Sesamy joins Myty: "The focus is shifting to collaborations where talents offer real added value"

Sesamy is represented internationally with offices in Berlin, Munich, Vienna and Paris. The agency was founded in 2019 by Samantha Bergmann in Berlin and sees itself as a "matchmaker" between talents and brands. The focus is on brand communication that integrates talents creatively and authentically and achieves maximum impact through individual storytelling.

With Sesamy, Myty is strengthening its expertise in social media and influencer marketing. Sesamy will also be developed into a leading player in the talent and influencer industry. As part of Myty, the agency will gain access to a broad network and additional resources to better serve clients, tap into new markets and establish additional locations.

m&kSamantha Bermann, you founded Sesamy in 2019. What motivated you to do so?

Samantha Bergmann: My passion lies in creating something new. Before Sesamy, I founded several companies, including an agency with girlfriends and a skincare brand for men. I also set up and ran the office of a successful influencer agency in New York. I originally wanted to pursue a career in fashion and assisted Sara Moonves, now editor-in-chief of the W Magazine, with the US Vogue. There I learned not only about perseverance, but also about dealing with talent. These experiences showed me how much energy I get from working with creative people. At the same time, I realized that my future didn't lie in publishing - the digital world seemed more exciting to me in the long term.

This is how you got into influencer marketing.

With Sesamy, I wanted to fill a gap in the German market by combining talent management and social media marketing. Initially, we focused on talent management, which was a real gap in the German market. Demand from brands grew steadily as we became real experts through our work with talent and thousands of campaigns. Two years ago, we then took the plunge and launched the social media agency within Sesamy. Shortly afterwards, we were able to win well-known clients such as Adidas, Pandora and Fielmann.

Sesamy is already represented in four major European cities. How have you managed this rapid international growth in just five years?

The secret of our success lies in starting with the talent agency first and then expanding our offering to the brands. Talent management allows us to learn quickly in local markets and understand what works there, which talents are relevant and why. We have run thousands of campaigns with talent in our management and work with almost every brand that is active in influencer marketing. As a result, we understand the respective markets very quickly.

What differences do you see in the various markets?

Our headquarters are located in Berlin, where strategists, social media specialists and creatives work. In the individual hubs, we have local experts who know the market inside out, build relationships with local talents and know what makes consumers, talents and followers tick locally. In Switzerland, for example, language distribution is very fragmented. If a talent mainly speaks French on their social media channels, the country distribution in the Insights often shows France, even though the talent lives in Switzerland. However, this does not mean that it does not make sense to book the talent for the Swiss market. We analyze such insights carefully to develop the best strategies for each market.

Your agency sees itself as a "matchmaker between talents and brands". What does this process look like in concrete terms?

We have decided to combine talent management and brand management under one brand instead of splitting them up. This allows us to promote regular exchanges between our two teams of experts. For us, the talents are an extension of the team - we actively involve them in ideas and campaign concepts. We often ask them for their opinion on our ideas. They usually know better - after all, they have millions of followers and a huge community.

What makes Sesamy different from other agencies in this field?

Good matchmakers are good listeners. We listen to our clients, interpret their experiences and define the goals of the campaign. At the same time, we listen to the talents, discuss their positioning and content ideas to find the perfect match. Our approach combines experience, data analysis and active listening. We scour our extensive network on a daily basis and evaluate talent not only based on numbers, but also on our extensive experience. This methodical approach ensures that we enter into targeted and effective collaborations rather than relying on gut instinct or simple search tools.

The influencer marketing industry is developing rapidly. What trends do you see for the coming years?

The focus is increasingly shifting towards talent-oriented collaborations in which talents offer real added value for their community. It's no longer enough to just be pretty or film hauls - talents have to offer the community something valuable, inspire and have a personal touch.

How is Sesamy positioning itself to play an active role in shaping these developments?

The focus is on building and maintaining sustainable communities. Be it via Instagram broadcast channels, Substack, podcasts or Snapchat. The sheer number of followers is less important than the quality of the interactions. Transparency, especially when dealing with AI, is becoming increasingly relevant. Sesamy relies on authentic stories and innovative approaches to meet these trends. It is important to us that our talents build and expand their community by offering real added value and maintaining sustainable relationships with their followers.

The merger with the Myty Group is an important strategic step. What were the key factors behind this decision?

Myty is an accelerator that shares our vision and invests in us as founders and visionaries. I have David Rost [CEO of the Myty Group, editor's note] and quickly realized that we had the same goals and big visions. The decisive factor for me was that Myty appreciates the expertise of the respective agency sector and understands that this expertise is its greatest asset. There is a lot of trust and listening. And synergies are found in the right places - in our case immediately with the social content agency Monami or the e-commerce agency Norisk.

What exactly do these synergies look like?

Together, we have already implemented campaigns and acquired new customers in recent weeks. I am convinced that we will achieve our goals ten times faster with Myty than with other potential partners in Europe. The power and expertise that Myty brings to the table are enormous and open up new opportunities for growth and innovation.

What does this merger mean for you personally as a founder?

The integration into the Myty Group is an important milestone for me, both personally and professionally. As the founder and CEO of a women-led agency, this step gives me the wonderful opportunity to further strengthen our influencer and social media marketing and to realize innovative projects that may have previously seemed unattainable.

How do you see your own role in the expanded corporate structure?

I want to make an active contribution to ensuring that more women are visible in our industry and can successfully implement their ideas and visions. With Myty at our side, we can now expand Sesamy internationally and open up new markets.

How would you like to achieve this?

The collaboration with the inspiring entrepreneurs of the Myty Group and the comprehensive support system offer us the ideal conditions to grow together and set new standards in influencer marketing.