• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, March 8, 2011

Speaking at the 4A's Transformation event, Coltrane Curtis, managing partner of influencer/youth-targeted entertainment marketing company Team Epiphany, and ex-VJ of MTV, says one needs to figure out how the strength and direction of influencers and covert that into big brand results.

"How do you engage influencers? You have to talk about the flow of information," says Coltrane, who's clients include Nike, Pepsi, Diageo, Gillette, Range Rover, among others. Good news, he says, influencers "are people who are bursting with the seams of information."

But that isn't all. "Do we need celebrities?", he asks. "Yes, we need them to validate the interest of influencers."

Coltrane says Chris Julian, a second-half clothing owner in Las Vegas, is just this kind of influencer. That's why celebrity like singer Kanye West, goes to the store to buy clothes there.

Influencers are important he says because "they aren't given to pie in the sky stuff; they are given to actionable stuff."