PP2 | Influencers

Position Paper | Influencers

Influencers are social media content creators that use their follower-fan base to promote a product, brand, or company to his/her followers, with the intent of influencing them to purchase and use the product being promoted. For brands, this can easily be considered the jackpot for companies. Brands observe social media influencers and contact and partner with who they would like to work with— who they would like to sponsor and promote their products. The branded items being promoted are, but not limited to makeup and skincare, clothing lines, designer bags, designer shoes, electronic devices, etc. 

The goal of an influencer is to entice the audience to buy and use or do something that "regular" people can buy and use or do too. The idea is to create successful products, make millions off of those products, and make their company well-known in the industry. Easily said, both parties can profit off of one another. Even more easily said, thousands of brands are partnering with influencers all over the country, practically making the world a better a place. 

Some might say that influencers are the modern-day version of original paid advertisements. CEO of impact.com , David Yovanna, said himself that, "Brands are no longer relying strictly on traditional paid advertising channels, they are tapping creators to create content that is tailored to reach new audiences." Over time, society has become reluctant to believing the old, misleading, and exaggerated advertisements. They've (more like we've) become tired of believing the advertisements with no real feel of what it's actually like after purchasing from these brands. Because of this, influencers have started to speak directly to their audience, almost as if it were two best friends on a facetime call. If your best friend told you that Dezzi's most recently launched line with Monet McMichael were absolutely worth the $90, would you consider it? 

Dezi x Monet 

Instagram | TikTok | YouTube 

Monet McMichael is a social media content creator/influencer, with over 3 million followers on TikTok, 1.2 million followers on Instagram, and 419k subscribers on YouTube. Monet McMichael has been an influencer on social media for nearly a decade, hitting her peak in 2021 on TikTok. 

McMichael is an influencer of products, including makeup, skincare, designer clothing, designer shoes, accessories, fitness and self care, etc.  Her influencing reaches people beyond the U.S., influencing fans from international places that have access to Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. Because of how powerful McMichael’s influencing is, the Monet x Dezi collection sold out within minutes of being released for purchasing on the website. “You don’t really understand your selling power until a moment like this…”

Michael Jordan and Nike 

Michael Jordan is one of the biggest influencers of late 1980s to current time. In 1984, Nike paired with Michael Jordan to produce shoes promoting basketball and Jordan as the most extraordinary player of all time. The Air Jordan shoes were designed for Nike by Peter Moore, Tinker Hatfield, and Bruce Kilgore. Jordan first displayed the Air Jordan 1 in 1984, while playing for the Chicago Bulls in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers. The shoes were not released on the market until 1985. The shoes at the time were compliant against the Bulls uniform, which led to Air Ship(Nike basketball shoe design also released in 1984) being banned by the NBA. The NBA believed that the Air Jordan 1 is a black and red version of the original Air Ship shoe. Not only that, but the NBA sent a letter to Jordan and the company, finning him $5,000 every time he wore the shoes on court during a game. Something about, “the rules aren’t meant to be broken.” 

The Advertisement that made Nike, Jordan, and basketball history. 

Air Jordan shoes are most popularly sold in the United States, Saudi Arabia, China, India, and Iraq, each country making minimum $680 million. 

(Click here)

Influencers partnering with brands(and vice versa) is not necessarily new. Influencers have been partnering with brands from incredibly small to worldwide companies for sometime. Although most and almost all influencers are social media content creators, some can be athletes or musicians that the people look up to and admire. Nike and Michael Jordan now have a multi-billion dollar company because of their collaboration: a brand and a phenomenal basketball player. Although, in today’s time, most influencing is manufactured on social media because that’s where everyone spends their time. Influencers have one job, and that is to influence.