SALİM KADIBEŞEGİL

Uğur Uğurcan

I am going start with something that I should actually say at the end of my article: There is, of course, no such thing as “paying whatever it costs and becoming an influencer”!

The reason why I am saying this is a conversation that I had with one of my young friends who is a third-year student at university.

– “What will happen when you finish university?”
– I’ll become an “influencer”.
– !
– “They earn the most. I looked it up.”
– “Is it that easy to become an influencer?”
– “We’ll see, but I put my mind to it.”

A subject that we used to examine under the title of “opinion leader” in terms of communication turned into “influencer” when social media got involved. According to experts, “word-of-mouth marketing” was the stage before that.

However, we have to admit that it was not taught at universities that “influencing” could become a “profession”, that people could earn their living from it and that they could make a career out of it. This subject should be discussed from a different aspect considering that “influencers” are included in the PR agency selection criteria of the companies.

The situation is a bit chaotic on influencers’ front. I haven’t seen anyone whose business card reads “influencer”, but I’m sure it will happen soon because there are “influencer agencies”! Therefore, I thought my young friend’s career target was meaningful. He may not be an “influencer” at the beginning, but he can develop himself in an agency that produces and sells the related services. There are also “influencer marketing” conferences that he can go to.

The main criterion for competition between influencers is “the number of their followers on social media“. This reminds me of “advertising equivalent calculations” which are on a shaky ground in terms of PR effectiveness.

The data about “influencer marketing” effectiveness of a shampoo brand that I saw while doing research is as follows;

• 7 influencers
• 500.000 Reach
• 000 Engagements
• 3% Rate of Engagement

 Before Knocking Against the Wall of Reputation

I am naturally interested in the discussion about “reputation” which lies behind the subject of “influencers”. As in every area, no “influencing” takes place unless the “influencer” is reputable and “no sales are realised” unless the recommended brand is reputable.

We are talking about;

• A reputable “influencer”,
• A reputable “brand”,
• A story
• And the influencer’s experience with the story.

It would be useful to add a “celebrity” to this combination. Not every influencer might be able to compete with more than 8 million people who follow Paris Hilton on Instagram. Some people may not consider Paris Hilton reputable, but it’s only natural for the people who trust her to prefer brands that she recommends.

There is an “influencer” league in our world where concepts like “mention” and “like” mean “money” in the world of marketing although they do not mean anything in social life. So, “influencers” cannot help but find themselves in a competitive environment. There are influencers who care about this situation as well as the ones who “don’t give a damn about it”. However, things are a bit different from an advertiser’s point of view because the ranking in this league affects the decisions about the influencers to be invested in. Therefore, the people who make calculations, and prepare and present this league should also be “reputable“.

The Example of Oprah Winfrey

I think the American television host, author and “trendsetter” Oprah Winfrey is the best example to use in order to approach the subject of “influencers” in the right way. The strength to influence her society through her ideas, guidance and behaviour makes her an “influencer”, but she does not earn money because of this quality. Her ability to stay “independent” makes her unavoidably stronger every day. Barack Obama increased his votes from 423 thousand to 1500 million in the USA presidential election in 2008 since she supported him at that time. That was included in some articles as her strength to influence society.

Where does Oprah find the strength to influence society this much?

She has been an “activist” during social events which deeply affected society since her youth, she has assumed an attitude appropriate to social sensitivity and values, and she has never made concessions on this “consistency” over the years. These qualities undoubtedly match her identity and her character. You can clearly see the components of this strength when you think that she is the producer and presenter of the top TV show.

Tens of TV shows imitating Oprah’s have been produced. However, none of the presenters have been as influential as Oprah!

 Hamdi Ulukaya is Among the 100 Most Influential People

Hamdi Ulukaya, whose yoghurt brand Chobani was a success story in the USA, was chosen as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in the “pioneers” category by Time in 2017. You can see Ulukaya’s identity and personality in his story which tells how he succeeded in business life in the USA, where he went in 1994, if you can read between the lines. Hamdi Ulukaya, who is an “immigrant” himself, defines immigration as the backbone of his business life and his social life, and has a charismatic personality.

The policies and statements against immigrants especially after Trump was elected as President do not affect Hamdi Ulukaya’s “consistency” about the subject. He carries on employing immigrants, shares profits with them, builds foundations to find solutions to their social problems and does all these by taking a “risk”.

Is Celebrity Marketing Dead?

Nothing dies in marketing management! They change names and become “key players” of a different area, and life goes on. Movie stars, sportspeople and television presenters have been “married” to brands for years! Some famous producers and miniseries stars ran away without even taking their jackets from the cloakroom due to “harassment” allegations when they were at their peak. However, all the brands were competing to use them in their marketing activities once!

The above-mentioned celebrities may have been on product packages, on television, and in newspaper and magazine advertisements in those days. When social media stopped being a small island and became an ocean in our lives, it was no more enough for celebrities to appear somewhere important, “what they said and their experiences with brands” also took on a new significance. However, the issue about where and how they stood in life has never changed!

Are Influencers an Authority?

If there are influencers on one side of this process, then the topic that we are looking for on the other side of it may be “authority“. This image can be so influential that you may feel like a product placement is executed in your emotions. It creates an “opinion” like you have just seen a “tested and approved” sign, because “trust” plays the leading role.

The search for “authority” begins with innocent questions such as “What movie should I see?” and “What book should I read?” and suddenly it becomes the “main reason” for choosing your car.

Legal Responsibility

Theoretically, influencers cannot use their “power” in a misleading way. However, if you wonder whether they do, please check the related link to Campaign or the link to The Fyre Festival which was to be held on the Bahamas. The festival, which was mostly marketed on Instagram, used “influencers” such as Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski. It was realised that the real “influencers” were the audience when big promises were replaced with posts of disappointment shared on Instagram by the festivalgoers. Lawsuits were filed against the organising company. In addition to them, legal authorities started taking action when it was claimed that the “influencers” had legal responsibility, too. 

“Influencers”, of course, get their share of these kinds of activities which are legally recognised as “misleading advertisements” or “defective goods” by the commercial world and against which extremely deterrent penalties are imposed.

Something that happened in France got my attention. Tens of thousands of similar examples can be seen every day. However, Caroline Doudet, a French blogger, was fined €1500 because of her comment on a restaurant. The owner of Il Giardino in Cap-Ferret in South France claimed that the comments made by the top blogs that come up on Google’s search tool did not reflect the truth.

This example and similar ones show us that influencers’ legal responsibility and sanctions will be high on the agenda.

What affects influencers and how they are affected in terms of their areas and subjects are other matters. It’s very natural to be able to perceive clearly what is paid and what is free in the world of social media. I think it is highly questionable how much the consumer credits social media engagements which are “paid partnerships”. They might be visible, but it is open to doubt whether they lead to product sales. Posts with a product placement shared by miniseries stars might make us buy the product to say “I have it, too.” but there is only one real “influencer” in the world of marketing and that is “the consumer itself“!