Every year, TIME Magazine publishes the TIME 100 Most Influential People list. Always eagerly anticipated, the list serves as a definitive guide to the most influential individuals in the world — so how has a 14-year-old girl from Dorset made the cut for 2018?
Millie Bobby Brown, who plays Eleven in the Netflix science fiction mega-hit Stranger Things, has been written about in the iconic list for 2018 alongside global influencers such as Donald Trump, Prince Harry, Sadiq Khan and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
As the youngest person to ever grace the list, I had to find out how and why this came to be.
The clue is in the title, ‘influencer’. Many of those included in the list have lived long and distinguished lives in the service of others or innovating for the benefit of our global community. Millie, however, first hit the TV screens in 2016, and through the power of Netflix and social media, has already made a huge impact and forged a stellar career for herself.
Portraying a lost child in the strange world of the ‘Upside Down’, Millie’s role in Stranger Things speaks not only to a generation that believes 80s tunes are ‘dinosaur music’, but her obvious acting talent appeals to a much wider audience demographic. In the words of Aaron Paul, “she somehow understands the human experience as if she has lived it for a thousand years”.
By staying true to herself while remaining aware of her audience, Millie has become the voice of her generation and her peers want to listen to what she has to say. This was made clear last year, when she used her massive profile on social media to launch a successful anti-bullying campaign.
So, what does it take to become influential? The magic sauce can be hard to identify –, but in our world of B2B tech, working closely with our clients, we identify the personas they want to communicate with and build campaigns that make a lasting impact. Our specialist content creators craft copy that is thought provoking and starts with us asking ‘what do people want to read’ rather than just ‘what does our client want to say’, while our media and analyst relations specialists ensure it reaches the right people in the marketplace. This all results in PR campaigns that deliver the best possible Return on Investment (ROI).
At the tender age of just 14, Millie Bobby Brown has achieved far more than she could have ever imagined, and will no doubt go on to inspire thousands of people — both young and old — to follow in her footsteps. After all, Stranger Things have happened.
