7 ms·

The $21B influencer industry has gone off the rails

bee_rider 2y ago
Was it ever on the rails? Influencers are just ad folks who found even the limited ethics of the big ad companies too constraining, right?
- jlarocco 2y ago
  > Influencers are just ad folks who found even the limited ethics of the big ad companies too constraining, right? I think that's confusing influencers with the companies that pay them to promote products. The whole idea with "influencers" is that it's not "some shrill rando", but somebody known and trusted pushing the products. On YouTube, for example, I'd count FortNine, 3blue1brown, and asianometry as influencers, and none of them (that I know) started out with the explicit purpose of pushing products. In each case they've taken their popularity in a niche and used it to plug products for money.
  - elevatedastalt 2y ago
    But in many cases there is nothing about the influencer that has earned that trust. If you are a musician who has 10000 followers, it makes sense that you might post about say some music-specific brand. But if you are guy who just posts funny videos on TikTok, how does your endorsement mean anything?
  - tredre3 2y ago
    > asianometry He sometimes insert sponsor ads in his videos but is it really an influencer? The videos aren't designed to promote the product. Wouldn't that definition of influencer make everybody that make ads-sponsored videos an influencer? What about actors on network TV, their content contain sponsored ads, are they influencers?
    - jlarocco 2y ago
      > The videos aren't designed to promote the product. That's my point, really. Nobody's looking at influencer videos explicitly to learn what to buy or how to behave. The whole idea is to piggyback on whatever influence the influencer may have in their niche to sell to that niche. Like concentrated peer pressure, I guess. At least that's what I've seen - it's entirely possible there are insecure people seeking out influencer videos with no useful content other than telling them what to buy, and I just never see those videos. There's something unsettling about that idea, though.
idontpost 2y ago
[dead]
zitterbewegung 2y ago
Influencers are sort of a created midpoint probably enabled by large population and or the internet . But it’s not like these things never truly existed . Unethical practices for advertisements have existed for over a century . FTC already regulates this and will have to extend those regulations but as long as people can keep secrets it’s an endless fight .
pixelpoet 2y ago
Who even watches this fake-everything crap? How can people bring themselves to care about what some shrill rando thinks they should buy or not buy? I get the same feeling about scam penis enlargement pills- obviously someone must be buying it, because the ads keep coming, but who the hell is it?
- holoduke 2y ago
  And how can someone become so obsessed by someone that he or she wants to follow that person. I never understood that.
  - cbolton 2y ago
    If you enjoy what they post, following them is an easy way to get more of something you enjoy.
  - tredre3 2y ago
    This very forum started as a way to follow Paul Graham. We're all the same in the end, no need to look down on people who follow things you don't care about.
  - giantrobot 2y ago
    Parasocial relationships. Influencers engage talk to their audience with a tone of familiarity. For some people they associate that tone with actually being familiar with the influencer. The viewer's internal schema for the influencer is familiar if not friend. This is exploited to sell those people things. It's not all that different from celebrity endorsement advertising, it's just a bit more direct and overt because the influencer might respond to a viewer's tweet or mention them by name/handle if they hit some Patreon level or buy some thing.
- r00fus 2y ago
  I don't know but there are Disney TV shows where the main characters "aspire to become an influencer". It's embedded in the zeitgeist, and I don't know it gets dislodged if at all.
- 2y ago
bongodongobob 2y ago
I read the article and am having a hard time giving a single fuck about anyone involved here. I'm not even sure what point this article is trying to make. It's essentially a scam industry, who cares?
- drawkward 2y ago
  That you are this downvoted and flagged suggests how much SV is reliant on being in bed with advertising.
  - Ekaros 2y ago
    Lot of start-up growth is build on burning money on advertising or even something like b2c models...
  - ThrowawayR2 2y ago
    I think it's more because it runs afoul of the "Please don't post shallow dismissals..." entry in the HN guidelines. If they don't care, that's fine but the world doesn't need to be informed about it.
- jfengel 2y ago
  It's a big scam industry, one that a number of other industries are counting on. When that much money is on the line, people care.
segasaturn 2y ago
Social Media influencers are another category that go in the "low interest rate phenomenon" bucket I think. Being reliant on big social media corporations for the business model to work means it's always been precarious, but now that all the big tech firms are tightening the belt and a lot less generous to their users (consumers and businesses alike) the industry's days are probably numbered.
- hx8 2y ago
  Why is the industry still growing if it's limited to low interest rate environments?
