{"id":8816,"date":"2016-06-14T23:35:56","date_gmt":"2016-06-14T19:35:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonniegarner.com\/en\/?p=8816"},"modified":"2016-06-15T12:18:17","modified_gmt":"2016-06-15T08:18:17","slug":"brands-and-influencers-les-liaisons-dangereuses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonniegarner.com\/en\/2016\/06\/14\/brands-and-influencers-les-liaisons-dangereuses\/","title":{"rendered":"Brands and influencers: Les Liaisons Dangereuses"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes, now, if you have a blog that generates a lot of traffic, a successful YouTube channel or Instagram account (and\/or Snapchat \/ Twitter \/ Facebook…) with a lot of subscribers\/followers, you’re no longer part\u00a0of the common bloggers category anymore, no, you’re now an\u00a0influencer<\/strong>. The result is that blogging has became a lot more focused on business than it previously was, and\u00a0partnerships with brands are now completely\u00a0OK.
\nWon’t bloggers risk losing their independence through too many partnerships with brands? And what about\u00a0the honesty & transparency with their\u00a0readers?<\/h2>\n

I wrote a post about the relationships between brands and bloggers<\/a> 2 years ago. Even though my approach on blogging has not changed much (if at all), around me, the blogger community and especially its relationship with brands has evolved tremendously.
\nIn my first post on the subject, I spoke about how bloggers could “do\u00a0a\u00a0sincere<\/strong>\u00a0review, often with a lot of\u00a0details<\/strong>\u00a0about the product and\/or service.” I spoke mainly of the honesty<\/strong> of this new form of communication, comparing it to the principle of word of mouth<\/strong>.
\nAnd as a blog reader, I now struggle\u00a0to find\u00a0the passion and the love for sharing, that seduced\u00a0me in this new media at the beginning. I have become more and more\u00a0suspicious<\/strong>\u00a0about the\u00a0relationships between brands and bloggers.<\/p>\n

When I started to read blogs, I was already passionate and I was buying\u00a0tons of cosmetics at the time <\/strong>(ok that hasn’t really changed much tongue<\/span> ). And what I particularly liked in the\u00a0product reviews I could find in blogs was the true\u00a0independence<\/strong> of bloggers. It was very different from the things\u00a0I read before. Before blogs existed, I read a lot of women’s magazines. And in their beauty pages, the product descriptions are always very brief, they’re more like small presentations very inspired\u00a0from the press releases, so not really personalized or inspiring.
\nThrough the authentic experience a blogger shares, you can identify<\/strong> yourself with the product he or she reviews. In general, we tend to read blogs that fit our\u00a0tastes, our aspirations, but also because we often feel we have something\u00a0in common<\/strong> with the blogger. There’s a real person behind a blog post, eventually we feel close<\/strong>\u00a0to him or her, even if we don’t always agree with them all the time.<\/p>\n

And the beauty of blogging is that anyone<\/strong> can create a blog. No need to be expert, owning a blog is just a matter of passion and involvement<\/strong>.
\n2 years ago, professional bloggers<\/strong> were still a minority but now I feel that most of those who decide to create\u00a0a blog do it\u00a0primarily for financial reasons<\/strong>. I have not had this kind of request (probably because I never do brands partnerships) but many of my blogger friends tell me they regularly receive emails from young girls (or maybe because I’m old? :P) who want to create a blog, asking them for tips to “work with brands.”
\nBut really, is this that surprising? A lot of bloggers have decided to make a living with their blogs because they know that having\u00a0a blog is hard work<\/strong> and they want a return on their investment. Now it seems, most people decide to create a blog not really because they’re passionate about something but because they want to be an influencer<\/strong> or get rich (or both smile<\/span> ). Even if you need to self-proclaim yourself an influencer on social media\u00a0and if you have no qualms about cheating<\/strong> on your number of followers\u00a0and likes just to seduce the brands (yep, the fake followers\u00a0business<\/strong> is very prosperous at the moment). A lot brands or their agencies don’t check or care if 80% of a persons followers aren’t real people<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

