Inspiration porn?

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Issue #104 | Your reading time this week is 5 mins. 15 secs.

What can Yeezy tell us about creator-owned brands? Why is the White House looking to add creators to the payroll? What impact will the ability to add TikTok search to an iPhone home screen have? And, is Mr Beast providing charity at scale or publishing inspiration porn?

Adidas, Kanye West and the cautionary tale of creator-owned brands

Adidas could post its first net loss in 30 years following its acrimonious split with Kanye ‘call-me-Ye’ West. Investors in the sports brand are set this week to demand sight of the company’s internal investigation into the way it handled misconduct allegations against the rapper, says the Financial Times.

The abrupt end to the Yeezy brand (which wiped out €1.2 billion in sales) is a warning to the creator economy.

Creator-owned brands (including co-owned brands) will continue to hit the headlines throughout 2023, as creators look to expand their revenue streams beyond solely being reliant on social media.

Many are already wildly successful: Emma Chamberlain’s coffee, MrBeast’s chocolate and burgers, David Dobrik’s pizza, Logan Paul and KSI’s Prime Hydration. Many more creators will successfully build their own brands beyond content this year.

The demise of the Yeezy brand, however, is also a cautionary tale of the importance of marrying influence with shared values, beliefs and expected behaviours. Kanye West’s antisemitic rant last year was the ultimate reason for Adidas parting ways. There were, however, accusations well before the singer’s outburst that Adidas was turning a blind eye to Ye’s alleged inappropriate behaviour.

Influence is King

When is an ad not an ad? When Bud Light says so

Michel Doukeris, CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev, brewers of beers including Bud Light and Coors says that the brand collaboration between Bud Light and transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney “was one post. It was not an advertisement.”

Errr … of course it was an advertisement.

Dylan Mulvaney’s Instagram post and follow-up Story fulfil the criteria of marketing communications as laid down by advertising and consumer regulators as well as being obvious as ads to consumers. Not only is Dylan showing off a Bud Light can personalised by the beer company with her picture on the side, but she’s telling viewers how to enter a competition to win $15,000 from the brand. Of course, it was an advertisement.

Maybe Mr Doukeris’ remarks made this week during an earnings call suggest he doesn’t fully understand the concept of creator marketing. Maybe the comments were designed to minimise the right-wing backlash which followed the advertisement going live. If the former, this is an opportunity to upskill fast. If the latter: the company should just own the situation and move on.

Truth is: Bud Light is a fading asset. Its marketing department was right to attempt to position itself to a younger audience. But it should have followed the data and then made a conscious decision:

1. Either not to alienate its existing main customer base.

2. Or to implement a comprehensive crisis management campaign to handle the inevitable flak it would receive from some quarter of its existing customers.

DIVE DEEPER: We talked more about the Bud Light debacle a couple of weeks ago.

TikTok Search widget now available for iPhone

Adding the capability to place TikTok search widget on an iPhone home screen is a major coup. Google-parent Alphabet pays Apple $20 billion to be their default search engine.

TikTok wants to replace Google as the verb associated with searching online. The app’s head of business in APAC and MEA, Shant Oknayan, posted this week to LinkedIn announcing “TikTok Search widget is now available for iPhone!” and Mr Oknayan wants us to ‘TikTok it’ not ‘Google it’ when looking for a restaurant recommendation or recipe online.

The shift in search from search engines to staying within a social media app’s ecosystem has gained traction in the past 12 months.

Google’s SVP Prabhakar Raghavan, who runs Google Search set the hare running last July when he told delegates at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech that “something like almost 40% of young people when they’re looking for a place for lunch, they don’t go to Google Maps or Search … they go to TikTok or Instagram”.

Of course, the search shift started well before 2022. GWI reported back in 2018 that 42% of those they surveyed said they use social media to research new brands or products. The audience research company noted that for 16-24s searching via social was the number one way this group researched - having overtaken search engines in 2017.

Mr.Beast: inspiration porn or charity at scale?

Mr.Beast has given 1,000 people their hearing back by donating hearing aids. Is this inspiration porn or charity at scale? Elon Musk joins the discussion in support of the YouTuber philanthropist. Will the billionaire’s voice be an asset or a hindrance?

I spoke with disability activist Keely Cat-Wells in February last year about inspiration porn on my Influencer Marketing Lab podcast. Keeley explained that at the centre of inspiration porn lies objectification - the content is produced for the benefit of others. “People are inspired to see disabled people overcome a challenge.”

Get your tickets for Influencer360

Influencer360 is brought to you by PRWeek and Campaign. The one-day event seeks to unit industry practitioners from leading brands and agencies. Together they will discuss the latest opportunities and threats to the lucrative influencer landscape.

Influential global leaders will come together to share their insights across dynamic and engaging sessions, with a focus on tech innovation, revenue, business growth opportunities, engagement techniques, and content creation. The Influencer Marketing Trade Body is the official association partner for the event #Influencer360 (DECLARATION: I lead the IMTB).

Influencer360 is being held at the Hilton Hotel in Brighton on 17 May.

• Instagram creators are to benefit from performance-based payouts on Reels as Meta expands its Ads on Reels tests. “Initially, payouts in the test will be determined by the number of plays. The better their reels perform, the more creators can earn. Over time we may begin to incorporate other signals into payouts” runs the Meta announcement.

• TikTok has launched TikTok World Hub to share best practices and help brands become more effective with their content and ads on the platform. The knowledge hub features four main topics: branding, commerce, performance and creative.

• Online safety bill explained -- The UK’s attempt to make the internet a safer place is set to become law this summer - some four+ years after Government published its “Online Harms” white paper. The Verge carries a helpful explainer of what the bill hopes to achieve.

• Know your audience and embrace new formats, including influencer urges Arthur D. Little (ADL) media in its new report: ‘State of the media market, 2023’.

• Facebook is to add a “Create Reel” button in the user’s profile ‘Reels’ tab according to a screengrab posted to Twitter by Radu Oncescu, an app researcher.

• The White House wants creators on its payroll -- This week Rob Flaherty, Assistant to the US President and Director of Digital Strategy at The White House posted a job opening on LinkedIn designed for someone “who's got good existing relationships with creators, managers, and digital media platforms who can help us think through an engagement strategy for the rest of the year and beyond.” Mr Flaherty went on to explain: “We're the first White House to staff digital creators” and urged candidates to “come be a part of something cool”.

• How brands are evolving the way they recruit creators -- Adweek carried a detailed piece this week on the evolution of the pitching process within creator marketing. Part of the title’s Creatorverse digital series the article contained commentary from several members of the Influencer Marketing Trade Body (declaration: I run the IMTB).