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!

After reading the linked interview I think..cynically..that Kat Farmer has a real strategy going on, followers ....what followers?

Sadly I don’t think that the opinions of this thread will influence the posts of these bloggers.. Money talks. Can anyone recommend an honest ungifted style blog?

Wipsglitter, I like Fashionmumof40, who is based near Liverpool. I think she finds it too difficult to do the London blogging thing but her posts have easy, stylish clothes and while she is sometimes gifted items it’s still real!

@Nw3lon I love teeclutter. High st, no gifts, no affiliation and I really like her style. Also sunshinesamblog.

I love teeclutter. High st, no gifts, no affiliation

She's linking everything on her blog through Rewards Style, the largest fashion affiliate network in the world. Every time you click and make a purchase, she earns a commission.

Oh. That’s me told. Sorry.

This whole thing of wanting our role models (yes I know - old school but I can't stand 'influencers') to be like us feels very recent. It doesn't seem five minutes since everyone wanted to dress like Sienna Miller. I don't remember anyone complaining that her clothes were all gifted (which they were) or that she was rich and privileged (which she was). Yet now it's all about following people who are the same demographic and who live the same life. I'm not saying it's wrong but I think it's new and .... dunno. Guess I feel it ends up with everyone looking the same.

Someone upthread (Sorry, I can't find it now, in fact it might even be on another thread!) said they thought there was a lot more choice these days but I'm not seeing it. There used to be a lot of street style round here but it seems to have died a death which I think is a real shame and I do wonder if there's a link somewhere with the rise of blogging and instagramming,

It wasn't me who said it Flo but I think one of the few positives of blogging and Instagram is the diversity available, although as you point out it has its limits. The reality of it is we don't see it as everyone stays in their own little bandwidth of like minded and similar looking people.

For minorities I know it's made a huge impact, without WOC showing viable customer bases as they have I'm pretty sure makeup shade ranges would be much less inclusive than they are today and black owned cosmetic brands would never get any coverage (still work to be done, but it's progress). Despite it being an emotional argument that I personally have difficulty understanding as it's wholly emotional and I'm the one with all the privilege, for minorities it feels very essential to be represented in media (in whatever form) and not be whitewashed out in the way traditional media does. It's validating to them. It's a shame we hardly get to see it though. If you think back to the Supermodel pack, Naomi Campbell (think what you will of her) made a huge impact for so many by being part of that, she was extremely visible and that was needed. Today's equivalent of that is hidden away through algorithms that favour people just like you and that's a real shame. In lesser ways you can say this about sizes too, plus size bloggers are actually plus sized not that rare unicorn that's 6ft tall and in the best possible proportions carrying their weight in all the right places and padded out a bit here and there and then still manages to look not plus sized, they're real women who understand the struggles that come with being plus sized and I'm sure that's improved the state of where clothes made for plus sized women is going.

Going back to Vogue and magazines, it's interesting to see magazines are getting helmed by Editors In Chiedss with very specific agendas now. Vogue under Einnful is clearly all about diversity, Allure in the US is declaring war on anti-ageing and to a certain extent ageism, Elle (US) is becoming very body diverse focused (though Italian Vogue and an Australian title either Marie Claire or Elle have been doing this for far longer). Granted it's all in their uniquely glossy way but they are bringing it to a larger audience front and centre. I doubt they'd have the backing to do so without the internet stats to and the companies who have grown from those internet movements who are all now potential advertisers.

*Chiefs not Chiedss, I have the weirdest autocorrect..

I have started following a lot more girls of colour on Instagram lately. I'm getting really sick of the Home Counties Hush Gin Clone. It's so fucking boring. If I see another Scamp & Dude sweatshirt I will throw my phone out the window.

WOC tend to use Instagram as a platform to talk about diversity so it's a nice mix of "I am obsessed with style" + "I live in the real world and this is some real shit"

Not all, like I said Stylemesunday seems to be eager to clonify herself as fast as possible so you never know how it will go. But so far it makes for a more interesting feed.

Anyone else notice that Ted Baker have just started a campaign with various bloggers and 'grammers who have never mentioned the brand before and would normally not be seen dead in it, but will do anything for a free leather jacket

Suddenly there's a thread about them on here, thinly veiled in critique as well as praise, and someone "unrelated" to the OP pops up with a discount code...or am I too cynical that there might be a connection??

