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 was right just looked at her Insta and fb it's a paid ad.
Now going to check a few others who shared this campaign on insta.
Just leaves a bad taste asking everyone to donate whilst they all get paid.
If they truly believed in the cause why accept the money in this instance.
The boundaries between business and charity seem blurred here also their message they may genuinally have appreciated their midwives but when they getting paid to say this seems a bit meh.

the awful part of Mrs Meldrums instagram post is that she hasn't shared that if you add your own photo and share it with the #ThankYouMidwife that Pampers will donate £1 for each and every photo shared with that #

I'd say that's pretty important information, and makes Mrs Meldrum seem un trustworthy/transparent (un)

I'd also say its pretty shoddy of Pampers to pay bloggers and vloggers to share this message, surely there are vloggers and bloggers and instagrammers out there that would have shared the # for free as its for such a good cause?

I remember from the CH thread that the 'insider' on there made some interesting remarks about influencers and charities. It's very murky, but charity PR always has been regardless of media forms and their PR budgets are huge and they really bank on all parties involved looking good and generous out of it. Behind the scenes, however, it is a full-fledged money exercise, usually for all those involved (whether it be in the form of tax deductions or increased sales for a brand like Pampers, and a fee for influencers). It's tough to criticise though, after all, it's a charity and there are plenty of influencers who do raise money for charity simply for the sake of it.

I think with this campaign it may very well be that MM had to disclose it as an ad by the rules of the ASA as she made an agreement to feature it in a specific way, whereas those featuring it without the ad #, merely received a standard fee for featuring it in any way or on any SM platform of their choosing with only their own input on how. By ASA standards that would not be considered an ad as the creative end control is not dictated by the brand. It could also be that they simply waived the fee and offered their support regardless (or weren't offered one in the first place) but I think in this climate a savvy influencer would expressly disclose that.

My issue here with Mrs Meldrum now though is the deleting of comments. People asking very mild questions about how is it a #ad and why does it not say paid etc and someone asking why she accepted a fee and didn't donate, that the fee made I feel very disingenuous and low and behold they've all been deleted.

That's an unsubscriber here then from her and all her associated channels and instagrams. I have no issue with them being paid, I just don't like feeling like I am being lied to. Overinvested in some random stranger on the internets life? Maybe? but not anymore.

I do watch Mrs M and enjoy her vlogs but I said a while back I felt she was a typical example of a blogger/vlogger selling out, and I think this is a case in point. I get that she is being paid to raise awareness (& I don’t begrudge anyone making a living) but it seems not a great deal of thought goes into making her post(s) as on point as they should be - in this case specifically mentioning the £1 per hashtagged post thing. By omitting that information, how is that benefitting the charitable cause she is claiming to be promoting?

I have been following a few of them recently - seems all the promises to declare gifts were so much pie in the sky and they have already forgotten about transparency. Lesson learned - these bloggers do not have any regard for their readers.

Lesson learned - these bloggers do not have any regard for their readers

I’d say this applies in the main to vloggers. The least transparent of them all

Interesting blog post from Anna Hart today. I like her writing and style however Im disappointed that she resorted to writing off this whole forum based on a few posters opinions. She refers to MN as "breastfeeding boudicas". Her post is well written and i think gives a fair representation of the position some bloggers have found themselves in but the reference to MN makes me wonder if she read all the original thread?

I read the post and instantly unfollowed her. I used to like her but to be honest that reference really riled me. It is quite unfortunate that they expect people (aptly named followers) to follow like sheep and never question things.

There is one thing that bloggers/instagramers don't seem to understand.

It's not the brands that feed them, it's the clicks from people like us, the "breastfeeding Boudiccas" (what nonsense), also referred to as "twats" on the comments on the Instagram feed.

It's those clicks which brings the brands and the money.

Too bad they can't take some constructive criticism and wallow in sycophantic comments.

What a shame I had never read her so cannot unfollow. 'Breastfeeding Boudiccas' says far more about her than it does about us. And what it says is 'misogyny'.

I’ve just read that article too. It was so odd, basically trying to absolve so called influencers of responsibility to cite sponsored material because they hadn’t originally started off as commercial enterprises. Really surprised she runs social media campaigns, she came across really badly and the Mumsnet ‘breastfeeding Boudiccas’ reference was appalling.

Did anyone see the Instagram post from Erica Davies a couple of weeks ago?

It was about a monsoon skirt and went something along the lines of “once a girl saw a skirt, it was lovely, she thought about it all the way home, then decided she had to have it, went back to get it, hugged it all the way home then unwrapped it” etc etc

Then in the credits at the bottom: “skirt, monsoon (gift)”

I was a bit about that - ok, she disclosed it was a gift - but wrote the whole post as if she’d agonised for ages about whether it was worth it, and eventually bought it - WTF?!

If you read the comments under Anna’s instagram post, it’s clear all the sycophantic comments come from other bloggers! So they have an interest in not disclosing.

