Advertising Victim: Do Independent Beauty Blogs Have a Future?
margarita virova
Last week, Michelle Fan, the most famous and influential Today, a beauty blogger, finally broke a year of silence and released a new video - but it turned out to be completely different from the previous ones. The blogger explained why she refused to continue her many years of work: once the fun and favorite activity turned into a commercial project, the pleasure gave way to hard work, and the cooperation with the brands ended quite ambiguously. This raises the inevitable question: is there any future for those who once were the embodiment of freedom of opinion?
The blogger explained why she refused to continue her many years of work: the once fun and favorite activity turned into a commercial project, and pleasure was replaced by hard work
If earlier it was possible to joke about “the work of a blogger,” then today it is no secret to anyone that keeping a channel on YouTube or a beautiful instagram can be a serious and very profitable business. The beauty segment is no exception: it has grown dozens of successful bloggers, whose opinion is authoritative for millions of subscribers. Of course, opinion leaders on beauty and make-up issues immediately come to the attention of cosmetic brands - and over the past five years, the cooperation of large companies with people talking to the camera has grown from a risky experiment into a serious marketing practice.
Interest in beauty bloggers is based not least on the fact that many of them began with an emphasized opposition to classic advertising strategies. U-turns with tightened movie stars on the pages of magazines began to crowd out ordinary living people who talked about favorite products, doubted and checked. The viewers had the opportunity to see the contents of the cans before spending money on them. We have a habit of starting to dream about cosmetics not immediately after the first announcement: we are waiting for authoritative assessments and sweets on the Internet. In general, this blissful picture implies greater freedom of choice, greater responsibility and greater transparency - the genre "we did it for you" is likely to flourish for a very long time, because its usefulness is obvious.
On the other hand, the development of the phenomenon of cult products was prompted by beauty blogs: even in our country, both brands and buyers are well aware of the “Krygina list”. All that is praised by the most successful Russian make-up artist, certainly falls into the top of sales - and here you should pay attention to the fact that the PR-department gets this bonus completely free. It seems that Elena Krygina herself is fully aware of her responsibility for this effect, and while creating the book “Makeup,” the team spent a lot of effort to make the iconic packaging of lipsticks and serums as less recognizable as possible. The very need for such a decision is dictated, of course, by an attempt to create a product free of advertising, which is almost impossible on the territory of beauty blogging.
The blogs had a tremendous head start in the race for the trust of the audience before various publications with their redplans, mandatory “discarding” of new products and native advertising. Publications also have a percentage of returns, but nothing opens the heart of a potential buyer like a conversation on equal terms: those who want to hear the opinion of "just like us" will certainly go on beauty-blogs - in which advertising is a little easier to hide, and the effect of it will be much more. A good opinion of a blogger about a product can consistently increase its competitiveness in a crowded cosmetic market. This is well illustrated by the example of EOS Balsam, which Kim Kardashian woke up as a star after the tweet: judging solely by its technical characteristics, hundreds of similar products, but the cult status of the product is supported by the fact that the idol of millions chooses it.
Where is the fine line between independent activity, which requires support for development, and frank commercialization? For any blogger, cosmetics is first of all working material, and the more successful the work is, the richer the content should be, so it’s impossible to imagine a professional who does everything exclusively with his own resources and means. Brands for the reasons already mentioned above are happy to send out new items and hits for testing - but in an ideal world, such a move is fraught with certain risks. The status of an independent expert quite allows the blogger to criticize the product to pieces, which is expected to affect sales in the opposite direction. Nevertheless, a specific loyalty system has long been established between brands and bloggers. The top heroes of youtube often include paid advertising in their reviews, enter into contracts with brands, become their ambassadors - but by inertia retain the reputation of impartial experts. Meanwhile, the small empire Michelle Fan allowed her to easily fly into the Forbes list.
Top heroes of youtube often include paid advertisements in their reviews - but by inertia they keep their reputation as unbiased experts
The watershed, in fact, is where the blogger begins to create an advertising release under the guise of his own opinion - and the small history of this genre has already taken shape in such a way that it is almost impossible to distinguish one from the other. The practice of beauty publications, with which bloggers and unleashed a war, initially involves commercial relations, from which today's young consumer, thirsting for truth and awareness, seeks to distance itself. That is, selling a dubious, complex or unsuccessful product due to a deal with a popular and adored blogger is much easier than if its promotion goes through any, even the most respected, beauty editorial. In the case of a successful product - even more so.
The story of Michel Fahn is not the only example of how an independent activity turns into an advertising platform - and the author is forced to abandon extreme honesty. Nevertheless, it is better to look to the future with optimism: the ethics of blogging is just beginning to take shape. Someone works with brands, provided that the product appears in the review, if the “national expert” really likes it, and someone does not hesitate to sign the content as advertising. But it would be good for bloggers to meet the understanding of the reader: really beautiful, original and high-quality resources require cash investments. But, in the end, it is impossible to constantly buy trust - so only sincere will survive.