Yes. You can so clearly see the brands jumping on the bandwagon!

I feel the same about this.

I'm quite new to Instagram and initially liked Kat Farmer, and wanted to know how she was styling her outfits - jeans and stuff, the kind of things I wear everyday. But now her feed seems to be nothing but nights out, Christmas dinners, etc. I have zero interest in that. Also, I've started to find the sheer amount she buys (or is given) a bit off-putting. I know that's the point, it's a shopping blog, but still ... it does seem quite extreme. The rest of them are much the same - they've all been traipsing round these press days and dinners but, from my point of view ... so what? Why should I care? I'm certainly not going to buy anything or even look in Ted Baker because Kat Farmer had dinner with them last night.

And on Esther Coren I know I shouldn't judge her on her husband. But I do, a bit. He's a cock. And in my view her profile has been massively raised as a result of being married to him. But it's also not helped by her woe is me stories about the trials of having a second home etc, Oh God, I'm going on another holiday, poor me, and the occasional ridiculous stories she writes for the Daily Mail.

The only one I still quite like is the Frugality.

But generally I've reverted to pinterest for outfit inspiration.

I like SusieSoSo - she wears mostly attainable High Street brands, with a very few well-chosen more expensive purchases. She often adapts clothes or recreates cheaper versions using her own sewing/creative skills. She very rarely accepts gifts and is clear when she does. She also seems to think carefully before buying and returns items that don’t quite work for her. I do think she uses some affiliate links, but I take no issue with her getting a small return for her work on the blog as it is thoughtful and well-written.

When I first read DMBL40 she very rarely went out in the evenings and when she did it was with her husband and friends. Now she is “out out” so much that it seems disingenuous for her to exclaim about the occurrences every time. She is a good writer for the most part though.

I like Forever Amber and The Frugality too. They are obviously monetised blogs and that is the whole reason for their existence. The bloggers have never claimed otherwise and they are much more akin to reading glossy magazines. To my mind they are a very different beast to most of the faux amateur blogs and are also generally well-written. Amber in particular has a definite self-deprecating writing style and I can imagine her writing popular magazine articles. Whereas so many bloggers do not actually write very well.

I don't think it is new; I started reading blogs about 8 years ago because I liked the fact that they weren't written by celebrities, they bought their things, took their own photos and gave actual advice rather than "Here is my free shit". I've never really liked celebrity fashion and blogs were something different. Now, they aren't. I think it's sad.

district, to your point about affiliation, I do think there's a difference in being actively affiliated with brands and working with them in various forms (including behind the scenes consulting) and using affiliate links to finance the costs of running a digital platform. Any website is monetised like that, including MN where every link is automatically generated into an affiliate link. As far as bloggers supporting themselves go, it's the least offensive form of generating turnover as far as I'm concerned. At worst it narrows down the type of shops they recommend as some don't participate in affiliate programs (very rare) or offer less interesting rates.

WRT Ted Baker, yes I noticed it too. Mostly by the title, it reads very much like those I get in my inbox from marketing companies asking for customer feedback on behalf of a brand (incentivised or not). The discount code is another red flag, as is the OP's use of the word 'chavvy' and questioning its applicability to the brand. Don't think you need to be educated in PR or branding to come to the conclusion that TB has an image problem with being regarded as chavvy (AFAIK never a self-described term worn with pride, always a negative description of another). Any marketing agency worth its salt would urge them to tackle that perception much as Burberry did with being associated with hooligans, removing the check pattern from runways and campaigns and focusing quite firmly on their other icon, the trench. However, equally that thread could have emerged from the added SM attention. It's far too little to report for and I can't imagine MNHQ would be able to add much evidence to it from their end to decide one way or the other. A business IP says nothing, many MN users use it at work, and if they're clever enough to set up these threads in such a subtle way they'll surely cover themselves on the IT side. There lies the frustrating thing with those threads, you can never be sure. Though I can't believe for a second someone would want the exact same item as a colleague which you're both likely to wear every single day.

botemp re the TB thread, absolutely not enough to report and it could well be genuine, and/or a sign other campaigns from the brand are working and raising awareness. But the fact that is has caused cynicism and suspicion is kind of part of the OPs point, and the wider one of transparency in blogger posts, stories etc.