However, even for a genuine enthusiast who creates a blog\u00a0or a YouTube channel with simply the desire of\u00a0sharing, it can easily start to cost a lot of cash<\/strong>. A\u00a0blog takes not only time<\/strong> but also money<\/strong>: products, some hardware, software… What you\u00a0started as a passion, or a hobby can quickly become super time consuming and expensive, so wanting to earn money with your\u00a0passion is not only tempting but also very legitimate<\/strong>. In certain cases you either have to cover your costs or stop blogging.
\nOn the other hand, when the blog starts to become successful\u00a0(= more and more readers and a good online reputation), the brands get interested in your blog, and this is more often than not when the question of switching to a professional blogger approach<\/strong> appears.
\nMaking a living\u00a0with a blog is everything but\u00a0shameful, as long as it’s made very clear and transparent<\/strong> to the\u00a0reader. In doing so, the reader is given the information and therefore the choice to read or not paid content (by a brand), readers have full knowledge<\/strong> of the facts.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, many bloggers (sometimes encouraged by brands) forget \/ avoid this simple principle and don’t hesitate to hide the fact\u00a0that they’ve been paid to talk about a product. This lack of transparency<\/strong> and even let’s say it, lack of ethics<\/strong> is killing what made the beauty of blogging, and this amidst general indifference.
\nBecause a lot of people\u00a0who read blogs or watch YouTube videos\u00a0don’t really know\u00a0this whole business side of things and as as long as it’s\u00a0the case, the lying\u00a0influencer<\/strong> still has a bright future ahead…<\/p>\n

With this post, that I hope a little informative, I wanted to highlight all these issues because besides being a passionate blogger, I’m also a blog reader, a YouTube channels subscriber and especially a consumer<\/strong>. And this lack of respect coming from some big influencers makes me absolutely\u00a0furious<\/strong>. I also question the role of some brands in this mess.<\/p>\n

Professional blogger, amateur blogger, what is the difference?<\/h3>\n

The difference between an amateur and a pro blog generally hinges on\u00a0one thing: monetising<\/strong> or not your blog. It can be done in many different ways and it differs totally from one blog to another.<\/p>\n

Some examples (these also apply in the case of social media<\/strong>\u00a0and a YouTube channel<\/strong>):<\/p>\n

– advertising on your\u00a0blog<\/strong>: some\u00a0banner ads are placed on the\u00a0blog and depending on\u00a0the formats chosen with the advertiser, you touch some money\u00a0every X page views (it could be 1000 pages, for example) or you receive a percentage \/ amount if the reader clicks on the advert etc. Clearly not the most profitable of ways, as it generally requires a lot of traffic on the blog and\/or highly targeted ads to generate profits.<\/p>\n

– affiliation or affiliate links:<\/strong> basically, it involves placing links to a merchant site and the blogger\u00a0can earn a commission on the products that readers buy through the blog.<\/p>\n

– sponsored content\/ advertorials\/ partnerships: <\/strong>it’s\u00a0the principle of creating content on your\u00a0blog for a publisher (a brand\u00a0in the case of cosmetics) in exchange for paid compensation. This sponsored content usually has a bad reputation and is not really well accepted by blog readers. If the blogger does it often, they are often considered as a sell-out<\/strong>. And there’s also the issue of the non mentioned advertorials<\/strong>. They’re much more common practice than you think despite the fact that it’s illegal (in France and in the US at least, it’s not the case everywhere).<\/p>\n

A blogger can also offer their services to brands for the creation of paid content<\/strong> on an other medium than their own blog or also through consulting<\/strong> missions\u00a0where the brand is using their expertise. Again this is often kept quiet, one wonders why?<\/p>\n

\"Brands<\/a><\/div>\n

What about influencers?<\/h3>\n

The word “influencer”, in the past\u00a0only used by the marketing pros, is now transitioning into the everyday vocabulary and it’s even employed by some bloggers themselves (you know the very humble and modest ones…) who don’t hesitate to self-proclaim themselves “influencer”<\/strong> on their blogs or social media. It makes me roll my eyes\u00a0so hard every time I read it on Instagram I think I’ll end up swiveling round and seeing\u00a0my brain…<\/p>\n

