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

theatlantic.com

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

#141

Post by mayniac »

jrnichols wrote: post #76
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".

The "influencers" reek of "I'm young, female, and attractive, and therefore i am worthy of attention and lavish gifts." Thing is, it works.

To be fair on them, despite what their instagrams show it is a lot of work. My girlfriend follows Alexis Ren and showed me her workout routine, it's easily 3 hours a day. Which combined with reaching out to brands, dealing with advertisers, scheduling, photoshoots etc I could easily see it being a full time job. Plus the constant dieting on top of all that which I can't remember the details of, but I know is hugely restrictive: no eating after 5pm and zero alcohol for example.

For sure a lot of them are pretty low effort and just do it as a side job, but I don't think it's as simple as just being attractive and I don't think a lot of them are as entitled as they seem.

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

#142

Post by kop316 »

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.

To an extent that was what "Anthony Bordain - Parts Unknown" did. He frequently was in very nice places, but he would also go to hole in the wall places that always looked incredible.

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

#143

Post by Magmatic »

ryandrake wrote: post #134
cityhomesteader wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I just want to know who the heck takes recommendations of 'influencers' seriously? Their fans? > Gullible teens with no money? Probably. But gullible teens with no money have parents who have money and gullible teens with no money grow up to become adults with money. Hence why advertisers want to get to them when they are young. It's well known that earlier you can influence people, the more influence you can have.…

The difference, of course, is that lebron James and Tom Hanks have some other talent that can explain their fame, and The Atlantic journalists also are influential because of some other thing they do (besides influencing). These Instagram people are influencers because... why? What underlying talent or past event launched them into their positions?

Reasons for fame, while interesting in themselves, only matter insofar as they determine the demographics of a celebrities following and how likely that demographic is to try the products they associate themselves with.

A small thought experiment now, say I run a restaurant and both Tom Hanks and Lebron James go on national television and declare it their favorite place to eat, what happens? I'd say starting the next day I'm going to be flooded with reservations despite the fact that the talents that make them famous have nothing to do with their ability to judge food.

Influencers are influencers because a large group of people act collectively to give them influence. The reasons why people give influencers such influence is varied but as a business owner all that really matters is how much that influence may be worth monetarily.

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

#146

Post by garmaine »

nothrabannosir wrote: post #33
orbitingpluto wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I would create an Instagram account just to follow this guy.

https://www.instagram.com/guyfieri/

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

#147

Post by sanderjd »

Analemma_ wrote: post #140
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess I don't get creeped out about this because this is what happens already in life - but it's implicit and unacknowledged instead of explicit and acknowledged. This same calculus happens at all levels: trying to be part of certain groups (Stanford graduate, YCombinator graduate etc...) , join certain clubs (Founders who have raised a Series A, Forbes 30 under 30), impress certain people (Investors, Board Members…

Exactly. At least Instagram has a visible number (your follower count) that is a decent proxy for what "level" you've reached. With "good old boys" networks it's totally opaque.

Why is that better?

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

#148

Post by sanderjd »

smallnamespace wrote: post #20
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.

Well, why can people trust any other people at all? Well, here are some ways: 1. They have an incentive to be honest* (e.g. they would be punished if they weren't), e.g. lawyers, engineers, family members 2. They seem like just honest people, e.g. the Dalai Lama? 3. They say or do many other things that you agree with and your values seem aligned, e.g. politicians, athletes, some corporate leaders 4. They are a lot l…

> Well, why can people trust any other people at all?

I trust (some) people I know, because I know them.

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

#149

Post by checker659 »

naturalgradient wrote: post #13
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.

This is sort of what the report of the week ('reviewbrah' [0]) is doing, no? Reviewing fast food in a quirky manner. Million+ subscribers on youtube, really interesting to have followed this for 5+ years when he had a few hundred subscribers. Doing the exact same thing with very small refinements, over and over. It's not that glamorous, but I reckon at 1M+ subscribers he is doing quite a lot better than many obscure…

I'm from Nepal and I've been subscribed to reviewbrah since 2016. I suspect his viewership is much more diverse and widespread that you'd think. It's the internet after all.

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

#150

Post by zappo2938 »

philip1209 wrote: post #27
futurix wrote: post #17

I just want to know who the heck takes recommendations of 'influencers' seriously? Gullible teens with no money?

I think Instagram is just replacing magazines. People use their phone for inspiration like they used to read paper travel content. Even if they are not traveling, the content fuels imagination and dreams.

That is interesting. People buy Vogue because of the paid content. The creative and editorial content too but that has equal weight with the paid content to the reader.
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