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!

I am actually laughing so hard at the pathetic comments from her followers, they are bitter people, jealous, have nothing in their lives.
Well, if that were true, then touchce. Is just sad no one can respond not their thread with an opposing view because it gets deleted.
Be a grown up, show you can handle an opposing view.
You all started someone and probably most of the mums on here were because of your claim to fame.

I agree Mrsdoubleskills. I assumed her Le Manoir stay was gifted and I am not jealous - I have stayed there and to be honest it isn't all that great.

The jealous thing is just mad - I don't want the gifts they get well unless Chanel are handing out bags then I may reconsider But a poor quality item from hush - no, I can leave that thanks.

And to clarify I am not saying for fact her stay at Le Manoir was a freebie just that I assume everything is nowadays when it is so heavily mentioned on social media.

Mrs even if she hadn't been gifted the Belmond stay, cynical me would assume that she was tagging/thanking them in the hope of a future gifted stay (which again would put me off, it's cringey!). There's always a motive...

I think you only need to look at the lack of exercise she does and how she brags about it on her stories but yet takes a trip to Ibiza for a trip related to exercise. I would presume to bag a lid of freebie exercise clothes, have a free holiday, get some more exposure. It’s super super fake and there are actually bloggers out there who are genuine not greedy and fame hungry.

The point for me is that I don’t want to unfollow Kat. As I’ve said, I genuinely like her style and her Stories. I just want to know whether she has been gifted the Chambers & Beau jewellery, or the Hill and Friends bag, or her recent stay at Belmond Le Manoir, or ....the list goes on. The fact that I now assume that she has been gifted all these really highlights to me that she blurs the line between her purchases and promotions

I feel the same. I've been really back and forth since yesterday about whether to unfollow or not. I haven't so far because a) she is starting to tag things now,albeit begrudgingly, and B) I do find her Stories pretty hilarious and c) she isn't wildly bitchy normally. She's lost her temper over this, but then she's always been open about how often she loses her temper, so it's not a huge shock. It's not like she had some beatific mask that's slipped.

The people I unfollowed in this wave and the last have been people who startled me with their bad vibes towards their own readership, who were bitchy-under-the-guise-of-witty on Instastories, or who were just clogging up my feed with incredibly dull and po faced content about "good value cashmere"

They're no loss. But I would miss Kat Farmer as I do fundamentally like her enormously. I just wish she'd gotten ahead of the need for transparency long before this, and this thread would never even have happened.

Her response to this thread seemed to be to rile up her followers, I found that pretty ugly.

Are they all her own followers or people her agency have requested to follow her, therefore ingenious again

#Disingenuous

I was disappointed when Elle @featheringtheempty_nest blocked me for politely suggesting (by DM on Stories, so not even publicly) that she might think about mentioning to her followers that she gets a small kick back when they click on her links that operate via rstyle.me.

What really bothers me is that she, and others, make out that they've been working really hard to chase down these links for their followers (you know the kind of thing - 'here's a link to the dress that you all loved so much, and I've managed to get you the same 20% off code that I got') when the whole thing is a campaign from the start.

I do not mind affiliate links at all but I do mind being duped. Why not just be transparent and mention that you will be using affiliate links on your site/in your Stories etc.

I have just checked her newly updated website and as far as I can see, there is still no mention of affiliate links (unless I've missed it).

Again can we just shout out to mid life chic who appears to me to be very transparent over who's approached her to work with them etc etc. I find her very genuine. I don't know her before anyone asks!

A very good friend of mine has just told me that Kat has received thousands of pounds worth of stuff from just one company she promotes, and this is a small company not one of the well known ones. As far as I can see she has never said that these items were gifts. But the company in question has had a lot of sales from Kat's blog and IG. So it does seem to work very well for the small not very well known brands. Let's see if Kat does list all these items as freebies!

What about the hair appointments, facials, nights away, clothes, shoes, bags, holidays, not once mentioned they are given to her. And really, if she does start now, hasn't it already left a sour taste?

I was disappointed when Elle @featheringtheempty_nest blocked me for politely suggesting (by DM on Stories, so not even publicly) that she might think about mentioning to her followers that she gets a small kick back when they click on her links that operate via rstyle.me.

[I'm not referring to this blogger specifically] They just don't seem to get the point that the reason they're supposed to disclose their use of affiliate links is so that we can make our own decision as to whether we want to use their link to click through and therefore earn them a commission if we make a purchase. Some bloggers I have no problem with using their link knowing they might make a commission. Others I think, no I'm not giving you the click. But the point is it's my choice as a consumer how I shop and without the transparency, I can't make that choice. By the way, the rules on affiliate linking on social media are clearly set out by the ASA, they're just not being very well enforced.