What is an\u00a0influencer?<\/h4>\n

The marketing dictionary definition:<\/p>\n

“An influencer<\/b> is an individual who has above-average impact on a specific niche process. Influencers are normal people, who are often connected to key roles of media outlets, consumer groups, industry associations or community tribes.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Or applied to the field of beauty blogs, it’s someone who by their status or media exposure can influence the consumer behavior<\/strong> of its readers\u00a0and\/or followers.<\/p>\n

The influencer can naturally monetize the influence they have<\/strong>. Some examples:<\/p>\n

– a product placement<\/strong> on his\/her blog or YouTube channel, or simply sponsored posts<\/strong> on his\/her Instagram or Snapshat (the latter may result in several thousand dollars<\/strong> for some big influencers). Product placement must normally be mentioned as having been paid but this is not always the case (on Snapchat, it’s NEVER mentioned, let’s be clear).<\/p>\n

– or the influencer may even partner with a brand for a collaboration<\/strong>. He or she will participate in the development of a brand product, which will generally have their name on it. The involvement of the influencer varies in each case.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

The BECCA-gate:<\/i><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Collaborations can be super lucrative\u00a0but they can also turn against the influencer and\/or the brand. The YouTuber Jaclyn Hill<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 and brand BECCA Cosmetics<\/a><\/strong> have learned it the hard way.<\/p>\n

They first collaborated together\u00a0in 2015 for the development of the highlighter Champagne Pop<\/a>, which was a huge commercial success<\/strong>. So they decided to work on a second collection together<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, this collab\u00a0revealed\u00a0the dangers of this kind of practice, with the withdrawal from sale a few days after its release of an eyeshadow palette from the collection because apparently,\u00a0it didn't correspond to the usual quality standards of the BECCA brand. I don't know if we\u00a0will get the whole story one day but it's very tempting, to say that the brand wanted to take advantage of\u00a0the huge buzz\u00a0created by this collaboration and cut corners<\/strong> on product costs & quality.<\/p>\n

Sadly for BECCA,\u00a0many consumers and bloggers denounced the deception<\/strong> on social media\u00a0and it created a huge\u00a0scandal in the beauty world which affected both the YouTuber \u00a0and the brand.
\nIt'll probably be complicated for Jaclyn Hill to regain the trust of her followers, and although many still defend her, their are valid reasons to have doubts<\/strong> now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Read More...<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Why are brands interested in influencers?<\/h4>\n

In fact, brands are not really interested in\u00a0the influencer themself but rather those they can influence, those who can buy the brands products<\/strong>. But in order for\u00a0the brand to\u00a0really see an impact on its sales, it requires the influencer to not only have many followers\/readers but above all, that they are able to create a genuine ‘engagement’<\/strong> with consumers of the brand. This engagement\u00a0is only possible if the readers\/followers trust<\/strong> the influencers opinion.<\/p>\n

And lately, I really find that this trust has been exploited<\/strong> by some influencers, who are willing to sell their community\u00a0to the highest bidder. At the risk of totally jeopardizing it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against the fact that people use their influence to make a living but, doing so without even mentioning that they’re doing\u00a0paid partnerships with a brand is a real ethical problem<\/strong>. Personally I feel that checking \/ testing a product before endorsing it is a must; multiple examples demonstrate like with the Becca-Gate (see box above) this is not happening.<\/p>\n

Recently, Aimee Song from the blog Songofstyle<\/a>, an extremely popular fashion\u00a0blogger signed an exclusive 1-year partnership<\/strong> with Laura Mercier<\/a>, a makeup brand for\u00a0$500,000<\/strong>. Her partnership with Laura Mercier\u00a0involves creating content\u00a0on her blog and Instagram<\/a> (she has 3.6 million followers) as well as appearances in beauty events as an ambassador of the brand. It also includes creating videos on the Laura Mercier site.
\nShe recently got busted\u00a0by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission, which protects America’s consumers) because she didn’t\u00a0mention being paid to show Laura Mercier products on her\u00a0Instagram. Since, she has corrected this only on the Laura Mercier targeted posts<\/a> but you just need to\u00a0take a quick look on her Instagram feed to see photos with various products including some Laura Mercier ones\u00a0that are not mentioned as #ad.<\/p>\n

