Karim De Martino is a journalist and expert in influencer marketing. He boasts over 20 years of experience in Digital Marketing & Content Management. He was Digital Manager at Radio Deejay from 1997 to 2004, during which he launched and grew the site www.deejay.it, winning the prestigious Sole 24 Ore “Premio WWW” in 1999 and 2001.
From 1999 to 2008, he also collaborated in producing the TV music program “Festivalbar,” winning a third “Premio WWW” in 2002. Subsequently, his first startup, “Boomer,” was acquired by the Kiver Group, which specializes in branded entertainment projects. He continued with online positioning and monetization projects until 2010, for artists such as Laura Pausini, Francesco Renga, Zucchero, and Fascino (the production company for “Uomini e Donne” and “Amici”).
2010 was a milestone year in the world of influencers: Karim De Martino launched the “influencer” division within the Kiver organization, and its first project was “The Blonde Salad,” the blog by Chiara Ferragni, who today is considered one of the most influential bloggers in the world (Forbes 30 Under 30).
In 2012 he launched another significant project, the “La Pinella” blog by Alessia Marcuzzi. In a few short months, the site achieved a higher number of visits in Italy than The Blonde Salad, becoming a phenomenon.
Between 2010 and 2014, he worked with various bloggers, including Irene Colzi and Veronica Ferraro, as well as celebrities such as Filippa Lagerbäck and Caterina Balivo, always focusing on the same goal of improving their online positioning and monetizing their blogs and social profiles. In December 2014, Kiver was acquired by Gruppo Mondadori.
In 2015, he moved to Los Angeles, where he joined the InstaBrand team (now Open Influence), where he first worked in developing the Italian market and then opening the London office. He currently holds the title of Vice President — Business Development Europe.
For 3 consecutive years, Open Influence has won the Interactive Key Award: in 2016 with the Fiat 500 Abarth campaign, in 2017 with Bibite Sanpellegrino, and in 2018 with Bacardi. Today the company is a leader in influencer marketing, with big-name clients such as Amazon, L’Oréal, Disney, Puma, Barilla, Unilever, P&G, and many others