Death of the Influencer?

Hannah Pridemore

hp138016@ohio.edu

 

Gen Z will forever remain a mystery when it comes to advertising. I'm part of Gen Z and I still can't fully comprehend how we ingest and process our media. We are less likely to be duped by ads that might get Boomers, but easily fall into the trappings of the perfect glitz and glamorous lives of influencers. Also, I'm not trying to be a hypocrite here as I'm 100% guilty of this. 

Partnering with influencers is the best way to reach Gen Z, that's been a known fact for at least the past few years. But this year has changed a lot about: 1) how influencers work and 2) how we view influencers' place in our culture.

Picture source: https://etimg.etb2bimg.com/photo/75817652.cms

Between COVID and the Black Lives Matter movement, influencers are now seeing higher demands from their fans. They're being held accountable for their actions, and while "cancel culture" has proven ineffective, they are seeing consequences for their inaction through a shrinking following. These articles from Insider and Refinery29 explain this more in detail.

We're now asking influencers to make good of their platforms and be role models for their audience, but what does that mean for brands partnering with these influencers?

I've seen a handful of scandals end with withdrawals of partnerships due to an influencer's past racist or homophobic posts, but in what feels like a mass reckoning, how do we prevent partnering with people who have an intolerant past?

We can vet them to no end before extending the offer, but what seems to be the main question here is whether or not a certain amount of drama is worth the brand deal. Where do we draw the line, as no influencer has seemed to go unscathed from some sort of problematic situation?

These past eight or so months have made this decision a lot easier for brands. Influencers were repeatedly asked to make a choice on where they stand politically, and if they made the wrong one, they faced backlash for it. This has provided a good reference point for deciding who to work with.

 Is it truly worth it, though? When will the influencer era die out and we can start fresh with something different? It seems like there are new ones every day and they're all fighting to stay relevant. So is it worth risking the reputation of a company to partner with a 20-year-old girl who lip-syncs for a living and refuses to take the pandemic seriously?