If you’re interested in this, I’d refer you to the excellent article on the website The Fashion Law<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0which I obtained the above information and which is quite detailed with examples of these sadly not unusual\u00a0practices.<\/p>\n

The influencer lack of transparency, a common and tiresome habit:<\/h3>\n

Because\u00a0indeed, these practices are extremely common<\/strong> among influencers but not just them, among many bloggers in general. It’s so ‘normal’ that nobody is really shocked about it anymore\u00a0as Jane from the excellent British Beauty Blogger blog writes\u00a0in her article<\/a> in reaction to The Fashion Law feature.
\nIn fact, every time a blogger\/ YouTuber \/ Instagramer\u00a0says good things about a product, you just end up thinking, oh well, she must have been paid to do so<\/strong>.
\nSo finally, all these very consensual\u00a0blogs, YouTube channels or\u00a0Instagram accounts are so much like the women’s magazines I used to read. All the honest reviews<\/strong>, the sharing<\/strong>, the story of a true life experiences<\/strong> are slowly disappearing.<\/p>\n

The vast majority of people blog because they genuinely enjoy<\/strong> it. They buy products themselves and they just talk about them. There are also some professionals bloggers who do their job with\u00a0transparency and honesty<\/strong>. But doubt<\/strong> has started to set in\u00a0amongst readers.
\nAnd I’m the first to feel obliged to report on my blog and my Instagram that my posts are not sponsored (they never are). I take pride in stating things clearly because I don’t want to be associated with this group of liar (or at best biased) bloggers who hide the relationships they have with brands.<\/p>\n

All these practices create a distrust<\/strong> of both influencers and bloggers and a lot of people also\u00a0consider them as profiteers<\/strong> who use their blogs to benefit from services and free products.
\nLast week, I watched a TV\u00a0report on a\u00a0French television channel which described travel bloggers basically\u00a0as\u00a0“smart-ass guys” who take advantage of “free holidays” through their blogs. Some journalists are quick to forget the huge part of work\u00a0behind a blog<\/strong>, especially in the case of a full time blogger.<\/p>\n

Because being a successful blogger or YouTuber definitely requires a lot of work<\/strong>! The behavior of many bloggers and influencers that sell us their dream life by showing\u00a0on their blogs and social media that\u00a0they spend their time eating cupcakes while bathing in lipsticks<\/a> maintain this illusion of “lazy profiteers”.
\nIt’s a total illusion<\/strong> and to pretend\u00a0you\u00a0never work is actually hard work as Marie-Eve, one of the bloggers behind the Canadian blog Look Du Jour tells us in her\u00a0great post\u00a0about\u00a0the Instagram backstage<\/a>\u00a0(this feature is in French).\u00a0She was in a hotel in Palm Springs at the same time as 3 famous Instagramers and she could see that behind the super cool girlie week-end photos they showed on their Instagram account, it was in fact a lot time and logistics. They spent the weekend doing photo shootings that left very little room for relaxing and fun. But it’s true that telling your audience that your super cool stay in Palm Springs was actually a commercial partnership, certainly involving a large amount of money, hotel and flights paid for by the brand and also a lot of work\u00a0is clearly\u00a0less glamorous and above all, it doesn’t sell<\/strong>…<\/p>\n

Conclusion:<\/h3>\n

It’s hard to be a smart consumer<\/strong>\u00a0with all these secretive\u00a0practices, isn’t it?<\/p>\n

Fortunately, the law has already started to get involved and for example, since 2009, US bloggers are obliged to notify the advertising nature of sponsored articles. Concealing payment received for writing an article can be penalized with a fine of several thousand dollars<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

