Luxury hotels are being inundated with requests from self-described influencers • Hacker News Board

Re: Luxury hotels are being inundated with requests from self-described influencers

#91

Post by pessimizer » Sun, Jun 17, 2018, 10:19 PM UTC

forapurpose wrote: post #70

United857 wrote: post #67

Every reputable travel publication/blog I know of have strict editorial policies against accepting freebies/discounts/gifts in exchange for reviews/coverage. Those so-called "influencers" aren't really about serving their audience -- they strike me as just a scammy way to travel "for free".

From another angle, I wonder why their readers trust the influencers when they are well-known to be bought and paid for.

Because the quality of the product or experience is irrelevant. The goal is to imitate the influencer, and to thereby also become someone who people want to imitate.

If I can pattern myself 90% after someone that other people are imitating, those other people are virtually already 90% imitating me anyway, they just don't know it yet. If I can get them to remember my name, and a significant chunk to think that my 10% difference is in qualities where I'm superior to the person I'm imitating, I've at least carved out a niche, but I maybe on the road to completely replacing them.

Of course on a very small scale, this could just be amongst people at my workplace, or who go to my college.

Re: Luxury hotels are being inundated with requests from self-described influencers

#92

Post by blawson » Sun, Jun 17, 2018, 10:20 PM UTC

empath75 wrote: post #16

Sounds to me like this is a big opportunity for an intermediary to connect useful social media influencers with various brands.

Plenty of sites like popsugar already do this.

That was basically one of my good friend’s wife’s job.

Re: Luxury hotels are being inundated with requests from self-described influencers

#93

Post by alexhutcheson » Sun, Jun 17, 2018, 10:22 PM UTC

orbitingpluto wrote: post #31

CamTin wrote: post #5

I wonder why the strategy of these "brand personalities" has to be limited to "luxury" type branding. For example, could you build a following traveling the country by interstate in a Fiesta, staying at Motel 6 and eating at Waffle House? It wouldn't cost Motel 6 and Waffle House almost anything to comp a few waffles and otherwise-unoccupied rooms as an experiment, if they aren't doing similar things already.

Pot bellied middle-aged bald white man drives to his Motel 6 in his Ford Fiesta, crosses the street to a Waffle House, gorges himself on waffles and syrup, and returns to his hotel room to cry and wonder where it all went wrong? Sounds great.

Something pretty close to that already exists, and has been really successful: https://youtu.be/ELPKuKvo44k

Re: Luxury hotels are being inundated with requests from self-described influencers

#94

Post by code_duck » Sun, Jun 17, 2018, 10:24 PM UTC

This phenomenon is well known among boro glass artists, or artists in general. Paying with 'exposure'. People frequently contact us on Instagram, asking for free merchandise, ostensibly to review. If they have 20,000 followers, that may be worth it... for 50,000, it probably is. Often, however, it someone with no significant following who therefore has little to offer. Businesses similarly ask for our time to be donated or traded when we do public demonstrations, though typically they would pay other entertainers such as musicians or comedians.

This definitely is not limited to my niche of glass artists. There's a twitter account about the wider world of people who think artists have vast advertising budgets and lots of free time: https://mobile.twitter.com/forexposure_txt

I think these hotels are in a similar spot - it may be worthwhile advertising, or it may be a worthless request.

Re: Luxury hotels are being inundated with requests from self-described influencers

#95

Post by rhino369 » Sun, Jun 17, 2018, 10:25 PM UTC

staticautomatic wrote: post #88

rhino369 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gullible teens with money, which is why their influence can be worth money. Which is why this stuff works for premium mediocre products. Stuff that is more expensive, but still within the reach of the middle class. But their followers cannot afford 1000 dollar a night hotels. So if I was a luxury hotel, I'd tell them to fuck off. But if I was a cupcake shop, I'd let each of these influencers eat whatever they wanted…

That's not really how it works. The hotel puts up the influencer in the ludicrously expensive over-water bungalow or deluxe suite or whatever. Followers book the cheaper rooms hoping for the same experience.

That would be a good model, but in my experience, luxury hotels don't have cheap rooms.

