Bloggers and brands 2.

[Merriboo]

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

Blimey, it's all about Hush on Instamums today. You actually can't move for it........ and make up which, all of a sudden, seems to be quite the thing. Does no-one do anything original anymore. Insta really is just a marketplace. What is interesting is that it is the same brands just relentlessly pushing themselves through these influencers who stick closely to the script!
Was interested to hear Justin Webb (I think, it was early) on the Today programme this morning talking about Unilever discovering that they don't much like the way social media is heading.Also had feedback from a High St name saying that we, the customers, aren't really subsidising the freebies because that comes out of a different budget. Right 🤔🤔🤔

The use of style bloggers for maxfactor’s current campaign is so stupid. FGS - I like the way a lot of these women dress, they are quite talented at styling. But quite often their make up is just AWFUL. Couldn’t maxfactor find some beauty bloggers to run their campaign with? No, they had to pile on the bandwagon throwing free shit at the same bunch of overexposed women. It’s nearly as laughable as when they are used for exercise campaigns. Give me strength.

by exercise I mean fitness wear

Yes lots of max factor last night!

The max factor campaign appears to be about showing ‘relatable’ women which is obviously why they have gone down the Mum blogger route 🤔. I went to the cinema yesterday and a Max Factor ad came on showing a woman putting her make up on for a party and ‘feeling more beautiful than she ever had’ (or some other bollocks like that). The ad was so bad, I actually guffawed out loud.

I had to skip through all the bloody Max Factor instastories last night. What a load of crap. Who wants to watch a load of drunk people trying to apply make up?

Maxfactor/Charlotte Tilbury/Marks and Spencer/jo Malone/Hush/Bobbi Brown/HOF list goes on.....
Surely the PR people at these companies look at certain groups of bloggers and can at lest just cherry pick one or maybe two. It’s so tiresome seeing them all promoting the same thing, doing the same thing. Have notice ED seems to have stepped away slightly and is doing her own thing, refreshing!!!!!!
It really is becoming quite a pathetic bun fight

My question is for the companies courting the IGers: do you regret not asking the Influencer to sign an exclusivity contract?

Where is the brand loyalty? To me, it devalues all the brands when an influencer chooses to promote (seemingly) everything.

Why extol the virtues of Charlotte Tilbury one day, when the next you are sat at a Max Factor tutorial.

Which exercise gear would you personally recommend, if I could only afford one set? House of Fraser? F+F? Gibson Girl?

As a PP has said, IG is now just one long, tedious advertisement. I miss the days of seeing genuine recommendations of clothes or makeup, that someone purchased with their own money. Obviously IG has moved on, and I am stuck in the past.

I know being an “Influencer” is now seen as a reputable job (in the sense that people can make a living from it), and more power to you if that is what interests you, but it all seems a little (lot) grabby now.

@mrsdoubleskulls, I appreciate I’m not a brand but this is a conversation we do have with them. Some companies do like exclusivity clauses in a contract, personally though I’ve never had one.

From my perspective, I don’t use/buy exclusively one brand for anything I can think of (there probably is something...but off the top of my head I can’t think of anything!).

I don’t know anyone who has just one brand of makeup in their bag - again I’m sure there are people who do, but most brands are aware that people will use different products from different brands for different things. I use and buy Charlotte Tilbury and Max Factor (and did before I started working with the latter) I also use Chanel, Bourjeois, Clinique and love a Rimmel nail varnish (they do a mean speedy dry one which is fab for toes!)

I also don’t know anyone who has just set of gym kit but if they do, then all the ones I’ve been sent I would recommend for different reason. Be it budget, be it style, be it if you’re shorter or taller.

Again, I can’t speak for anyone else but I still do buy and personally recommend a lot of products. I’m also fortunate in that most of the companies I work with, I’ve been approached by because I’ve bought and recommended their products.

I appreciate it’s a form of marketing that not everyone is going to buy into and without a shadow of a doubt, there are people on my side of the fence who aren’t fully transparent which, unfortunately does then muddy the waters for those of us who have held our hands up for full disclosure.

Sorry!! Pressed post too soon (and haven’t reread it so it probably makes NO sense and is full of typos 😝)

But I hope that goes some way to see how some of work?!

If I see one more Charlotte tillbery balloon or jo malone fragrant on IG I'm going to throw my back home out of the widow!

I will honestly never buy Jo Malone again. I don't object to gifts to influencers per se but honestly - some of the ones they 'gift' too - do they have any idea about their target market at all?

