Fyre festival was probably the biggest scam ever since the beginning of the influencer era. In case you lived on the moon these last two years and never heard about this scandal, here is a recap…
Fyre was created by Billy Mcfarland, CEO of Fyre media in 2017. The aim of this music festival was to promote the new Fyre app created by Mcfarland to allow people and companies to easily “book” influencers. The festival was supposed to be the best event ever created and promised the earth to attendees. Music, models, Caribbean food and villas on a private Bahamas island. Watch the promotion clip below and you will see you will want to book your ticket straight away.
Tempting right? Well, the festival was a total flop. The organisers were not ready at all but kept advertising the event until the last minute and pretended like everything was fine. The issue is that the event implicated several famous influencers like Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner who are followed by millions of people. They sponsored the festival and were therefore blamed by the media and the attendees when the scam was revealed. Consumers felt like they were fooled by influencers.
Can Influencers still be trusted?
This scandal questioned their reliability and credibility. Indeed, the main reason why Influencer advertising is successful is linked to the fact that consumers are more listened than brands because they are believed to be more honest and trustworthy (Paço & Oliveira, 2017). But now, consumers are becoming aware of the marketing logic behind influencer advertising. Abidin (2018) argues that the last few years have been marked by several scandals like the Fyre Festival which weakened the world of Influencers. Whether it was dishonest marketing or fake followers, these scandals have indeed affected the reputation of the particular influencers concerned.
However, it is far from being the end of Influencer Marketing…
A study lead by the Influencer Marketing Hub in 2018 shows that companies which invest in influencer marketing earn 18$ for every dollar spent. This marketing method is still one of the most effective for brands. The truth is, Influencer Marketing has simply evolved. Abidin (2018) argues that there has been shift from “tasteful consumption” to “amateur aesthetic”. She explains that Influencers are showing less professionalism and more amateurism to appear more authentic to their followers.
However, I do not think this argument is valid for all influencers. Indeed, the “big” ones tend to still appear professional and distant from us, average followers. There is still a gap between the Kardashian’s super fancy Instagram for example and my boring student profile. No matter how hard they try to appear simple, those big influencers lead a very different life which is why it is hard for average people to relate to them. However, this need from consumers to interact and feel closer to internet celebrities they follow lead to the emergence of micro-influencers (Asselin & Faganello, 2018). The latter are defined as “contraries to celebrities or tier-influencers, only popular to a rather niche group of people and have a more authentic approach to their followers” (Zietek, 2016,p.212).
Scandals like the Fyre Festival have harmed the reputation of many successful celebrities and influencers yet it is far from being the end of the Influencer Era as many suggest. We are assisting to a new form of Influencer marketing focused on authenticity and communities thanks to the rise of micro-influencers.
Click here to find out about this new of wave of Influencers who have a better ROI than Jennifer Lopez.
References
Abidin, C. (2018). Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame Online. Bingley: Emerald.
Asselin, C. & Faganello, T. (2018). Comment exploiter le potentiel des Micro Influencers?. Digimind.
Influencer Marketing Hub (28 May 2019). The State of Influencer Marketing 2019 : Benchmark Report [online]. Retrieved from: https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketing-2019-benchmark-report / [accessed 19 December 2019]
Oberlo (18 Nov 2019). 10 Influencer Marketing Statistics You Need to Know in 2020 [online]. Retrieved from: https://www.oberlo.com/blog/influencer-marketing-statistics [accessed 19 December 2019]
Paço, A., & Oliveira, S. (2017). Influence Marketing in the Fashion and Beauty Industry. Estudos em Comunicação, 1(25).
Youtube.com (12 Jan 2017). Announcing Fyre Festival, [online]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz5kY3RsmKo [accessed 20 December 2019]
Zietek, N. (2016). Influencer Marketing: the characteristics and components of fashion influencer marketing.