Re: Luxury hotels are being inundated with requests from self-described influencers

#96

Post by fabatka » Sun, Jun 17, 2018, 10:28 PM UTC

grecy wrote: post #35

pmorici wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are certainly people with channels that cater to camping or living out of a Jeep / Van. IAmJake for example on YouTube. [0] As evidenced by that I don't think a brand personality has to be luxury but it does have to have a point of view people can take interest in. [0] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbjw-VrJCUb8PTGoiDI2UMw

> living out of a Jeep Hey, that's me! 2+ years, 80,000+ miles and 35+ countries in Africa living out of my Jeep. I've just passed the half-way point and am really looking forward to the Cape to Cairo run North. http://instagram.com/theroadchoseme/ http://theroadchoseme.com

Wow, so well documented trips! I really like how you could turn your life around and show others how this can be achieved. Definitely the most inspiring thing I started reading this year, kudos!

Re: Luxury hotels are being inundated with requests from self-described influencers

#97

Post by pessimizer » Sun, Jun 17, 2018, 10:34 PM UTC

CamTin wrote: post #5

I wonder why the strategy of these "brand personalities" has to be limited to "luxury" type branding. For example, could you build a following traveling the country by interstate in a Fiesta, staying at Motel 6 and eating at Waffle House? It wouldn't cost Motel 6 and Waffle House almost anything to comp a few waffles and otherwise-unoccupied rooms as an experiment, if they aren't doing similar things already.

> traveling the country by interstate in a Fiesta, staying at Motel 6 and eating at Waffle House

The problem is that those things are not difficult to obtain, and so any following you would have would be shared by 100K people just like you. To be interesting, you'd have to have some unattainable quality in addition to eating at Waffle House, such as being a multi-billionaire, or an extremely successful actor/actress, or a Turner Prize winning artist.

Of course, this would end up with custom $250K Fiestas, Motel 6 starting a curated luxury brand, and Waffle Houses with chefs and monthlong reservation lists. The reason why a flow of money for nothing comes from luxury branding is pretty obvious. The cash is coming from people who spend large amounts of money casually, in a way that can be significantly influenced by the people they follow on Instagram.

Re: Luxury hotels are being inundated with requests from self-described influencers

#98

Post by code_duck » Sun, Jun 17, 2018, 10:35 PM UTC

CamTin wrote: post #5

I wonder why the strategy of these "brand personalities" has to be limited to "luxury" type branding. For example, could you build a following traveling the country by interstate in a Fiesta, staying at Motel 6 and eating at Waffle House? It wouldn't cost Motel 6 and Waffle House almost anything to comp a few waffles and otherwise-unoccupied rooms as an experiment, if they aren't doing similar things already.

It all depends on how entertaining the person is. Could Rowan Atkinson do that? Absolutely. Could your average person? No, it would be awkward and incredibly boring. In between, though, sure, someone could make something interesting based on that. Some of the best TV shows have very thin plots after all.

Re: Luxury hotels are being inundated with requests from self-described influencers

#99

Post by pessimizer » Sun, Jun 17, 2018, 10:37 PM UTC

oldcynic wrote: post #28

Hnrobert42 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do people trust your recommendations? I’m not saying you are untrustworthy. I don’t know you. But that is my point. Why do people trust “influencers”? I would feel like a tremendous fool even following a stranger’s account, much less going somewhere on their say-so.

They trust them for being being popular. Being popular has become the goal. Aspiring to be famous for something, like being a great musician, no longer seems to be thought a necessary component.

That's because under capitalism, salary is confused with talent and pricing with quality.

the most famous musicians are not the greatest musicians, the relationship is largely arbitrary

Re: Luxury hotels are being inundated with requests from self-described influencers

#100

Post by code_duck » Sun, Jun 17, 2018, 10:37 PM UTC

Hnrobert42 wrote: post #18

overcast wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People want escapism. Something out of their ordinary lives. Like movies. As someone who is heavily involved in Instagram marketing, I don't see the value for anyone other than dreamers. Which is why my focus is niche, local, and accessible to everyone. In return I send a TON of real customers to places that I choose to promote.

Why do people trust your recommendations? I’m not saying you are untrustworthy. I don’t know you. But that is my point. Why do people trust “influencers”? I would feel like a tremendous fool even following a stranger’s account, much less going somewhere on their say-so.

People trust and are totally happy to be manipulated by completely fictitious, entirely fabricated depictions of individuals in advertising and programs on television.