Hilton uploads 10-min ad to TikTok … and it’s good

Hilton’s 10-minute TikTok is a beautifully-crafted postmodern ad that plays knowingly with the idea of users’ hyper-shortened attention spans

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Logan Paul’s cautionary tale for creator-owned brands

Logan Paul’s CryptoZoo failed venture and mangled crisis management is a cautionary tale of the importance of marrying influence with aptitude in creator-owned brands.

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Lydia Millen – tone deaf or in tune with her audience?

Fashion influencer labelled as tone deaf for telling viewers she’s off to top hotel because her boiler is broken

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Study shows influencers drive social commerce

Two-fifths of social media users say influencers impact their buying decisions according to a new report.

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Battle for social commerce sales

Hit by slowing advertising revenue, both YouTube and TikTok are doubling-down on their efforts to roll out social commerce features.

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Myleene Klass: trifecta of ASA rulings

Myleene Klass suffered a trifecta of rulings against her this week by the UK advertising regulator.

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Is Mastodon influencer marketing ready?

Interest in Mastodon, the open source social media platform, has spiked as users search out Twitter alternatives post-Elon-Musk-purchase. But will users be safer on Mastodon? Will advertisers and influencers follow?

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Some contrarian views on Instagram’s feature changes

As Kim and Kylie manage to marshal just 0.0003% of their combined Instagram following into signing a petition focused on Instagram algorithm changes we take a contrarian look at the saga.

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Why Instagram shouldn’t listen to Kylie

Instagram should listen to the data not to Kylie’s call for an end to tinkering with its algorithm. And why comparisons with her 2018 Tweet about Snap are over stated.

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61% don’t trust mega influencers to declare ads

New study shows perception gap in influencer compliance rates where 60.5% don’t trust mega influencers to declare all ads despite just one complaint received for every 184.5k sponsored content pieces posted.

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Puberty heightens sensitivity to social media finds survey

A survey shows puberty heightens sensitivity to social media – hang on, puberty heightens sensitivity to everything. 

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Why so few creators have Wikipedia bios

Too few reputable mainstream media outlets cover the breadth of the creator landscape. Creators, in turn, fail the notability test used by Wikipedia editors to decide whether a given topic warrants its own article.What does the Wikipedia landscape look like for creators? asks Catherine Yeo in her newsletter Creative Contemplation! Yeo’s exhaustive research posits that

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When TikTok makes more, creators make less

“When TikTok makes more, creators make less”: VidCon creator’s video examines the way creators are paid on YouTube versus other platforms including TikTok

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Influencer marketing disclosure and the algebra of deterrence

Why the algebra of deterrence is out of balance when it comes to effectively disclosing influencer marketing ads

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Gabby Petito: Crime porn and the making of a posthumous star

Gabby Petito: crime porn and the making of a posthumous star. Citizen journalism, macabre fascination, or cynical opportunism played out by other content creators seeking to garner views from newsjacking, and ultimately profit from this personal tragedy?

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Love Island 2021: Celebrities not Influencers

As Love Island 2021 airs the distinction between influencers and celebrities lies in authority and audience.

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Why shelving Instagram for Kids is no real fix

Shelving Instagram for Kids will not alone remove the potential harms that social media brings to the young as four-in-ten kids below minimum age already use social media.

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Dr Alex joins OnlyFans widening the platform’s appeal

Dr Alex George, Love Islander, doctor and mental health campaigner joins OnlyFans widening the subscription platform’s appeal. 

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Creator subscription services? We’ve been here before with TIDAL

A rash of subscription-only content platforms is cropping up to house influencer content. Here’s what we learned from TIDAL.

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Unintended consequences of regulating big tech

The Competition and Markets Authority is forming the Digital Markets Unit but could there be unintended consequences to regulating big tech? – and if so how do we prevent that?

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TAKUMI X seeks to redefine creators as creative consultants

TAKUMI launches TAKUMI X: a new creative division with a creator-led approach to influencer marketing

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Influencers form American Influencer Council

Influencers form the American Influencer Council to drive advocacy and standardisation in the sector

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Influencers’ political clout

Empty seats at Trump’s Tulsa rally & Biden’s Instagram livestreams demonstrate social media influencers’ political clout

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Influencer marketing recognised as legitimate comms channel

Influencer marketing is now recognised as a legitimate comms channel enabling governments & NGOs to tap into sectors not reached by traditional media

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1-in-5 now career influencers says survey

One-in-five influencers says brand collaborations have become their main source of income turning them into career influencers

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James Charles’ Instant Influencer is everything wrong with our industry

James Charles has a new show: ‘Instant Influencer’. It’s available on YouTube Originals. And it’s awful. More than awful it’s everything wrong with influencer marketing. 

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Bloomberg turns to influencers in US presidential race

Michael Bloomberg taps into micro influencers in bid to woo youth vote in upcoming US presidential elections

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Brand outs influencer over £30 gift

The mental well being of influencers is again in the spotlight as a brand outs an influencer on social media over an unfulfilled £30 brand deal.  

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The real reason Casper lists influencers as IPO risk

Online mattress retailer, Casper lists influencers as a risk factor in its IPO. This disguises a murky past relationship, however. 

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Influencer marketing trends 2020

Influencer marketing trends 2020 including data and insight; the Instagram, TikTok wars; the march of the regulators and bandwagoning. 

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