Wazzup Pilipinas!
Should bloggers/vloggers be considered among the influencers or is there a specific definition of influencers as pertaining only to those celebrities or mainstream-popular personalities?. There is such a thing as macro and micro influencers, wherein bloggers/vloggers, may they be newbies or with small followings, are accepted as micro influencers.
People who brand themselves as influencers where you mostly just see them smile, flex a muscle, show off their cleavage, and look cute infront of the camera to pose for a photo or video ops or on their mobile phones to do a selfie with the products are what is prominent on mainstream media and online or social media. They will argue that it is very rare for consumers to read anymore, and pretty faces with short captions are enough to persuade their fans to patronize a product or service. Most are just reacting immediately on clickbait headlines or titles and would rarely click on a link to read more content about the story.
Is content no longer king and nowadays you just need a pretty face, a well-endowed physique, and willing to flex those abs, expose those cleavages, show off those sexy moves, etc. to sell a brand?
The recent video advertisement of Central Delivery with Popeye's resto shows Matteo Guidicelli doing his workout at a gym with so many of Popeyes logo placements printed in packages well-placed at prominent places at the gym, then ends with him at a push down slanted position probably sipping a cola or iced tea with the Popeyes logo on the cup, and then a photo of several Popeyes products - fried chicken, burger and fries, come out trying to bring that message of rewarding yourself.
We never heard anything about what makes Popeyes different or special compared to other brands. All they showed was Matteo doing his workout.... or was the ad only to inform us about Central Delivery as an alternative food delivery option.
Which makes no sense. After all that sweat working out, you'll gain back all that fat with those junk food.
We're you convinced to run over at the said resto or order food for delivery at Popeyes via Central Delivery?
How about with Matteo's unboxing of the PS4? We're you convinced to buy a Playstation and show a better unboxing? Lol
If you were, then substantial content is indeed no longer a priority.
It's like another Piolo Pascual and Derek Ramsey with their Dunkin Donuts promotion. These two celebrities are known for their fit and fab bodies but it is very unlikely that they would waste all their efforts by eating those sugary donuts....even as occasional rewards to themselves. For celebrities, their physical appearance is an investment that they should maintain well to remain an eye-candy for their fans.
Now there are several more examples of how influencers seems to be just paid endorsers that do not really embody truthfulness and realism as actual patrons of the products they are endorsing. But it would make this a very long article.
Should brands collaborate with bloggers/vloggers instead? Are they more credible when it comes to reviewing or featuring brands? That is open to another argument on its own.