- matwood 2y ago
  As people watch fewer and fewer ads on TV and the internet, I see the influencer market growing. Those ad dollars will go somewhere.
  - digging 2y ago
    I'd think average people are seeing more and more ads, not fewer. ie. low-tier subscriptions with ads, google getting really aggressive about ad-blocking, etc.
  - Ekaros 2y ago
    Have to remember that magazines and many of the newspapers are dead too. Those had quite substantial costs in production and logistics that adds had to subsidise...
hx8 2y ago
> Despite the industry's known problems, Camp said that in some cases, influencer marketing was still perceived as more desirable because there's a level of authenticity when someone you follow and trust is pitching a product versus just an anonymous ad. This is the linch pin. It's a $21B industry because it works. A lot of influencers do not have the expertise and infrastructure for the same level of red tape and guard rails traditional celebrity endorsements include. Some brands, such as bud light, have had bad responses when using influencers to promote their products. I think the worst thing that could happen is that disgruntled companies that used this marketing channel wrong lobby to add a ton of legalize to the channel that will ultimately lower the authenticity of the whole market.
- AlexandrB 2y ago
  > Despite the industry's known problems, Camp said that in some cases, influencer marketing was still perceived as more desirable because there's a level of authenticity when someone you follow and trust is pitching a product versus just an anonymous ad. I'm increasingly finding the opposite to be true: someone I trust hocking a product of questionable value makes me question their authenticity and their expertise. The most stark recent examples was NFTs. Anyone pushing this stuff wanted their audience to lose money to scammers or was at least indifferent if they did. Instant bozo bit[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bozo_bit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bozo_bit
  - Quothling 2y ago
    I'm not sure how old you are, but as far as anecdotes goes it absolutely works on my teenage nephew and his social circle. Basically every product they own seem to be something they've seen someone with a lot of followers use on social media.
    - AlexandrB 2y ago
      Oh I can totally see that. I think when I was growing up it was musicians and other celebrities that drove teenage fashions. Most people hopefully grow out of it eventually - maybe after they get burned a few times by bad purchases.
unclebucknasty 2y ago
https://archive.is/d7JJe https://archive.is/d7JJe
gcanyon 2y ago
I think more accurate would be “That there exists a $21 billion influencer industry is off the rails.”
CharlesW 2y ago
This is really just affiliate marketing, and opportunities for new entrants are about to dry up as corporations begin to deploy swarms of AI influencers. https://arstechnica.com/ai/2023/12/ai-created-virtual-influencers-are-stealing-business-from-humans/ https://arstechnica.com/ai/2023/12/ai-created-virtual-influe...
- groby_b 2y ago
  ... until influencers can prove they're human, at which point they'll become highly sought after. People watch influencers because they want to hear from a person who tried the product. We can argue how much value paid recommendations have, but that's the core of it: Did $PERSON_I_LIKE use it and like it? Then maybe I should try it. Same as asking your friends about cool restaurants, just at scale and monetized. Once there are AI swarms, there'll be a backlash. Because that human connection is what influencers ultimately sell.
  - CharlesW 2y ago
    > People watch influencers because they want to hear from a person who tried the product. Having seen hundreds (thousands?) of these kinds of videos on TikTok and Insta, as a viewer you almost never have any idea who the people are, or whether they actually use or like the product they're pushing. I think you're right that AI influencer tech will have far less impact on mainstream (Martha Stewart) and niche (MKBHD and Linus Sebastian) celebs, but I do think their marketing teams will increasingly use AI to scale celeb/micro-celeb efforts as well. > Once there are AI swarms, there'll be a backlash. Maybe! But this hasn't happened in response to AI text bots. Why would it be different for AI video bots?
Joel_Mckay 2y ago
That is shocking... only $21B? It is a safe investment betting on peoples narcissism, ambition, and irrational competitiveness. This is hardly a new phenomenon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygU2bCx2Z3g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygU2bCx2Z3g
Ekaros 2y ago
Sometimes I just stop and wonder how great the margin on these products must be. When you look at the how often they appear, what is the normal price, what is the given discount and so on. The conversion ration can't be perfect, but still it must be great or the margin must be substantial that single spot can pay hundreds of thousands...
- ThrowawayTestr 2y ago
  Just go on AliExpress and find out the real price.
polivier 2y ago
A colleague of mine is dating a local influencer. She is well enough known that they get stopped on the street on a semi-regular basis. About a year back, an air carrier gave her two plane tickets, a stay in a high-end hotel for 1 week (or 2?) and some cash, in exchange for a 30s clip that had to make an off-hand mention of them (the air carrier) once. Crazy stuff.
