Instagrammers and Influencers

[scotx]

New thread to follow on from this one

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/style_and_beauty/3462129-Can-we-chat-about-fashion-Instagrammers-influencers?msgid=84590932

I think Susie Verrill is doing a good job of complying, and with good grace too. She's very open about anything she's advertises.

I agree re Susie V. Very transparent.

I don't understand why some of them are dragging their feet with regards to transparency? Those that are open, ED and DMBL40 for example, don't seem to be negatively impacted. Are they worried it will put followers off? Surely it's the opposite, the less transparency the more followers are getting annoyed and are more likely to unfollow.

Maybe it's the more mid level ones that are worried?

It's interesting though as some mentioned I here I've not heard of even though they just have a lot of followers.

What's with the Chambers and Beau live today? Has she sent more gifts? I won't ever be seen dead in it after the Instagram overexposure.

Love not live soz!

My first bit of 'Gram brainwashed spending was a Beau & Chambers star necklace. It was about £65 and honestly it looked and felt like it fell out of a Xmas cracker. Really flimsy, and weighed next to nothing. Just looked so cheap.

Really interesting piece on R4 news this evening about social media and children. Basically discussing what age is right for children and how to protect them......... such a shame some influencers think it is ok to use their kids as part of a lifestyle brand. ED and DMBL40 are fashion 'grammers, not lifestyle bloggers so essentially their partnerships are in line with their business. I think the ones who attract most comment will be the ones who partnerships have little to do with their "brand" and just smack of opportunism.

whose partnerships....

Wearsmymoney Grensons a #gift uuurgh not #ad

Definitely think now that the Grensons hype is a manufactured instagram thing. You can see the same thing happening with that Chloe Tess bag which various bloggers are wearing. Lily Pebbles conveniently leaving the bag out of her captions . Wearetwinset, in their brief transparent phase, revealed theirs as having been bought with a discount from Net A Porter so I wonder who else will have been gifted/discounted this new 'It' bag as well?

I do wonder how much of an uptick in sales the brands get. Influencing must be hugely successful or else there wouldn't be so much money thrown at it, and yet some insta-famous brands like Seven Boot Lane still obviously struggle. When I was in John Lewis in January there were piles and piles of heavily discounted Wyse cashmere scarves and jumpers sitting next to heaps of Selfish Mother MAMA sweatshirts. It made me wonder whether the buyers get sucked in and influenced by what they see on Instagram as well.

Seven about Lane is interesting. Their products were nice but nothin special and very expensive for what they were. It was a brand that came from no-where!

It's the blurred lines that are problematic. Do you remember years ago the mumsnet scarf became a thing? There were so many threads about it, long leopard print scarf... conveted by many a mnetter. When i look on Insta i see something similar... all the white middle class women in some kind of uniform. Biker jacket, chunky boots, animal print dress/ skirt/top. It's capitalism and it's actually quite disturbing. Even the houses are looking the same.

What I find most disturbing is the subliminal messaging. If you want to be with the cool mums you need to wear x y z and have this rug and this coat etc etc. If you've followed someone for a while and they've built a good relationship with followers it's very easy to sell to them. The power dynamic is different to when you see an ad on tv. Last week I saw an Insta mum selling a pdf anxiety course and it made me really uncomfortable. Aside from clothes, shoes, rugs, holidays surely they can't commoditize mental health issues and treatments? Is it ethical for someone to develop a loyal following then sell the followers mental health treatments off the back of that social media relationship?!

Clemmie Telford has had a message accusing her of touting for a free coat in her recent post which she's shared on stories, being overly defensive. You can't sell sell sell, then expect people not to question you.

Very interesting comment 're flogging of mental health courses! Nothing surprises me on Insta. If they can monetise their children and home then why would anything be off limits.

Interestingly, steammystyle posted about a gifted jumper yesterday stating that the company that gifted it 'had sadly home out of business'. There seems to be a real pattern emerging with new companies gifting shit loads of product and then going bust. It's not sustainable and obviously the massive sales they expect are not always materialising.

I had a mumsnet scarf
And a bum covering waterproof coat
(I was obviously an early adopter of being easily influenced.)

But the thing was, when I rocked up at the school gate in my scarf I realised I felt like a bit of a tit wearing it, because I thought people were looking at me and thinking "ah ha, she must be a mumsnetter'. There's a mum at school now and its obvious from what she wears that she follows a lot of the instamums. I guess there is a natural instinct to want to feel part of a gang and instagram looks like it would be quite a cool and fun gang to be in I suppose.

I suppose a smattering of posts is a flash in the pan if that’s the only avenue, hard work to keep it up

Traditional fashion brands spend so much, it takes such a fortune on marketing to get people to buy stuff

As for the look and belonging to that ah that is one thing I’m very easily not influenced by

But then again I only learnt about these ‘mum’ accounts due to these threads

I think unfortunately while instagram should be brilliant for small brands who otherwise would have limited options to get their product into the public eye on a limited budget, it has ended up being a cheaper more effective way of advertising for the big brands which ends up souring the whole thing.

I think that too popcorn. The big brands are squeezing the smaller ones out, which is a shame. It started as a great place to find quirky and unique products, like an Etsy for fashion but now it’s a big brand yawnfest more akin to eBay.

I don’t think I’ve found any fashion brands I like who are solely on IG - it’s all that trend stuff that’s built up through followers I avoid

One or two wooden toy brands but that’s it

Would the hcpc allow someone to sell an anxiety course via Insta? Surely if you've built relationships with Insta by selling your life/ kids/ home a professional boundary has been crossed and you can't then 'treat' those people? Surely in any patient/ health care worker scenario there has to be sufficient professional and personal distance?

I saw an today where an influencer screenshotted Anna Hart’s One Roof Social advice on the ‘new’ rules. She refers to assuaging ‘consumer angst’ which I thought was a really patronising, but not surprising way to refer to the customers that make the job possible in the first place. I’m somebody that actually enjoys Insta fashion / influencers etc and it still managed to make me 🙄

It’s like you can hear the unspoken ‘punters’ if you listen very carefully.

*an insta story

@visitorthedog - do you have a screenshot of the guidelines or which influencer it was please? Assuaging "consumer angst" - really does underline the business relationship at play here and, as you say, so, so patronising.