Instastories is an interesting beast. Aside from the breakfasts, press days, premieres etc which have transparency issues of their own, we also have the ones which pertain to be the blogger not working but just filling us in on their down time. I'm not explaining very well, but I'm thinking of the ones shot when walking home from the school run, sitting in the car, in pyjamas in the morning, just got home from a night out....you think they are just them waffling on for no reason, but I think they are just as deliberate and calculated as the rest. Just this morning, DMBL40 managed to chuck in an ad for ugg boots, the other day it was a sweater when she was talking about staying in with the kids. Pay attention to most and there will be a brand name casually chucked in to some inane chat about the school run.

There is so much money on social media these days, bloggers and vloggers can make a lot of money from adverts and attending events. Brands love it because it's a lot cheaper than a TV advert or billboards and sometimes these bloggers/vloggers have a huge following that will reach a lot more than it would with other forms of advertising. Take someone like Zoella, they might have to pay her £5,000 or more to cover an event on her blog or YouTube that reaches (on average) 5-7 million people (maybe more if it's interesting) whereas a 30 second advert on a morning TV show (such as Good Morning Britian or Lorraine) costs the similiar and will only generate around maybe 1 million views if not less. Then there is the fact that unless they're deleted, YouTube videos are on forever whereas a 30-second ad lasts that 30 seconds and then it's gone forever. It's just a new, really smart way of advertising. I can honestly admit that there have been times that bloggers or vloggers have put a picture on Instagram of their hotel room and I've gone onto booking.com to see how much it is. I buy products recommended by them all the time! It might seem like I'm caving into capitalism but the reality is, it's marketing and it works. x

Have just caught up with this thread and I'm at the fact that Kat Farmer earns into 6 figures!!! Wow. I hadn't realised she had sold out to Gleam either, although I did wonder about her Instagramming her recent Mauritius holiday. A bit odd, but it makes sense now that I know about Gleam. 'Also very bothered about Esther. Shame. White stuff pjs, pah. I've liked her since recipe rifle was recommended to me here.

I don't really have an issue with rewardsstyle links, after all bloggers do put a lot of work into their posts some of the time. It's the opaque-ness of the advertising stuff. Presuming we're ignorant of this. At least magazines, for the most part, are honest about this.

I agree about midlifechic. She does give the impression of being quite open and transparent. I like her for that. It's great. And I like her writing and fashion updates. Susie So So is great. Fashionmumof40 is good too. I have unfollowed most others, and tbh I'm not looking to employ any others to fill the gap. I'm going back to Grazia.

It's also the constant consumerism, which I find can be infectious, if I'm not careful. There's so much wrong about that and nothing very much good about it, apart from the fact it earns bloggers money. Hence my momentous decision to unfollow. I'm sure they'll notice my absence.

Still at Kat Farmers salary.

SusieSoSo is regional, isn't she?

There's definitely a divide between regional bloggers who don't get many networking opportunities and the ones within reach of London who go to the opening of an envelope and "collaborate with" everyone they bloody meet.

I follow most of these bloggers too and Kat is a friend-of-a-friend, she really is quite gregarious, driven, outgoing and possibly a bit hyper, likes a drink too but makes no secret of that. She did, however, mention Celtic & Co boots this morning not Uggs - so that hasn't worked very well has it?! I am beginning to boycott brands that are obviously sending their stuff to all these bloggers because rather than buy something I like the look of on them, I feel rather peeved that I am subsidising their free goods - does anyone else feel the same when the same products crop up on every Instagrammer, usually in the same week?

I also follow Beth Goodrham who is based in Birmingham but she recently seems a bit desperate, I think she feels a bit left out by some of the brands, like when House of Fraser took a few of the 'populars' to Ibiza for a boot camp - Beth commented about how she'd really like to be there and it was right up her street. Also, trying to get in on the Air & Grace trainers that everyone was wearing, and other things. I don't think she's part of the Gleam stable but she probably would like to be.

Yes Pecan I do.

Instagram stories is now like an Argos catalogue on glue.

I'm afraid I've grown increasingly suspicious and cynical about some threads on here. There's normally nothing that would justify reporting but enough for me to wander off pretty quickly and I don't even bother opening certain threads any more (normally to do with make up and skincare products). This is probably unfair - just like I'm sure I'm unfair about some bloggers but there it is.