Interesting about the Erika Davies post. Perhaps she bought it with a voucher rather than being sent it? Can’t understand why she’d say that otherwise.

I had missed the post, AuntPol, but have just read it.

I’m conflicted with something like this. The story is (sugary) sweet, and a great, creative way to introduce the skirt, but, but, but ... the story is a crock of shit, right?

It has a slight whiff of false advertising. Which came first, her love of the skirt, or the offer by Monsoon of said skirt?

I also saw that in Erica’s Instagram and wondered about it. Lots of posts after saying “I do this too, always think about something and have to go back for it” etc etc. Clearly the story was more noticeable than the gift hashtag and did suggest she had bought it

Hello again, Erica here! Apologies for jumping back in, but as I previously commented on this thread it showed up as an alert in my emails!

Hope it's OK that I respond to your comment @auntiepol? The skirt was bought with a voucher I had been sent a while ago, which is why I stated it was a gift. But the feelings were real! I had thought about whether I REALLY needed it after seeing it in store and decided I did (!!), so I went back for it and bought it with the voucher.

I am trying to be transparent, so I'm sorry if it came across a bit ambiguous. I will make it clear if I pay for something with a voucher. I accept your point!!

Thanks for responding, Erica.

This sort of brings me back to an earlier point I raised, that the terminology around 'gift' is very diffuse, purposefully or not, and probably not used correctly. In this case I think it would be more clear to mark it as bought with vouchers courtesy of Brand X. I also feel, like with ads, for the purpose of full disclosure that kind of information should be given before the copy edit as well as at the bottom so the reader has the choice whether to continue reading or not with that information on board.

Incidentally enough, Jane from BBB put up an insightful post on her blog today wrt affiliate motivated sales that makes for an interesting read:

Behind The Scenes: Affiliates

I previously hadn't considered the Affiliate agencies as another party in this beyond the ones we've discussed here previously and their role is certainly an interesting one.

I particularly found this passage of interest:

if you do a post that is entirely affiliate led (let’s say for example a round up of winter coats or winter hats and scarves) you are supposed to mark it as #AD according to the ASA. This is to let readers know that there is a financial incentive behind the post.

The roundup post with Advent Calendars from MLC would meet that criteria (from memory, I haven't gone back and checked it again with this new bit of information, it may very well comply as a non-ad, I'm just using it as a recent example discussed here). Jane's explanation of working with preferred affiliate partners as a blogger may also explain how that HOF calendar got picked.

Also for those interested in the latest Vestoj independent ad free magazine as previously discussed (no affiliation here, if only), the release date has been set for December 18th and you can pre-order it now and get free shipping. Link here, annual issue €22, just click on the buy now button under the issue graphic for 'On Authenticity' and it'll take you to Paypal. I assume from the 18th shipping will be charged.

Thank you Erica for coming back to explain that one. I know you had responded much earlier on in the thread, so your Instagram post was very confusing for me!

What I find insulting is a lot of the bloggers calling out this thread, calling posters ‘twats’ and so on are conveniently forgetting or choosing not to acknowledge that many of us ARE their audience! I follow these people, I like their posts yet I also use mumsnet too much as do the majority of others on this thread. It will only take so many before followers start to drop like flies…

I think a PP nailed it when they said that the bloggers expect their followers to behave like sheep and not question anything.

The whole scroll on by or unfollow if you don't like it argument annoys me immensely (although I have taken their advice and unfollowed a whole load of people I used to follow before). I like people that have an opinion. I may not always agree with their opinion but hey, that's life - or business, more to the point. I think Erica (hi!) over-reacted the other day when someone simply said they were a "over" stars when she posted a picture of a starry scarf. It wasn't a rude comment. They even said 'sorry' and put a sad face! (it wasn't me, btw )

I think they need to stop acting like petulant children.

'We didn't set out to make money, we are doing all you non stylish people a favour, therefore we deserve the money and how dare you criticise us, I'm getting my friends to be mean to you'

I'm now going to make it my mission not to by anything suggested by a blogger ('Influencer' get over yourselves).

Breastfeeding Boudicca? Twats???

How insulting to posters on this thread, how patronising to mumsnetters in general and how offensive to anyone who struggled with breast feeding.

We generate your income, with your click links and your #ads and your cookies that still bring you cash months later.

Some of them really are in a bubble and do not give a monkeys about it.

BoT, over and out.

Hi @itsbeenalongtime! I totally did overreact. I was hormonal and tired and shouldn’t have responded. I get that what I post won’t appeal to everyone. But I guess I reacted in the way I did because I wondered whether she’d have made that comment to a friend if that friend had worn the scarf - because it’d make that friend feel pretty bad! And I really like that scarf and it wasn’t a sponsored post! Having said that, I accept that I’m not her friend and she perhaps appraises my content as she might a brand’s, so I shouldn’t have been so sensitive, as it wasn’t personal! I also understand it looked as though I was jumping on the negative comments and I regret that. So apologies for being a hormonal overreacter on that occasion - it won’t happen again!