Influencers Are People, Not Media Outlets

Why the Mainstreaming of Influencer Marketing Is Bad for Brands, Consumers and Influencers: Twelve years ago I started an influencer agency. I was told I was out of my mind. Leaving a lucrative on-camera position at MTV to move behind-the-scenes seemed mad to most. To me, it was the opportunity of a lifetime. It was abundantly clear that, in a rapidly splintering communications ecosystem, marketers were going to need to wield the power of alpha-consumers if they wanted their messages to resonate. Brands would no longer influence people, people would. They would also need to speak to a new generation that was multicultural, entrepreneurial, savvy, suspicious of authority and obsessed with experience. It took about a decade, but influencer marketing has finally graduated to the big leagues — endorsed from the CPG industry to automotive, from tremendous PR shops to historically digital agencies, from the streets to corporate boardrooms and everywhere in between. And this is bad for brands, consumers and influencers alike. Read more at Advertising Age.