- dkjaudyeqooe 2y ago
  I think that's generally how influencer deals go. Some mix of discounts on products/freebies/cash. In return they get some level of exposure, up to what looks like an ad, delivered by the person to camera. Much of the time I think it's just having their name appear somewhere (eg sticker on equipment or poster on the wall). As to the relative values, you don't mention her follower or view count, which is probably the key metric.
- giarc 2y ago
  The air carrier probably has a $10+ million marketing budget. It's easy for them to throw $10,000 toward a 30 second clip to test the waters. Ad teams have to spend that budget, and they likely get more enjoyment out of dealing with that influencer than say running ads in a bunch of subway stops.
- swozey 2y ago
  I know a handful of "influencers", one a popular bartender at my bar who has something like 400k tiktok subs and I think only in the tens of thousands on IG, another a $cityDateNight type, ala "where to go on dates in $city" with I think 300-400k on Instagram that is run by a couple in their 30s. I know nothing about this world aside from what I learn from them. TikTok Bartender said she makes no money on tiktok, but she's recognized all the time. She never says in her tiktoks what bar, or where she lives, but I see people at least once a week pop in and realize it's her and get super excited to meet her. I've never actually asked what she does it for since she doesn't get paid from it, I assume she just likes making skits, teaching bartending and it'll surely help her land gigs if she ever leaves. $cityDateNight on the other hand, according to TikTok Bartender, makes "a ton of money" from their instagram. I didn't ask for specifics but she emphasized "TON" of money so I'm assuming tens of thousands.. I can't imagine $100k+ but I have no idea. The genius thing $cityDateNight does aside from that, they go around to different restaurants/bars/clubs/events and get everything for free for advertising the place to their audience. I barely know them but I follow their instagram and they're out running around the city every night. There's another one that goes to restaurants with poor ratings on Yelp and makes those "You're missing out on this place!! Check it out!!" and a lot of the places are very sub-par and deserve their rating. So we don't trust their reviews at all. They do a great job of making the places look fantastic though so I'm sure they draw in a good crowd to restaurants that need it. No idea how the trade works there. An ex of mine is a popular skateboarder on ig and gets free skate stuff and sells skate stuff to her crowd but I think it also made her completely addicted to monitoring her social media 24/7. She had a very difficult time putting her phone down no matter what we were doing and her Apple Watch was constantly turning on with notifications. Super frustrating, especially as someone who opens Instagram once a week. I missed out. I want all of my date nights covered!
madnness76 2y ago
Can't wait for the entire content creator industry to implode when advertisers can just tell a sora like system to generate all of these ads/podcasts. So many people make their sole income off this stuff and more than likely someone else has done, said, or complained about whatever they have to say. Doomsday is coming to a theater near you!
- greedo 2y ago
  Good podcasts and videos can't be replicated by AI. I watch two channels on YT; Eric Rosen playing chess, and a guy nicknamed Hoover who runs Pilot Debrief. Both bring subject matter expertise that can't really be fooled. I also listen to the ATP podcast, and do so because of the personalities and experience the three members have.
- MattGaiser 2y ago
  They aren’t buying content. They are buying relative trust and authenticity. So Sora doesn’t replace the influencer.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
rvba 2y ago
> In a traditional celebrity endorsement, the people promoting brands' products are well known and well represented and deliver a predictable result for the businesses that hire them This sounds like a hit piece by "old" style influencers that lose to new style ones. Those celebrity endorsements and wasting money on sports simply does not work that well. Especially when you compare it to instagram endoresements and youtubers / streamers who can peove their numbers (assuming the numbers are not cooked). Marketing is a very strange space - on one hand it can be measured, one can target very specific audiences with super targeted ads - while at the same time you see incredible things like teamviewer wasting 70 million per year to sponsor a football team. Because their marketing department sucks, or their CEO likes football. Microtargeting works, especially meausred one. It is difficult and full of scams. But a targeted instagram post is much better than giving some random actress your products and hoping it makes you sell more.
AwaAwa 2y ago
What is telling that there are entire articles devoted to something that never had any rails to begin with. That fact that this is the level of discourse today, is a sad commentary on society's average intelligence. As long as you slice the day to pick the best moments, it all seems like we've reached the stars using batteries.

