the finer things in life, with an intuitive eye for design, clothing and art. When did this start and when did you decide you could make a career out of it?

"That’s a very good question. I’ve always been interested in design but it wasn’t something I gave a second thought until I started getting into clothing and expressing myself as a 14/15 year-old teen. Paul Smith as a brand and as a person played a massive role, with his eye for colour and a general inspirational thinker. It wasn’t until I was in my 20s until I started getting serious about what products I buy and people I invest time into."

- Where do you see the future going in terms of influencer marketing - will we be using the same platforms that we see today or will there be a move away from the oligopoly of today's market of Instagram, Facebook etc ?

"I think it would be slightly naive to say things will stay the same; the online world moves so fast, things come and go faster than we can even believe. There’s always a tipping point, but certain elements stand the test of time. Instagram has been very smart in capitalising on strong elements from various platforms, and basically ran them into the ground. IG is visual, and it’s easy (and lazy, but not in a bad way) for us to consume photos. It just makes sense. But marketing companies have to be careful, as we’re seeing a lot of complacency in how they target their campaigns - chucking money at “influencers” who aren’t they right market. I imagine we’ll start to see smaller agencies knocking things out there park with more “out the box” and intelligent ideas."



You can follow Matt on his Instagram here

or on his Buckets and Spades blog here



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