alsooftenproducingthesamework.
“Allthethingsthatthebrandswouldpayfor,suchashiringa studio,
a model,photographerandstylist,areincludedinanoutputaninf luencer
delivers,”Williamssays.“Aninf luencerisreallya creativedirector,a
stylist,a producer,andaneditorallinone.”
Still,thecommonperceptionofinf luencersis thattheyarelazyand
entitledpeoplewhomaketheirwayofffreeproductsforreviewson
YouTubeora selfieonInstagram.Hardlydifficultworkfromtheoutside
lookingin.
Buttherealityis thatinf luencersarealsoimmenselypopularperson-
alities,joiningtheranksofbignamecelebrities.Andforthose“micro-in-
f luencers”,with5,000to50,000followers,theycanstillhaveanincred-
iblepullforlocalbusinesses.Noticethecorrelationbetweenyourlocal
cafeswithwaitinglinestothenumberofInstagramStoriesthey’rereceiv-
ingfrompeopleinthecommunity.
MultinationalbrandsthatonceusedUScelebritiesnowalsooptfor
inf luencers because they are both less expensive and more
personalised.
Oneexampleofan“inf luencercelebrity”isSydney-basedSammy
Robinson,whohasmorethan600,000followersonInstagramand
roughly720,000onYouTube.Robinsonhasbeentappedbymake-up
brandM.A.C,Swarovski,whichalsopullsinheavy-weightssuchasUS
modelKarlieKloss,andGHDHair.Herattractionisn’tlimitedtoAustralia,
withherattendinganeventinNewYorkwithUSmodelGigiHadidas
partofpartnershipwithanothermake-upgiant,Maybelline.
Inf luencershavealsocreatedbigbrandsfromscratch,suchasIraqi-
American beauty mogul Huda Kattan who started by filming YouTube
make-uptutorialsandnowrunsa
billion-dollar business, Huda
Beauty.Thenthere’sAustralia’s
fitnessinf luencer KaylaItsines
whoco-foundedtheBikiniBody
GuideandtheSWEATappoffthe
backofherfollowers,whichhas
nowgrownto11.6million.She,
along with her partner Tobi
Pearce,isestimatedtohave a
wealthof$486million.
Thevalueofinf luencermarket-
ingis hardtopindown,largelydue
touncertaintiesaroundmetrics,
butit certainlyshowsnosignsof
slowingdown.A 2018studybythe
WorldFederationofAdvertisers
showedthat65%ofmultinational
brandsplannedtospendmoreof
theiradvertisingbudgetsoninf lu-
encers. Another PwC report
estimatesthat“personality-driven
marketing”willreach$240million
thisyearinAustraliaaloneand
upto$10billionacrosstheworld
by2020.
Themostpopularplatformsfor
inf luencersarestillInstagramand
YouTube,assuggestedbya study
of3,000kidsagedbetween8-12
years which found being a
YouTubestarwasmoresought-af-
terthanbeinganastronaut.
Thearrivalofnewplatforms
andtheirinf luencersisalready
uponus.InAugust,fashionlabel
SuperdryusedthreeAustralian
TikTokinf luencers,orTikTokers,
tolaunchitsneweststore.Between
thethreeTikTokers,theyhad7.5
millionfollowerswith20%ofthat
audienceinAustralia.
“Wehad 300 peoplelineupjust
tomeettheTikTokers,whichis
definitelyhigherthanwe’vehad
forstoreopeningsbutinsaying
that wehad noexpectations,”
Superdry’s MarketingManager
MatthewIozzisays.
“Wehadpeopleleaveschool
early.Onelady I spoketohad
pulledherdaughteroutofschool
at11amsothatshecoulddrive
threehourstomeettheTikTokers
at3.30pm.”
IozzisaysSuperdryoptedfor
TikTokersbecauseitwasmore
innovative than Instagram.
“TikTokallowsuserstoinjecta
littlebitmorepersonalitythan
Instagramgiventhatit’sprimarily
video-based,”Iozzisays.
“It encourages both users andAninfluenceris
reallya creative
director,a stylist,
a producer,andan
editorallinone.
TarynWilliams,
The Right Fithttp://www.adnews.com.au| September 2019 29