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’ve also been thinking more about transparency. This issue is, in my mind, so similar to the challenges and debates around digitally altered images used in the fashion press (and other media, but specifically fashion in this instance). It’s about portraying something which isn’t quite what it seems. It’s about offering aspirations which are actually much harder to achieve than they may first seem.

I agree 100% with this.

I've been thinking about it too, and came to the same conclusion as berryupset - the amount of stuff being gifted gives a false impression of value. Most of us, even if we can afford the odd bigger-ticket item, have to be pretty certain they're going to be worth the investment in terms of versatility, longevity etc. When bloggers show numerous pieces they haven't paid for (or not in full, anyway) it makes them seem artificially accessible, even like wardrobe basics. I know that we're intelligent grown ups who have to make decisions about what we can afford for ourselves, based on our own circumstances, but I do still find this sort of marketing insidious. The 'gifted' tag will make it easier to see through it and serve as a reminder that, in spite of all the emphasis on bff relateability, there's a fundamental difference between them and the vast majority of their audience.

I think some bloggers need to read Erica Davies Instagram post from a few days ago, she’s has said too she’s going to put a (g) beside what she’s been gifted. Lots of posts thanking her for this and she’s responding positively and nicely.

OddMolly, exactly about giving false impressions.

DMBL40 recently in a blog post told us all that she loved leather bikers so much that she had XX number of them in different fit & lengths. Making people think that perhaps one leather biker was no good, they should aspire to having several.

She forgot to mention that reason she has so many is because several of them were gifted. If she had to buy them herself, in all probability, she would only have one or two.

I've been following this thread with interest. There seems to be a real difference between those bloggers with a professional background in fashion or marketing (like the Frugality, mid life chic and Erica Davies) and those bloggers who started off as SAHM who like shopping in terms of how they are dealing with the issues around transparency, gifting, sponsored posts, responsibility to their followers etc. It feels like the first group understand the complexity of the issues and are trying to act responsibly while the latter group either don't get it or simply don't care.

This is what I said earlier in the thread. No professionalism in this field because of having no qualifications or previous work experience in fashion other then having some local mums say ‘you should start a blog, you can put an outfit together’, there is a very big difference and this is the point where it is most evident. Hence the ‘throwing the toys out of the pram’ behaviour. If you reach a certain pinnacle in your ‘job’ take on the responsibilities necessary.
i find a certain group of bloggers that go to the same events, post same gifts, same brands, dull and uninspiring. Be different, be aware of needs and paramount don’t be a princess.
Are they able to tick all those boxes?

I completely agree with the PPs re the impressions of value. The other conclusion I came to regarding gifting was around how you allocate your scarce resources (your cash) and how that feeds into the message of value. If you have £1k to spend on a bag (lucky ol' you) then you would have various options of which bag to buy. If you are gifted a bag then yes, you probably think its fabulous, but would you have chosen that particular bag to buy? Having that bag gifted and not disclosed suggests to other people that bag is of greater worth to you (and them) than all the other options you could have spent your money on. Meanwhile you still have your £1k which you can go and spend in Balenciaga or APC or wherever.

Instagram is a marketing dream. Pay for an ad in a magazine and most people will skim over it. On IG, most people who have clicked on your page have already made an conscious signal that they are interested in your brand (or your style, in the case of a blogger), so the more stuff you pump out the chances are they are going to take the hook and buy one of them.

I had a look at the Erica Davies page and she has handled this really well. She sees the transparency issue as an opportunity and not a threat, like other bloggers. That (g a/w16) is far less obvious than a (g). In fact, I missed the Jigsaw g until it was pointed out on this thread.

More bloggers are now implementing new disclosures, and I realised my feed was basically all ads this morning - even Bright Bazaar (who I love) was flogging contact lenses, and Courtney Adamo (also love) was sponsored by a bag. They were both far more clear about it though, and it came across as far more professional.

IG is basically all ads now, that is way more apparent. Its a shame, because its really so far away from how it started as little insights into people's lives, which was really very charming.

I’m not sure transparency is about whether there’s a fashion background or not. Witblog doesn’t seem to like to talk about the financial side and she was / is a fashion editor?

Witblog & Wardrobe icons confuse me. I can’t decide who their target market is or what they’re all about. They do give good fashion advice at times but most of the time it seems their aim is to dress up and pose for the cameras. The clothes they link to and feature on their shopping page are pretty high end with a few token less expensive items included.

I read an interview with Wit some time ago and she said one of the things that surprised her about her followers was that they bought so much whereas she was gifted a lot of her stuff. It wasn't at all cloak and dagger just a statement of how it worked.

"DMBL40 recently in a blog post told us all that she loved leather bikers so much that she had XX number of them in different fit & lengths. Making people think that perhaps one leather biker was no good, they should aspire to having several.”

And to think that for years she didn’t like them, she said they looked too Danny Zuko, and she also didn’t like trainers.

@pinkhousesarebest - I think it was on her blog. Part of the interview with the below:

Do you think you should be more transparent about which things you are given and which things you buy? People may think you're only saying something is good because you were given it...

