Bloggers and brands 2.

[Merriboo]

continuing the discussion from the previous thread about transparency and disclosure (or lack of) by bloggers

I need to buy new soap etc for bathrooms as current jo Malone stuff is nearly empty [I know first world issue blah blah] but I now won't buy Jo Malone because of how much they gift to bloggers/vloggers.

To me the brand has been totally de-valued. A friend is into v expensive cars - he now vetoes any brand that he sees on youtube. The only reason he sees them on youtube because he glances at what his children are watching. So take for example one of the gleam vloggers who regularly get land rovers/jags to borrow - who watching their channels is going to buy one of those? I thought the target market for those types of people was about 12 years old?

It all just seems such lazy marketing to me.

@NotTheQueen, yes another example of how naive she was in her request - hotels won't give away rooms in peak season when they could have paying guests in them. That's why Chewton Glen go blogger crazy in January when the rooms are empty.

I can see that IG marketing is quite clever if it's executed properly. Daniel Wellington has built a huge following by sending watches out to bloggers and giving them discount codes. They do hashtag competitions so people send really lovely photos in and their page is full of wonderful images that they haven't had to pay a photographer for. Loads of bloggers I follow have done a DW promo - Courtney Adamo, Bright Bazaar. Even a smaller blogger with only 10k ish was furiously hashtagging one with her own discount code the other week.

I think quite a lot of smaller brands have built them up through clever marketing like this, but it has now created an environment where the bigger brands feel they have to get on board and are doing poorly executed and badly thought out promotions, looking only on a bloggers number of likes - not looking at engagement levels, whether they are all genuine followers, whether its their target market etc. In those situations I think it can be counter productive. I actually didn't see many Jo Malone products (must have missed them), but I probably would look to other brands anyway as they lost a bit of their allure for me when they were bought out by Estee Lauder.

I see Neom are flogging freebies far and wide at the moment too. Another brand I had previously bought and enjoyed. 🙄

Surely though if you enjoyed a brand before you're cutting your nose off to spite your face to no longer buy it- if you'd not seen a post you'd be none the wiser?

NewBallsPlease00 to a certain extent yes, if you are happy with the price and performance of a product then you should buy.

For me though, a brand becomes de-valued when they happily gift hundreds of £ worth of product to bloggers to free, but never pass on even a discount to paying customers. Jo Malone is one such brand; they hardly ever run promos or offer codes. I remember a PP mentioning on the first thread the same with Hush; they'll happily send a load of bloggers to festivals and swanky roof top lunches, and send out loads of free clothes, but how often do they offer more than the occasional 10% off to customers?

Anyway, I can't stop reading the comments on that hotels Facebook page regarding the blogger asking for a freebie. The hotel owner even produced a video parodying so called influencers, and the tone of the site and that of the cafe could not be more obvious as to his opinions and reputation...so she literally spammed a generic, unprofessionally written email to random hotels in the hope of a free stay and now can't face the backlash.

For me though, a brand becomes de-valued when they happily gift hundreds of £ worth of product to bloggers to free, but never pass on even a discount to paying customers

This is so true but I'd never even thought about it like that before.

Jigsaw is another one, e.g. they recently gifted DMBL40 two £400+ coats, and that's just one blogger. Yet they very publicly and proudly stay away from getting involved with discounts codes, black friday etc, and still only stick to the traditional end of season sale periods for customers who actually part with real ££ to wear their stuff. A confusing logic...

That's a really good point!

I feel exactly the same and avoid brands that gift to bloggers. Shame about Jigsaw !

I follow some of these mentioned but one I'm bemused by is the one recently with 3 kids and recently re patriated, totally changed tone when clearly added but no #ad she's just been on a Fanily ski holiday and tagged every single post, but no #, I can't believe it was fully paid or or surely would have used #notanad
I love brummy mummy and unmumsy both refreshingly honest

There's probably some technicality, such as PR being a different budget, obviously the gifted clothes at cost price are significantly less than retail, and possibly different tax implications too. Also the worth versus buying traditional advertising and the associated audience size...