Was it ever on the rails? Influencers are just ad folks who found even the limited ethics of the big ad companies too constraining, right?

jlarocco 2y ago
> Influencers are just ad folks who found even the limited ethics of the big ad companies too constraining, right? I think that's confusing influencers with the companies that pay them to promote products. The whole idea with "influencers" is that it's not "some shrill rando", but somebody known and trusted pushing the products. On YouTube, for example, I'd count FortNine, 3blue1brown, and asianometry as influencers, and none of them (that I know) started out with the explicit purpose of pushing products. In each case they've taken their popularity in a niche and used it to plug products for money.
- elevatedastalt 2y ago
  But in many cases there is nothing about the influencer that has earned that trust. If you are a musician who has 10000 followers, it makes sense that you might post about say some music-specific brand. But if you are guy who just posts funny videos on TikTok, how does your endorsement mean anything?
- tredre3 2y ago
  > asianometry He sometimes insert sponsor ads in his videos but is it really an influencer? The videos aren't designed to promote the product. Wouldn't that definition of influencer make everybody that make ads-sponsored videos an influencer? What about actors on network TV, their content contain sponsored ads, are they influencers?
  - jlarocco 2y ago
    > The videos aren't designed to promote the product. That's my point, really. Nobody's looking at influencer videos explicitly to learn what to buy or how to behave. The whole idea is to piggyback on whatever influence the influencer may have in their niche to sell to that niche. Like concentrated peer pressure, I guess. At least that's what I've seen - it's entirely possible there are insecure people seeking out influencer videos with no useful content other than telling them what to buy, and I just never see those videos. There's something unsettling about that idea, though.

idontpost 2y ago

[dead]

zitterbewegung 2y ago

Influencers are sort of a created midpoint probably enabled by large population and or the internet . But it’s not like these things never truly existed . Unethical practices for advertisements have existed for over a century . FTC already regulates this and will have to extend those regulations but as long as people can keep secrets it’s an endless fight .

pixelpoet 2y ago

Who even watches this fake-everything crap? How can people bring themselves to care about what some shrill rando thinks they should buy or not buy? I get the same feeling about scam penis enlargement pills- obviously someone must be buying it, because the ads keep coming, but who the hell is it?

holoduke 2y ago
And how can someone become so obsessed by someone that he or she wants to follow that person. I never understood that.
- cbolton 2y ago
  If you enjoy what they post, following them is an easy way to get more of something you enjoy.
- tredre3 2y ago
  This very forum started as a way to follow Paul Graham. We're all the same in the end, no need to look down on people who follow things you don't care about.
- giantrobot 2y ago
  Parasocial relationships. Influencers engage talk to their audience with a tone of familiarity. For some people they associate that tone with actually being familiar with the influencer. The viewer's internal schema for the influencer is familiar if not friend. This is exploited to sell those people things. It's not all that different from celebrity endorsement advertising, it's just a bit more direct and overt because the influencer might respond to a viewer's tweet or mention them by name/handle if they hit some Patreon level or buy some thing.
r00fus 2y ago
I don't know but there are Disney TV shows where the main characters "aspire to become an influencer". It's embedded in the zeitgeist, and I don't know it gets dislodged if at all.
2y ago

bongodongobob 2y ago

I read the article and am having a hard time giving a single fuck about anyone involved here. I'm not even sure what point this article is trying to make. It's essentially a scam industry, who cares?

drawkward 2y ago
That you are this downvoted and flagged suggests how much SV is reliant on being in bed with advertising.
- Ekaros 2y ago
  Lot of start-up growth is build on burning money on advertising or even something like b2c models...
- ThrowawayR2 2y ago
  I think it's more because it runs afoul of the "Please don't post shallow dismissals..." entry in the HN guidelines. If they don't care, that's fine but the world doesn't need to be informed about it.
jfengel 2y ago
It's a big scam industry, one that a number of other industries are counting on. When that much money is on the line, people care.

segasaturn 2y ago

Social Media influencers are another category that go in the "low interest rate phenomenon" bucket I think. Being reliant on big social media corporations for the business model to work means it's always been precarious, but now that all the big tech firms are tightening the belt and a lot less generous to their users (consumers and businesses alike) the industry's days are probably numbered.