And I totally agree with the PP who said that there's a lot of tagging and mentioning brands in the hope that they might want to work with bloggers in the future. It's a "look at me...look at me!!" approach, a way for them get noticed and pitch themselves to brands they'd like to collaborate with. That's fine in my opinion (albeit a bit try-hard) but the waters again get muddied if they do strike up a working relationship and the reader can't tell the difference between the pitch posts and actual collaborative posts. And it just speaks to this whole debate that sometimes we just can't tell if there's a working relationship or not. We shouldn't be left speculating (see Le Manoir). It should be spelled out in no uncertain terms. It's not difficult at all so the fact that there's so much ambiguity shows that there is at some level an intention not to be completely transparent.

Today’s DMBL40 insta outfit post shows the extent of the gifting....

Yes people are going to get their eyes opened now as to just how much free stuff is being sent to these top bloggers. I wonder if the "I don't care if she gets stuff sent for free" brigade suddenly change their tune to "well wait a minute I didn't realize she was getting sent this much free stuff"! Although the cynic in me thinks just because they get sent it, now they've committed to disclosing it all, they just won't wear it and feature it. There's a fine line between between being transparent and completely alienating your readers.

I've read this thread from start to finish.

I'm very taken aback at the Insta reaction to it. All people asked for was transparency and honesty with regards to freebies and product placement. Like the big P at the bottom of a TV show. It's not hard.

Yes today's DMBL post shows the extent of the gifts that you might never have known.

I’m pleased Kat has included whether the items have been gifts. That is all I really cared about. I’m not concerned about the volume, just the transparency.

It is a bit of an eye opener...what i find frustrating is when for e.g. they ask for recommendations for things, the cynic in me now just thinks they are trying to blag a freebie. Usually a few days later there is a instastory thanking or tagging a company but it isnt clear if the item was paid for? Leaves a bad taste especially when they are sent loads for free anyway.

I'm not surprised at the items that are now marked as gifted. I'm still scratching my head slightly at the outrage about integrity being challenged. But whatevs, I have better things to do.

As I have said previously on this thread, I think DMBL does a great job, her posts are fresh and I have bought stuff she has featured and will probably continue to do so whether its gifted or not. But at least I will go into buying decisions with an open mind about whether the bloggers are being paid to 'influence' me or not. It does matter.

I've seen other Instagrammers go 'woah' and delete posts which have turned into mudslinging bunfights though and my personal view is that awful 'ignore the haters/twats/dumplings (WTF)/f**kers) post should have been slung in the bin.

As an added bonus though I now know which brands I will avoid in future - ones that tell their potential customers to 'jog on' being amongst the ones that I won't bother shopping with in future

I've been lurking reading the thread for the last few days, and first of all kudos to MN that it's been allowed; I used to belong to an Irish forum and similar threads were overly censored through complaints by precious egos making debate impossible. One brave blogger Rosemary McCabe came on to tell her side of the story and how she calculated the worth of her social media exposure to a sponsor including on a gift 'exchange'. She didn't see the need to tag the posts as #ad or #sponsored either, but I think she has now changed her approach. Lots of other Irish bloggers got huffy on their snapchats / IGs etc proclaiming "Haters" etc

A different market but if any of you are on Facebook and follow the Tasty page; they often have a disclaimer on posts with affiliate links stating if you use it, they might make a bit of money. That's fine, I don't mind if you do providing I know you did. I had nothing against affiliate links and even seek them out sometimes to support preferred charities.

The Irish forum drama (plus the IG timeline change) turned me off a lot of bloggers, but I might have to dip my toes in again. The only blogs I check regularly now are makeupsavvy and The Sunday Girl

'Dumplings'?

This thread gets better and better. And I disagree about binning those posts. I hope they stay up there for all time for everyone to see.

I'm almost tempted to wander over there but I would hate to give Gleam the satisfaction.

Dumpling? Aye I'm a dumpling full of hate.

No I'm a very happy, very intelligent person who can see through the hype.

Consider my hard earned cash never ever coming your way, especially those commenting who are affiliated with brands or represent them.

You are running ads disguised as blogs.

If you want to insult the people who pay your wages, carry on. See how long it lasts.

It really shouldn't take a of bunch of hating dumplings on the internet to make sure this kind of clarity is given though. Instagram needs to get its act together and the ASA needs to move with the times.