A New Era of Advertising
If you have social media and don’t already know who Chrissy Teigen is then I’m afraid you’ve been missing out. The 31-year-old sports illustrated model, cookbook author, and TV personality has climbed her way to the top of social media thanks to her honesty and witty sense of humor. On Twitter, Teigen is well known for clapping back at online bullies, antagonizing Donald Trump and expressing pretty much everything that comes to her mind.
Thanks to her millions of followers on social media, Teigen is able to connect with an extremely large audience. She shares her life online, including not just the glamour and excitement that comes with being a celebrity but also the everyday struggles — things that are more personal and private. In my opinion Teigen is a refreshing reminder that celebrities are human beings who have feelings, make mistakes and even eat real food.
As traditional advertising platforms shrink, celebrities endorsing products or services on social media has become the latest career opportunity. It can be done right and receive positive results or can go completely wrong and tarnish the reputation of involved parties. People online are extremely critical and usually the first to tear a person apart for selling out when they promote certain brands. Like many other celebrities, Chrissy Teigen uses her various social media accounts as a platform to endorse products. The only difference, I feel she has managed to successfully incorporate these endorsements into her public life without it jeopardizing her authenticity.
A few months ago on Snapchat, she featured Vita Coco oil in a series of videos showcasing to fans different ways you could use the product. It was the best kind of advertisement because it didn’t feel like one at all. Instead it felt like one of her everyday humourous snapchats with guest appearances from her daughter Luna, husband John Legend and pet dogs.
Typically, when I see public figures endorsing a brand on social media it usually is a variation of the same picture. This being a photo or selfie of the celebrity holding [weight loss tea, hair growth pills, or teeth whitening gel] with an overly scripted caption.
Because I follow Chrissy Teigen on social media I’ve come to expect a certain level of authenticity in the content she publishes. Even though it’s fairly easy to see she’s endorsing Vita Coco, on any given day Teigen will share similar style videos of herself cooking, playing with her daughter, or just goofing around. So if you take away the fact that she’s been sponsored, the Snapchats still look like something Teigen would normally share.
Another reason Teigen has been successful in the world of social media marketing is the fact that she doesn’t dilute her own image with sponsored content. Not only are promoted posts are far less common but as said in an interview with Fashionista, Chrissy only endorses products she will personally use. “I’ve always been really adamant about only partnering with products that I really love and really use…I’ve never, ever, ever endorsed something that I didn’t believe in and didn’t love.”
Internet personalities have become the go-to advertising link between brands and their target audiences. Remaining authentic can be difficult when companies are willing to pay hundreds — sometimes thousands of dollars to have their product featured on social media account. It’s hard to say that all celebrities who endorse products are sell outs because in reality I know it’s not that simple to turn down. However, I do think if you’re going to promote something it better be for more than the cheque that comes at the end. As long as you’re promoting something that means something to you or at least doesn’t go against your values then why not make money from it?
Years ago, social media was new, exciting and a fairly simple way of connecting with friends. But because the world revolves around money this is no longer the case. Yes, you can still do all the same stuff but social media is different — it’s a business. And like any business, it needs salespeople to do the job of selling the products or services they want people to buy.
P.s. After writing this blog post I came across this ad for Oreo on Chrissy Teigen’s Instagram page which can be seen as another example of a successful paid endorsement!
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