Bloggers and brands

[homebythesea]

I love blogs, YouTube, Instagram etc but sometimes do wonder what's in it for the brands especially regarding blogger events.

Straight up reviews of things they get sent I totally get- they try things on/ use a face cream, wax lyrical about how great the thing is, people click through and buy said item. Straightforward advertising. No problem with that at all.

But when a blogger is invited to a dinner, or night away at a hotel, or a movie premiere by a brand I just don't get what is worth the expense? From the blogger perspective they get a night out and a goodie bag and maybe even paid to attend. But what does the brand get in return? A brief tag on an Instagram pic, some photos of beautiful place settings at dinner......but not necessarily sales?? These events must cost thousands to put on.

Hopefully someone with some knowledge about these things will enlighten us!

Sorry for cross post - I meant my own comment about 'always following the same pattern' was a little unfair, not botemp or paint's posts!

In all fairness, I have no clue who KF is and don't really care to as my interest in fashion bloggers is pretty much nil. However, I'd imagine that it's difficult to separate personal feelings from something that once started as a personal hobby that became a comfy little community that's then turned into a business empire that's so closely related to a persona (real or created, it doesn't matter it's tied to the self in some form). That's why anyone with a decent following stops reading comments and negative feedback and has that outsourced.

What I've found more surprising in this specific response is the timing, I understand being a blogger is a 24/7 type of business but I'd imagine that at the level she's operating at you'd schedule posts in order to achieve that. In her place, I'd guard my free time like a hawk, if not for my own sanity but at the very least in respect to those surrounding me. Why ruin your weekend over it, a response to this thread could have easily come today at which point this thread would have died a silent death already and it could have been ignored completely. You win some, you lose some, unless numbers are drastically plummeting and putting your business at risk the need for urgency is a bit lost on me in this case.

The mention of Gleam management does bring out the cynical speculator in me, leaving me to think the timing is deliberately advised as that allowed for a time period where her followers would have the spare time to retaliate or offer counter-arguments in this, tying them further to the blogger in their defense of both KF and by extension the community of followers that surround her. I haven't seen the Insta story or the comments underneath but from the descriptions above it pretty much reads like a pledge party to the unwavering knowledge that KF is an honest and decent blogger, exactly what her brand needs to continue to grow.

All speculation on my part, obviously.

Well I know that some brands and agencies that have to deal with bloggers/vloggers have become rather disenchanted shall we say.

And chloelovestoshop is a classic example of someone who will not accept any criticism at all on her insta.

In fact a lot seem to say that they don't like negativity on their feeds which is fair enough but then they get cross when there are threads like this. So I'm not sure where exactly people are allowed to discuss the issues of disclosure exploitation of children's privacy etc?

That's why everyone loves instagram because everyone is nothing but gushy and positive on there, lots left Facebook because it can be very passive aggressive wheras instagram somehow avoids all of that.

I agree there's nothing new about a business trying to pose as your friend. (Anyone remember those 'your friendly bank manager who lives in your wardrobe' adverts? Boy were they weird!) But when people asking perfectly straightforward questions are written off as 'jealous' or 'haters' then we really have reached a whole new level.

That's why I think it's better to stay away from personal comments. We are their clients - and more to the point, so are our kids - and while their personal lives are none of our concern, we're perfectly entitled to ask about how they run their business.

I wasnt going to mention any by name any more but I see that kat is still defending herself against new comments today saying that she was missing the point of this thread. I wasn’t annoyed by her before but I am now, the defensiveness is very unprofessional and I agree with flo, that this is a business so behave professionally!

I suspect that getting us annoyed may be part of the tactic. When you're annoyed, you're far more likely to get distracted and end up saying something inappropriate. (Or is that just me? )

Could be flo!

There are a lot of 'you are wonderful hun' posts on Instagram

So much hun-ing. ‘Ignore the haterz lols’.

Disagree with you there heather, if people want to flaunt a certain lifestyle, regardless as to whether it's made up of freebies or not, they are free to do whatever they like and earn some money with it. If it doesn't appeal to you, you are free to ignore it.

They're not shoving it down your face unless you're actively following it. I fail to see how that's 'disgusting' and if they're only doing it for the freebies they would never last long or be able to turn that into a profitable business as that does require entrepreneurial talent.

Blogging is work and need not be dismissed as anything that it isn't, all I care about is that they adhere and are held to standards like any other industry.

It does seem that a lot of the most unprofessional bloggers (wrt transparency/reaction to normal criticism etc) are the ones who don't seem to have had paid employment recently. For instance I could not imagine the frugality or laura fantacci acting like this - two examples who've properly worked in fashion journalism as stylists and now run their own blogs/businesses. Not saying every blogger who was previously a SAHM is like this of course, but maybe there's a correlation, as the ones who get the most criticism seem to be in that category. (Thinking of the recent instamums threads as well)

The Brand Ambassadors Agency, who represent several of the brands that are pushed on Instagram (Air & Grace et al) commented with "Twats". Twice!

Super SUPER professional.

Hi botemp, I actually don't bother reading half of their stuff anymore because it has no purpose in my life and i would like to point out that I feel zero envy towards them either.
I am also totally aware that everyone should feel free to comment as and how they want and that is all I'm simply doing on this thread, as are you.
I think some bloggers have personally changed beyond all recognition and should therefore stop trying to appeal to the masses and now concentrate on their target audience.
Perhaps this is where their naivety is evident.

heather I don't read them any more either. I find them unspeakably dull and I'm really only on this thread because a) my young niece follows some of them and b) I'm fascinated by how it works.

But it's their business practices that make me If people want to make this about their personalities or their lifestyles then as you say, it's up to them but personally I think it's a big mistake and I want no part of it.

And when I say I find them dull, I mean of course their work, not them personally. I've no idea what they're like as people and I don't care.

I don't disagree with you there, heather. I think it's a natural development that a core audience is lost if a blogger with a USP hitched on high street and bargains morphs into an ostentatious high-end lifestyle with a disregard for the cost of things.

When they switch the narrative from relatable to aspirational that's their risk to take. However, I don't see that as an issue of transparency and bloggers as raised on this thread, just general disappointment of how something you once enjoyed turned sour.

What's disappointing is the insistance that we have no right to even discuss it here. Same fallout as on the last thread.

This is a meeting place where people discuss EVERYTHING. But when we discuss or dissect the business practices of BUSINESSES on Instagram, we're absolutely eviscerated.

The names people are slinging around! Unreal.

Its like the cult of the believers over on IG, no wonder its rife with advertising. Its a marketing person's dream!

Let them shout as much as they like. It means it's getting to them.

Of course it's getting to them, when people respond that emotionally it means you're painfully hitting a point of truth, self-denied or not.

Could someone post a full list of the Brand Ambassadors client list, would be much appreciated as their website seems to be inaccessible to me?

I do just wish that general consumers understood how much some Instagramers are charging for a post. Plenty seem to think it's just a mention in exchange for free stuff but that doesn't pay the bills.

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/instagram-fashion-bloggers-how-much-do-they-earn-sponsored-posts-zoella-susie-lau-a7350131.html

Candace Fremder, senior account director at PR firm Thrsxty, added: "In order to access large and relevant social media followings, brands are paying anywhere from £1,500 - £300,000 per Instagram post, depending on the level of influencer.

"For an A-list talent you are looking at a starting point of £50,000 per post."

I'd like to see a Brand Ambassador list too. I wonder what their clients think about an agency that represents them calling their potential customers 'twats'?