Her answer:

It's become obvious to me that people, in general, do want to see that transparency. But I feel really uncomfortable talking about how I get paid in my line of work, and I think anyone else, from a lawyer to an architect, would feel the same. For some reason in fashion it's different and people are expected to be ‘transparent’ in a way that’s almost a privacy invasion. The bottom line is, I would never wear and promote something I don't believe in. I work in fashion, so whether I have been gifted it, bought it with a press discount, in the sales, at the outlets, or full price it doesn't make a difference, if it's on WIT it's because it's worth owning.

WIT (the blog) doesn't exist anymore so that quote above probably doesn't apply now. Certainly if there's anything high street on Wardrobe Icons it'll be from M&S or J Crew.

Slightly off topic but after last week's "issue" I don't think I want to put the word "professional" in the same sentence as WIT/Icons lol (typos, contradictions and errors galore). But like Dilly said it's really just an excuse for them to dress up (and play at having a business).

But I feel really uncomfortable talking about how I get paid in my line of work

So is the implication here that gifted items are considered "payment in kind" for working with brands? I'd really love to see a discussion on how that's declared through tax returns. HMRC would have a field day!

Any gift (above £10) I am not allowed to accept.My business code of conduct does not allow it, it's considered extravagant.

Sponsorship falls into this category also. I have to ensure everything is transparent and visible.

There are plenty of available options online for gift giving ethics.

Perhaps this us where I fall short. There is not a hope I could operate like this in my job so perhaps I have that in mind elsewhere.

Yes - how does that work when it comes to income declaration?

I cannot accept tickets for events (racecourses, sporting events etc. ) without declaring it.

Er - what? Architecture and practising law didn't start out as hobbies. Nobody is pretending to design buildings for free out of love for the job.

Everyone now knows that the celebs peddling L'Oreal or Clinique don't really use it and are being paid. One day everyone will know this about bloggers too but right now they do not. Bottom line - blogging and instagram is advertising that is pretending not to be advertising.

Some bloggers and Instagrammers don't make any secret of the fact that they go on to sell these gifted items. Some even set up separate sale pages on Instagram to offload them. That's surely income received as a result of running a business (albeit in a roundabout way). I'd hazard a guess none of it's being declared.

Any gift (above £10) I am not allowed to accept.My business code of conduct does not allow it, it's considered extravagant.

We have crazy complex rules about this. We are allowed to accept larger value gifts if it would cause offense to refuse but we have to tell the gifter there will be a raffle among all staff for the item. It's interesting to see which supplier gives what. The ones that are in the same industry give token gifts (I got a notebook, a decorated biscuit, and a mini charger for my phone today) with the odd raffle with higher price prizes. But the secretary who arranges our away days gets tons of amazing gifts from the hotels we use, mainly tickets to nice events. Think the last raffle was for tickets to a gin tasting and there have been Wimbledon tickets etc as well. Some industries seem to be much less worried about fraud than ours .

I'm torn because a part of me just thinks none of these women started to make money and we're all learning together. There isn't a guide for them to follow so when people dislike something they'll learn and it'll grow that way. However I think some bloggers flaunt their winnings in a very inappropriate way and agree that Annelli Bush is one of them. I find her daily hauls saddening. she can't be the only one to receive that amount of stuff but is the only one to show off about it all and it's sad she feels she needs to do it for validation. So as you can see I'm really torn and it puts me off Instagram which is a shame as it used to be so useful. It wasn't so much where someone got it from as how they wore it. I'm a size 12/14 and very short so I'm not represented in magazines at all but all this has put me off. If I could be steered towards some new thirty something wholesome honest women influencers I'd love it! It would be nice to turn this thread into a celebration of people who do influencing well.

Payments in kind (i.e. a product gifted in exchange for promoting it on your blog) form part of the bloggers taxable income and needs to be declared. Same for sponsorship income and the heavy discounts as well. A blogger would be taxed on the open market value of the gift, or their normal daily rate for providing those kind of marketing services. There aren't really any clever ways around these rules - almost everything is subject to tax. Many other businesses have rules around acceptance of gifts which are often to protect against conflicts of interest arising, not solely for tax purposes. The whole transparency debate is all about conflicts of interest really.

Susie So So is one of my favourite bloggers and is still doing her own thing. Seems like Wardrobe Icons is just a pat on the back for those in the 'icons' exclusive circle these days. I used to love WIT when she mixed high & low fashion so well but she was never transparent.

I have just found this tread, and wow. I was wondering exactly about this recently. I love Instagram, and reading bloggers blogs but I s prefer to know what they be paid for or what is a gift or if they have a relationship through their PR manager with the brand.
I was looking at MOD Instagram - her kids are gorgeous and always dressed like they re on a mini fashion shoot, she s always wearing cool gear and just moved house, recently she had a Gucci disco bag and was showing how much she loved shoes- my mind boggles as to how she can afford all this. It s just that I know the area she works in, and I know how writing books doesn’t make you a zillionaire overnight, so how do you make it work that you can have that kind of disposable income to drop on kids clothes and amazing bags ? If there s a secret to it I want to know.

I stopped following MOD when she was dropping huge hints about the Mulberry Clemmie bag on her stories. Being so blatantly grabby is not a good look.

Erica Davies giving a masterclass in how to respond to criticism and debate this morning.