If the legislation is a possible answer, these practices especially raise ethical issues<\/strong> with the lack of respect towards readers<\/strong>.
\nA blogger may decide to stay totally independent<\/strong> and reject any partnership with the brands. But they can also have a more open attitude towards some partnerships with brands and be totally transparent<\/strong>. If you don’t want people to know what you are doing, why risk it all by doing it anyway?
\nFor example, many bloggers explain they only accept requests from brands they already love, warning their readers beforehand that they only speak of products they sincerely appreciate. This needs to be the truth though. As I said earlier, if\u00a0all this is clearly mentioned<\/strong> in the article, this is not a problem for me as a reader.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, a lot of readers aren’t fooled<\/strong> by these practices and become more and more aware of the growing business aspect\u00a0of the blogging community. They are demanding more transparency <\/strong>from influencers. Just take a look at\u00a0some big influencers\u00a0Instagram posts or YouTube channel comments section<\/a> and you’ll see for yourself. Because blog readers (or YouTube subscribers) want above all a form of authenticity<\/strong> that they can’t find in the mainstream media otherwise why bother. And, for a blogger, this responsibility<\/strong> towards their audience is perhaps the most effective constraint. Indeed, a blogger who no longer has the trust\u00a0of their readers has no legitimacy<\/strong> and without it, will\u00a0simply no longer be read or watched<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The link between brand and influencer (or blogger) is dangerous when it doesn’t say its\u00a0name<\/strong>.
\nInitially known for their independence, their passion and their critical mind, the same reason brands want to use\u00a0them (or should I be saying work with them?) (I’m not so sure), the misleading influencers<\/strong>\u00a0are responsible for the decline in trust<\/strong> of their readers. And the dishonest brands that push\u00a0them to conceal the true nature of their partnerships are also guilty of perverting<\/strong> the original spirit of blogging. At the moment, it’s not really a problem\u00a0for them, there are many “influencers” candidates ready to sell their popularity\u00a0for a few dollars. But for readers who may want to read\u00a0authentic and disinterested posts, this is a mess<\/strong>. This is such a shame\u00a0for the many bloggers who are just trying to share their passion with\u00a0objectiveness\u00a0and sincerity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I really have to tell you: thankfully\u00a0I’m lucky enough to have a special relationship with my readers who often comment here or who reach me\u00a0on social media, because I assure you that sometimes, it’s very difficult to stay motivated with all this going on<\/strong>! wink<\/span> <\/p>\n

I’m very curious to know if this topic interests you and what are your thoughts regarding\u00a0the blogging and the influencers. Please, feel free to leave me a comment!<\/h3>\n

Photo credit: bonniegarner.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yes, now, if you have a blog that generates a lot of traffic, a successful YouTube channel or Instagram account (and\/or Snapchat \/ Twitter \/ Facebook…) with a lot of subscribers\/followers, you’re no longer part of the common bloggers category anymore, no, you’re now an influencer. The result is that blogging has became a lot more focused on business than it previously was, and partnerships with brands are now completely OK.
\nWon’t bloggers risk losing their independence through too many partnerships with brands? And what about the honesty & transparency with their readers?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"wide-image-layout","iawp_total_views":22,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,527],"tags":[1744,1738,1476,1739,1740,1735,1741,1728,1727,1395,1730,1742,1733,1743,1734,1175,1737,1392,1467,1731,742,1745,1729,1732,1145,1736],"class_list":["post-8816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-autres","category-opinions","tag-ad","tag-aimee-song","tag-becca","tag-becca-gate","tag-blog","tag-bloggers","tag-blogging","tag-blogs","tag-brands-and-influencers-les-liaisons-dangereuses","tag-champagne-pop","tag-collaborations","tag-collabs","tag-ethic","tag-ftc","tag-influencers","tag-instagram","tag-instagramers","tag-jaclyn-hill","tag-laura-mercier","tag-products-placements","tag-sephora","tag-song-of-style","tag-sponsored-content","tag-transparency","tag-youtube","tag-youtubers","entry","override"],"acf":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonniegarner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonniegarner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonniegarner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonniegarner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonniegarner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonniegarner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonniegarner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonniegarner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonniegarner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonniegarner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}