It’s so sad re jo Malone
Always was a luxurious brand that was such a treat to get as a gift or buy for oneself
Since selling out it now has been cheapens by having to flog products to bloggers who I feel flaunt the gifts in our faces
‘Oh look lucky me what I’ve got..... some brand new jo malone’
It doesn’t remotely make one person feel like they must rush out and purchase
And I’m
Sure many bloggers will come on here and disagree, funny that!!!!!

Quite pleasesendwine!

I have now switched to Jo Loves who I'm sure also gifts to influencers but at least appears to be slightly more discerning.

Kat I thought you looked really nice with a red lip, you could definitely try it in real life. Though I always say that to myself and chicken out so who am I to talk?

Esther C was hilarious. I love when she posts drunk. It is literally impossible to believe she does anything other than cackle from the back row at these junkets.

I quite liked the idea of Max Factor tutorials on regular women (as opposed to models) actually.

Thanks for replying KatFarmer. I agree that most people don’t exclusively buy from one brand, and agree with your reasoning that you are showcasing a variety of options to your followers.

I guess my post really was questioning whether the brands ever get annoyed when an influencer has agreed to promote their product, extolling its virtues, and then, in practically the very next post, that same influencer is rhapsodising about the same products, just a different brand.

I understand that any exposure is good exposure, and the brands probably don’t care, as long as the product is being seen. I just wonder if they realise that this over exposure is having the opposite effect that they probably desire (see above posts regarding Jo Malone). It is devaluing the product and brand.

Don’t mind me though; I think I just miss the good old days when you (the royal you) showcased your clothes and bargains, with products primarily bought by you (again, the inclusive you), without trying to sell me something.

True that, most people don't exclusively buy from one brand.

So when the brands start giving their stuff out like sweeties, them these people stop buying.

Me too CatherineMaitland. I wouldn’t mind going to one as well.

I honestly don’t believe any of those women last night were wearing a single piece of max factor makeup before they were approached by the brand. And I felt sorry for the MUA, was anyone actually listening to her?

It will be interesting to see how many times the red lipsticks everybody loved so much will appear in their feeds again.

I think it's predominantly a luxury sector issue. When the exclusivity factor is lost, the premium prices no longer feel like value. With things everyone can easily afford, it seems to be less of an issue.

I currently see it happening with Dior beauty, it was always rather elusive and somewhat underrated. Spoken about it in hushes almost. They've ramped it up recently, hiring one of the models with the biggest followings, Bella Hadid, and hosting a boatload of events for high-level influencers. BH shows up in some of their videos (not vlogs, genuine content), etc. It's not completely turned me off as it's easy to ignore and there's no sign of it at counter but I'm aware there will be a turning point.

Similarly, Calvin Klein under Raf Simons has completely turned me off and made me think quite a bit less of RS (who I always esteemed highly) for hiring the entire Kardashian-Jenner clan for their ad campaign and helped fuel further pregnancy rumours with the specific shots they chose. The ad campaign doesn't just exist on SM it's everywhere and I can't take the brand seriously anymore as a result with how calculated it all is. Calvin Klein always had a long track record of being decidedly different in advertising in a creative novel way, yes, provocative, but this is so far from it.

What I did find interesting about the Unilever statement is that they're holding the SM platforms accountable, and I think that is a worrying development. We've seen it on TV, where cursing isn't allowed in the US, as everything has to be wholesome. If advertisers are going to be demanding the platforms are 'cleaned out' in favour of 'wholesome' it'll destroy anything authentic left.

The Maybelline move is also interesting, they're obviously aware that the currency of the beauty blogger no longer has as much value as it used to (in terms of excessive freebies they probably reign supreme) so branching out to another influencer sphere makes sense in that regard, but it's only for so long before they run out of influencer spheres to utilise.

*Max Factor, not Maybelinne

Have to say I agree with the Jo Malone opinions. I treat myself to bits from there occasionally, but the fact that they never ever offer any discounts to paying customers (except for that random free gift thing they did last year) and then send bloggers so many freebies drives me mad. It's the quantity/frequency they seem to send out products and the fact that the bloggers all say 'oh this smells amazing' but don't give anymore detail and just have bottles piled up on their dressing tables. I've stopped buying from them now because it's winds me up.

I tried having this conversation with a well known High St retailer which never discounts or offers promotions to real customers, while throwing expensive freebies at influencers. I really don't think they understood why this would piss off a good, if impoverished, customer. Vive la revolution!