Do we decide what we buy?
Since the introduction in integration of larger and more in-depth social media Platforms in the past decade, there has been a surge in a new type of employment. It's a new slice of Niche marketing known as influencers. These individuals typically find themselves celebrity-like status with their Fame coming to them through popularity on social media platforms. This popularity then turns into a business opportunity when Brands can approach these individuals with deals to promote their products. At this point, the individual has become an influencer.
The effects of influencers can be seen in recent times such as 2016 where Kylie Jenner and a series of other popular social media personalities began wearing Champion branded clothing and posting the brand on social media. The previously relatively obscure brand saw a 70% sales increase across the next two years with projections of two double sales by the year 2022. The brand itself has recognized the serious impact that social media influencers have had on its reputation. Call Champion claims that their increase in popularity due to social media influence was purely organic. The effect Still Remains the Same the select group of individuals was able to influence the demand for large sections of the market.
This comes back to the opening question “do we decide what we buy?” As seen in the late 90s with the emergence of cool hunting marketing there were entire marketing agencies centered around the idea of finding Trends before they took off and then handing those trends to corporations so they could be sold back to the consumer. But with the power of modern-day influencers do corporations now have the ability to set the trends for the consumer by partnering with influencers to promote their brands do corporations now have the power to make themselves the trend? I would argue that corporations now have the power to set demands trends in their targeted demographics by selecting an influencer with an audience inside their targeted demographic and then pain that influencer to promote their product.
So in conclusion influencers are the modern-day more effective version of celebrity endorsements with the added benefit that often times it goes unnoticed that an influencer is engaging in an ad when promoting a product. This relatively new marketing technique has given at least for the time being corporations the ability to set trends by monetarily engaging with influencers that impact their Target demographic. So I believe now we really don't choose what we buy.
Sources
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/13/mike-bloomberg-pays-influencers-to-post-memes-for-2020-campaign.html
I think the concept of influencers is very interesting and seemingly effective. My question, however, is: how can influencers reach a wider age range? The bulk of social media that keep up with influencers users are probably 12-year-olds to people in their late 20s - this is actually a small group of people. While influencers can help hip brands, like Champion, how can they help brands that appeal to people in their 40s? It seems like social media influencers is a popular method, but what happens when that doesn't reach producer's audience?
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