hx8 2y ago
Why is the industry still growing if it's limited to low interest rate environments?
matwood 2y ago
As people watch fewer and fewer ads on TV and the internet, I see the influencer market growing. Those ad dollars will go somewhere.
- digging 2y ago
  I'd think average people are seeing more and more ads, not fewer. ie. low-tier subscriptions with ads, google getting really aggressive about ad-blocking, etc.
- Ekaros 2y ago
  Have to remember that magazines and many of the newspapers are dead too. Those had quite substantial costs in production and logistics that adds had to subsidise...

hx8 2y ago

> Despite the industry's known problems, Camp said that in some cases, influencer marketing was still perceived as more desirable because there's a level of authenticity when someone you follow and trust is pitching a product versus just an anonymous ad. This is the linch pin. It's a $21B industry because it works. A lot of influencers do not have the expertise and infrastructure for the same level of red tape and guard rails traditional celebrity endorsements include. Some brands, such as bud light, have had bad responses when using influencers to promote their products. I think the worst thing that could happen is that disgruntled companies that used this marketing channel wrong lobby to add a ton of legalize to the channel that will ultimately lower the authenticity of the whole market.

AlexandrB 2y ago
> Despite the industry's known problems, Camp said that in some cases, influencer marketing was still perceived as more desirable because there's a level of authenticity when someone you follow and trust is pitching a product versus just an anonymous ad. I'm increasingly finding the opposite to be true: someone I trust hocking a product of questionable value makes me question their authenticity and their expertise. The most stark recent examples was NFTs. Anyone pushing this stuff wanted their audience to lose money to scammers or was at least indifferent if they did. Instant bozo bit[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bozo_bit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bozo_bit
- Quothling 2y ago
  I'm not sure how old you are, but as far as anecdotes goes it absolutely works on my teenage nephew and his social circle. Basically every product they own seem to be something they've seen someone with a lot of followers use on social media.
  - AlexandrB 2y ago
    Oh I can totally see that. I think when I was growing up it was musicians and other celebrities that drove teenage fashions. Most people hopefully grow out of it eventually - maybe after they get burned a few times by bad purchases.

unclebucknasty 2y ago

https://archive.is/d7JJe https://archive.is/d7JJe

gcanyon 2y ago

I think more accurate would be “That there exists a $21 billion influencer industry is off the rails.”

CharlesW 2y ago

This is really just affiliate marketing, and opportunities for new entrants are about to dry up as corporations begin to deploy swarms of AI influencers. https://arstechnica.com/ai/2023/12/ai-created-virtual-influencers-are-stealing-business-from-humans/ https://arstechnica.com/ai/2023/12/ai-created-virtual-influe...

groby_b 2y ago
... until influencers can prove they're human, at which point they'll become highly sought after. People watch influencers because they want to hear from a person who tried the product. We can argue how much value paid recommendations have, but that's the core of it: Did $PERSON_I_LIKE use it and like it? Then maybe I should try it. Same as asking your friends about cool restaurants, just at scale and monetized. Once there are AI swarms, there'll be a backlash. Because that human connection is what influencers ultimately sell.
- CharlesW 2y ago
  > People watch influencers because they want to hear from a person who tried the product. Having seen hundreds (thousands?) of these kinds of videos on TikTok and Insta, as a viewer you almost never have any idea who the people are, or whether they actually use or like the product they're pushing. I think you're right that AI influencer tech will have far less impact on mainstream (Martha Stewart) and niche (MKBHD and Linus Sebastian) celebs, but I do think their marketing teams will increasingly use AI to scale celeb/micro-celeb efforts as well. > Once there are AI swarms, there'll be a backlash. Maybe! But this hasn't happened in response to AI text bots. Why would it be different for AI video bots?

Joel_Mckay 2y ago

That is shocking... only $21B? It is a safe investment betting on peoples narcissism, ambition, and irrational competitiveness. This is hardly a new phenomenon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygU2bCx2Z3g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygU2bCx2Z3g

Ekaros 2y ago

Sometimes I just stop and wonder how great the margin on these products must be. When you look at the how often they appear, what is the normal price, what is the given discount and so on. The conversion ration can't be perfect, but still it must be great or the margin must be substantial that single spot can pay hundreds of thousands...