Going back to the original topic though, none of that excuses influencers to be anything less than transparent and honest about the nature of the collaboration..

That bulshitcallerouter account has only been going a week and is at 60k followers, Caroline Hirons being one of them, lol. Don't blame her, it's pure gold.

If it ever turns it's attentions to the UK scene the shit will really hit the fan.

I just read a post on AMR's baby blog talking about how they've changed the nursery to try to solve sleep issues. She's been sent a bunch of stuff, but finishes by linking to a baby monitor with camera she'd like to upgrade to but it's very pricey. I'm wondering if she will now be sent one.

@NewBallsPlease00 What @megansmandstop said, basically. I'm not cutting my nose off to spite my face; I have discovered something about a brand that I previously didn't know, and I don't agree with their tactics.

I find this to be the most patronising form of marketing. "Oh, let's give out freebies to the influencers and then their thicko sheep followers will happily flock to our stores and pay full price". It's insulting.

MOD also follows the bullshitcallerouter account, I see.

Totally agree with megan. So many handbag brands have become massively de-valued because of their crazy gifting too.

I think it is hard for luxury brands to charge £££ to loyal customers and then give away loads to bloggers/vloggers who often don't even seem to be their target market.

@somebodythinkofthechildren
Yes it’s fascinating and shocking

I have never bought Charlotte Tilburry, and never will. Their gifting seems to be prolific.

Apologies to anyone who saw this on the other thread but has anyone seen bullshitcallerouter's latest posts about competitions/giveaway that bloggers run?

I always had an inkling that this is what went on. Recently one of the interiors igers did a giveaway thing for a print and guess who won? Another prominent interiors IGer who she interacts with all the time.

Yes, it's SAVAGE. She makes out she's just doing the (super shady) giveaways as a favour to the brand cos they're family, then they're just ".....We are not related...."

BOOM! MIKE DROP!

I LOVE this thread.

Not sure if it's been mentioned before but @honthehuns is well worth a look. 7k followers from

Anyone else finding it amusing that some influencers are following the bullshitter account?

I agree that the incessant & widespread gifting does brands no favours. It makes them look rather desperate IMO. The recent Jo Malone drop for example made me wonder if the company was not performing as well as they would like. I can guarantee that when one blogger opens a gift on their stories, it will be swiftly followed by the rest of their group also doing the "I've been sent XYZ to try from BRAND". They never say - oh look they've sent me a freebie! It is particularly irksome from brands such as Jigsaw whom, as megansmandstop says above, make a big deal about only indulging in end of season sales and not giving mid-season discounts etc. In that particular instance, I am tempted to send an email to customer services saying exactly that.

The profusion of freebies aside, I wouldn't mind so much if you felt that there was an element of honesty about their appraisal of said gift. There are many bloggers that seemingly will gush over any old shit they are sent. Or, they mention the product when it arrives and promise a write up but nothing materialises. Without mentioning names, there was a blogger this week bemoaning the fact that she didn't feel comfortable in her choice of clothes for an event. That the outfit in question was completely different to her usual style, and that it was tagged to buggery, suggests that it was probably a gift and just really did not suit her in the slightest (this is also an "I choose not to disclose" blogger so there is no way of knowing for sure )

Finally, can I also take issue with the over-use of the word "meetings". In all my working years, I have never attended quite so many meetings in any given week as the IG lovelies. I suspect quite often the IG lovelies are not attending as many meetings as they would like to pretend but rather going for a coffee & catch up with fellow bloggers! Again, it's the pretence/pretension that winds me up.

Jigsaw is another one, e.g. they recently gifted DMBL40 two £400+ coats, and that's just one blogger.

MLC got stuff from them as well, I bought a top she was wearing then saw it was marked as a gift. It's not like I don't buy from Jigsaw anyway but you do still think 'Hmm, that's why you liked that top' and that's a blogger who has a marketing background and has always been open about collaborations.