Both Groups s02w08 - influencers

Before the intro, next Monday we are scheduled to start at 8:30am but because I'm incredibly nice I'll put the start time back to 9am so that you can stay in bed for an extra 30 minutes. I'm not sure if we'll be in your class or downstairs in the exam room but you can see when you arrive.

Right, Elsa chose the subject for this week and because the second group didn't choose a subject and this one is soooo interesting I thought you could all do the same topic. Influencers - what do you think about them in general? Who do you follow? What effect do you think they have on marketing and advertising? And everything else you want to tell me about them including some examples....

Have fun. see you on Monday.

Don't forget your videos.

I think influencers drive the attention economy (where content creators want their audience's full attention to generate more views and earn more YouTube money). To be an influencer isn't easy : they produce, edit and promote original content themselves, and they have to avoid talking about certain topics as the WW 1&2... because if they do so, the concerned videos would be demonetized (they wouldn't earn money from advertising).

If we are talking about YouTube influencers I personnaly witnessed an evolution in the quality of their videos. I personnaly watch french influencers most of the time : micode (explaining cybersecurity to the general public), le raptor dissident (giving its point of view on the french politics without any self censorship), amixem (a vlogger, traveler, podcaster ...) and Squeezie (a gamer); and PewDiePie (a meme reviewer, a gamer, a vlogger...) mostly for the US influencers.

I think there are two types of influencers : the nice and the traitors.

The first category is still doing a great job, they stay in their skills domains and there is a logic behind their role. They choose to say Yes or No, depending of the product's coherence with their jobs, contents and expertise. They also are the type of influencers who say "this is a product placement, but no worry I really like it" and you know it's the truth.

And there is the second category, the traitors and liars. They have an audience, they want the money, and they don't care about coherence or sincerity. These influencers shouldn't have any audience.

I have to admit that I'm talking about Youtubers and Instagramers, principally. This is kinda different for "people", like athletes with sponsors. But in this case, they sould be careful when they make a sponsor's choice : is it good for my image, what is its brand's image?

To be an influencer is quite hard because you can easily do a mistake and shock lots of people. You need to stay conscious that you have a true power, that lots of people are listening you. You can't say what you want (well you can but you have to take care of the consequences).

Influencers are really common in brand's strategy, because it's really cheap and it has a wonderful power on people. But for me there is an ethical debate here : is it ok to use your influence for brand's products? I prefer humanitarian influencers, with great causes, much more than marketing influencers.

Hi everybody !

I think this topic is interesting for us, as people studying marketing !
And influencers became marketing profesionals !
In my future internship, I will be responsible for partnership. I will be in charge finding influencers on Internet to talk about the brand and present the product. I have never done this before but I think it will be interesting. Indeed, for brands, influencers is an efficience target because they have people following and listening to them. They can recommend a product and its benefits. And some of them have nerver tried it...
But as Clément said, there are limits. Influencers ar recommending product only because they earn a lot of money doing it. They are losing their sincerity toward their followers and I think is not fair. It can be risky accepting all partnerships wit different brands because followers can feel betrayed and stop following him. So they have to deal with it and be conscientious.

Hello !

When I think about influencers, I immediately think of those who make humorous videos like Norman that I followed at the time of his first videos.

But the influencers also make me think of fashion bloggers that I follow on instagram. This allows me to have many ideas of look to which I will not necessarily have thought before. When they gain a certain notoriety, it's true that they are approached by some brands to promote their products and it can seem oppressive when the publications are bombarded with promotional code.

But each person has the choice to refuse certain partnership if they don't agree with their own opinion. The problem with these innumerable partnerships is that the consumer may very well get lost and no longer trust the person who promotes the product and therefore the brand. I think it's a question of gauging. Brands must first and foremost target the right influencers in order to be ok with their brand image and then not become too insistent.

Hi everyone,

I think this topic is a very interesting one for us.

Influencers are people that can influence society, economy and people lifestyle and decisions. I think they always existed but in different forms and approaches. In fact we can compare antic philosophes giving advices to people and politics standing in the forum to new generation thinker expressing themself through the web.

Nowadays influencers can have a lot of background and been in contact with different publics thanks to different tools. Bill Gate uses his company, products and charity to adresse his messages to entrepreneurs and economic actors. Artists and Lifestyle Influencers are using youtube and social networks..

In my opinion influencers are good to help people evolving and opening their minds on various topics. I am not following ones in particular and I prefer to listen/read the better for each topic

Hi everyone!

I hope you'll find this topic interesting, I choose to propose it because as Nolwenn said, as future marketers, we need to be conscious that the new efficient marketing is made on social media.