ThrowawayTestr 2y ago
Just go on AliExpress and find out the real price.

polivier 2y ago

A colleague of mine is dating a local influencer. She is well enough known that they get stopped on the street on a semi-regular basis. About a year back, an air carrier gave her two plane tickets, a stay in a high-end hotel for 1 week (or 2?) and some cash, in exchange for a 30s clip that had to make an off-hand mention of them (the air carrier) once. Crazy stuff.

dkjaudyeqooe 2y ago
I think that's generally how influencer deals go. Some mix of discounts on products/freebies/cash. In return they get some level of exposure, up to what looks like an ad, delivered by the person to camera. Much of the time I think it's just having their name appear somewhere (eg sticker on equipment or poster on the wall). As to the relative values, you don't mention her follower or view count, which is probably the key metric.
giarc 2y ago
The air carrier probably has a $10+ million marketing budget. It's easy for them to throw $10,000 toward a 30 second clip to test the waters. Ad teams have to spend that budget, and they likely get more enjoyment out of dealing with that influencer than say running ads in a bunch of subway stops.
swozey 2y ago
I know a handful of "influencers", one a popular bartender at my bar who has something like 400k tiktok subs and I think only in the tens of thousands on IG, another a $cityDateNight type, ala "where to go on dates in $city" with I think 300-400k on Instagram that is run by a couple in their 30s. I know nothing about this world aside from what I learn from them. TikTok Bartender said she makes no money on tiktok, but she's recognized all the time. She never says in her tiktoks what bar, or where she lives, but I see people at least once a week pop in and realize it's her and get super excited to meet her. I've never actually asked what she does it for since she doesn't get paid from it, I assume she just likes making skits, teaching bartending and it'll surely help her land gigs if she ever leaves. $cityDateNight on the other hand, according to TikTok Bartender, makes "a ton of money" from their instagram. I didn't ask for specifics but she emphasized "TON" of money so I'm assuming tens of thousands.. I can't imagine $100k+ but I have no idea. The genius thing $cityDateNight does aside from that, they go around to different restaurants/bars/clubs/events and get everything for free for advertising the place to their audience. I barely know them but I follow their instagram and they're out running around the city every night. There's another one that goes to restaurants with poor ratings on Yelp and makes those "You're missing out on this place!! Check it out!!" and a lot of the places are very sub-par and deserve their rating. So we don't trust their reviews at all. They do a great job of making the places look fantastic though so I'm sure they draw in a good crowd to restaurants that need it. No idea how the trade works there. An ex of mine is a popular skateboarder on ig and gets free skate stuff and sells skate stuff to her crowd but I think it also made her completely addicted to monitoring her social media 24/7. She had a very difficult time putting her phone down no matter what we were doing and her Apple Watch was constantly turning on with notifications. Super frustrating, especially as someone who opens Instagram once a week. I missed out. I want all of my date nights covered!

madnness76 2y ago

Can't wait for the entire content creator industry to implode when advertisers can just tell a sora like system to generate all of these ads/podcasts. So many people make their sole income off this stuff and more than likely someone else has done, said, or complained about whatever they have to say. Doomsday is coming to a theater near you!

greedo 2y ago
Good podcasts and videos can't be replicated by AI. I watch two channels on YT; Eric Rosen playing chess, and a guy nicknamed Hoover who runs Pilot Debrief. Both bring subject matter expertise that can't really be fooled. I also listen to the ATP podcast, and do so because of the personalities and experience the three members have.
MattGaiser 2y ago
They aren’t buying content. They are buying relative trust and authenticity. So Sora doesn’t replace the influencer.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

rvba 2y ago

> In a traditional celebrity endorsement, the people promoting brands' products are well known and well represented and deliver a predictable result for the businesses that hire them This sounds like a hit piece by "old" style influencers that lose to new style ones. Those celebrity endorsements and wasting money on sports simply does not work that well. Especially when you compare it to instagram endoresements and youtubers / streamers who can peove their numbers (assuming the numbers are not cooked). Marketing is a very strange space - on one hand it can be measured, one can target very specific audiences with super targeted ads - while at the same time you see incredible things like teamviewer wasting 70 million per year to sponsor a football team. Because their marketing department sucks, or their CEO likes football. Microtargeting works, especially meausred one. It is difficult and full of scams. But a targeted instagram post is much better than giving some random actress your products and hoping it makes you sell more.

AwaAwa 2y ago

What is telling that there are entire articles devoted to something that never had any rails to begin with. That fact that this is the level of discourse today, is a sad commentary on society's average intelligence. As long as you slice the day to pick the best moments, it all seems like we've reached the stars using batteries.