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Could this be the end of influencers?

mysteriouslytransparentwitch:

Brands and consumers are more and more suspicious of Internet users who promote products on social networks. The end of an idyll?By Arnaud Sagnard

Posted on April 02, 2019 at 2:44 pm

As is often the case with breaks, precursory signs are first scattered, almost invisible. And the interested do not want to see them. For five years, in France, the United States, China and elsewhere, brands, particularly in the field of lifestyle and fashion, flirt with the “influencers”.

These companies, which sell real products and services, work with personalities in the hope of benefiting from their fan networks. They send them the products for free, offer them services, collaborate with them or invite them to events so that they can talk about them on social networks. Just recently, 150 of these influencers attended the Chanel fashion show in tribute to Karl Lagerfeld. This is called “influence marketing”: the company, in order to gain visibility, buys the supposed influence of the individual in his community.

For anyone who has not yet glimpsed this new metamorphosis of the market economy, just imagine a paid version of the good old word-of-mouth by interposed screen. These relationships are sometimes informal - the mere sending of clothes at the time of their launch in the store - or are the subject of contracts in due form.

With the omnipotence of Instagram, this market has grown at a fast pace and is expected to reach the most optimistic 10 billion euros next year. L'Oréal has been working for several years with hundreds of influencers and, with some of them, designs products sold in supermarkets … This can represent up to 40% of its media budget. Thus, many connected young people have made their profession. Some are well known, like Chiara Ferragni (16.2 million subscribers), others less like Jeanette Madsen (158,000 subscribers). If they are less powerful, micro-influencers are very useful for those who want to reach a specific target.

Today, classes of “influence” are given in marketing schools and companies running this business such as The Influencers Agency, Social Zoo or Reech are now established. So much for the idyllic picture: posts and selfies are not just egocentric, they can be worth thousands of euros, launch products, devote places and fashions.

But to look more closely, there are nevertheless several snags on the web. Last January, Elinor Cohen, an American marketing consultant, published a resounding text on the fact that “influencers do not influence anyone” unlike individuals “with knowledge and expertise”. She questioned the number of followers as a power indicator. In France, the newspaper “Les Echos”, the first, sounded the alarm by publishing an article entitled “Influencers in an era of doubt”, telling how brands, scalded by suspicions of cheating and complacency in their regard, take their distance. The newspaper draws on the findings of Kantar Media’s “Social Media Trends 2019” study. If in January and February 2017, Dolce & Gabbana had, ultimate proof of dubbing, scrolls dozens of influencers and influencers in place of professional models at the fashion week in Milan, the brand has this winter closed their doors. access of his parade woman.

As is often the case with breaks, precursory signs are first scattered, almost invisible. And the interested do not want to see them. For five years, in France, the United States, China and elsewhere, brands, particularly in the field of lifestyle and fashion, flirt with the “influencers”.

These companies, which sell real products and services, work with personalities in the hope of benefiting from their fan networks. They send them the products for free, offer them services, collaborate with them or invite them to events so that they can talk about them on social networks. Just recently, 150 of these influencers attended the Chanel fashion show in tribute to Karl Lagerfeld. This is called “influence marketing”: the company, in order to gain visibility, buys the supposed influence of the individual in his community.

For anyone who has not yet glimpsed this new metamorphosis of the market economy, just imagine a paid version of the good old word-of-mouth by interposed screen. These relationships are sometimes informal - the mere sending of clothes at the time of their launch in the store - or are the subject of contracts in due form.

With the omnipotence of Instagram, this market has grown at a fast pace and is expected to reach the most optimistic 10 billion euros next year. L'Oréal has been working for several years with hundreds of influencers and, with some of them, designs products sold in supermarkets … This can represent up to 40% of its media budget. Thus, many connected young people have made their profession. Some are well known, like Chiara Ferragni (16.2 million subscribers), others less like Jeanette Madsen (158,000 subscribers). If they are less powerful, micro-influencers are very useful for those who want to reach a specific target.

These first signs of disenchantment gradually give way to hatred. In 2017, the world is attending the launch of the Fyre Festival, presented as a luxury music festival in the Bahamas and promoted by Bella Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski or Kendall Jenner (more than 150 million followers). The event turns into a fiasco (see the documentary “Fyre, the greatest party that never happened” on Netflix). The first customers who arrived on the island of Great Exuma revealed that the entrance fee of at least 1,000 euros gave right on site to outdated facilities worthy of a campsite and transportation by school bus. On social networks, Internet users have avenged themselves by posting hateful comments or images tagged “expectations vs reality”.Closer to home, they are locals who are prized by influencers for their photogeny or hotels outraged by the demands of guests who turn against them. Thus, the residents of the very “unstammable” rue Crémieux in the 12th district of Paris with its pastel-colored houses, regularly hunt invaders. Gathered together, they asked for help at the Paris City Hall and created the Club Crémieux Instagram account to make fun of their visitors.But this mistrust is not only the prerogative of those who rub shoulders with this ultra-connected caste. According to Vincent Cocquebert, journalist and author of the book “Millennial burn-out” (Arkhé edition), this one is deeper than it seems. In his eyes, we begin to witness a deaf dialogue between two generations:“Young marketing has become obsessive for old brands. They run for a long time after ghostly targets, the 15-30, the 18-25, the millennials … persuaded that they are each time monolithic consumers. But the most recent studies show that they change their purchasing behavior very quickly and that they have more confidence in the advice of their family and friends than in those of influencers … We are facing a desperate strategy. to catch up with the wagon of modernity. ”Once again, the famous rule of “Follow me, I run away, flee, I follow you” prevails in love as in marketing.Arnaud Sagnard

https://mymarketingfile.com/post/183949366473