Personally, when I think about digital influencers, I immediatly think about TV reality contestants. I was really impressed to see that they are able to earn tons of money just by saying they like some sort of tea on Snapchat. People are making a lot of jokes about the TV reality contestants, and I can only agree with those jokes, but we can't deny that behind all those stupid TV shows, there is a real business that brands have discovered. In fact, these people's life is followed by thousands of young people on Instagram, Snapchat... The audience is sometimes even larger than the one of famous TV shows on the main channels, and paying a TV reality contestant to promote a skin cream on his social media is far far cheaper than advertising the same skin cream on TV, and that explains why marketers are that much involved in this new phenomenon.

In my opinion, such as Clement said, it can be a good thing because it gives the opportunity to small brands with not enough money to advertize on TV to start their business. That's what happened for a lot of brands advertized by TV contestants who are now advertizing on TV. But at the same time, it disturbs me because the target, young teenagers, is really suggestible and trusts those people, and is consequently exposed to some products that shouldn't be advertized for them at their age such as teeth whitening kits, cosmetic surgery clinics, online sport-betting websites...
I think they should be warned about all of the dangers that come with the use of such products and services.

Hi,

Some influencers are bloggers, and others only use social media, but no matter the platform, it could be anything. For me good bloggers don’t write from press releases, only from personal experiences. I think there is no barrier for entry for bloggers and if their niche audience or quality of their content isn’t up to your standards, you can say no. That's the point because they are generating content about the brand, they are recommending the brand to their loyal following, and they are inserting themselves into conversations surrounding the niche of the brand. To their audiences, influencers are seen as knowledgeable, passionate, authentic, and viewed as a trusted source of product recommendations. To companies and brands they are a way to reach a wider audience.

Hi.
For me an influencer can be everyone, no matter who is good or bad. In the daily life, their actions can be agreed by others and be also imitated. I think for a child it is important to set up a good example when who can not tell what is good or bad, because the children can be easily attracted by some strange people, especially in the familly where the parents haven't enough time to look after their kids. This child can be influenced by some "bad" examples, in the real life, on the Internet...
I really think that some youtubers have filmed some bad things. They franked people and filmed it, uploading on the Internet to attract more people to follow them. Their aim are really simple: make more people to follow them. But they don't know their videos attracted also many teenagers. For instance, last week, my neighbor, Maxime shared a video with me and in the video a man were flopping on the floor on purpose in some public places to observe the others' reaction. In the beganing, il seems normal but gradually he blooped this in the supermarket, when he dropped on the floor, he pulled down many shelves, many products on the shelves have been damaged. I felt not good when I was watching the video and after that I send him a message why he shared this video with me, he replied "It's so funny isn't it?" So even for a teenager it is also difficult to distinguish what is correct what is wrong, I think the website should do something to improve it.

It becomes difficult to miss the news of influencers and influencers through social networks, so the subject is discussed. The brands swear by them to ensure their sales and boost the launch of their new products.

(On Youtube, Blog, Facebook, Instagram)

Even me, I'm follow influencers, to have access to good deal but also to entertain me.

Influencers continue to grow, as the years pass and younger generations engage in social networks with disconcerting ease.
If an influencer is now followed by tens of thousands of Internet users, there is no saying that the commitment can be followed and that a dialogue is established between him and his community.

If influencers exert a real influence today, what will happen if distance increases and commitment is lost at the expense of sales at all costs? There is a risk of skewing influence marketing and highlighting the advertising effect more than the relationship of trust that should emerge.

Wait and see !

Hi !! I would talk about TV reality contestants !

I have to admit that I don't watch influencers... I don't watch tuto, or anything else on youtube so I'm not very much exposed to these kind of marketing. Sometimes, I see some product placements by TV reality contestants but I skip it faster than I can because I don't like to watch it, it's boring and false. Moreover, tu fact that TV reality contestants promote these products makes me feel bad against these products. I know how some contestants are bad people and selfish, so when they say that this kind of tea is good for health, and say "I would not say that if it was bad for you", I can't believe them.

But... I have to admit something : these kind of marketing actions works very good. Indeed, some of my friends say that they have already hesitated to buy a product because they saw it in snapchat, because the famous contestant of the "Marseillais" has shown it. I don't understand how my friends can be so naive.

There is another negative point ! Some products are dangerous for the health, and the youngest people aren't aware of it. Some influencers promote teeth whitening, but this so bad for the teeth, and it can be damage enamel...

Pay attention to it, and think twice before buy these kinds of products.