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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

#251

Post by frockington »

mrep wrote: post #248
futurix wrote: post #17

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

I think you are just used to the HN and tech bubble. A lot of us here most likely don't consume nearly as much social media as the average person does. "Instagram, owned by Facebook, says its users under 25 spend “more than 32 minutes a day on Instagram,” and users 25 and over “spend more than 24 minutes a day” on the app. [0]. In fact, my girlfriend who uses social media a lot more than I do says she knows like doze…

Does your average "influencer" make any money or is it just the top 100 or so that will ever see more than a free weekend and a plane ticket in coach?

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

#252

Post by Nasrudith »

Rjevski wrote: post #25
futurix wrote: post #17

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

My thoughts exactly. It seems to me that the target market of these “influencers” is teens with little to no money that spend hours looking at these “influencers” exactly because these pictures are as close as they’re gonna get to that luxury lifestyle. People who can actually afford this will just go on holidays by themselves with no thoughts about the “influencers” whatsoever, also because by the time you can affor…

To be fair that is a good thing as a long term strategy. They may lack money now but in the future when they could afford it that could pay large premiums. It is why marketers were so focused on youth for marketing - they have less set tastes and more big ticket items in the future.

Most teenagers can't afford a sports car but if you win them over they could wind up buying one when they are older and able to afford it.

I have seen the reverse backfire with traditional news. They would take all sorts of bullshit youth blaming and stupid moral panics and then wonder why people under middle age don't consider them worth reading or watching for free, let alone paying for.

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

#253

Post by coatmatter »

rhino369 wrote: post #59
futurix wrote: post #17

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

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…

It's not even limited to teens - those with the most money to spend are probably more likely to be in their 20s working their first "real" jobs and having "fun". They've learned about "disposable" incomes, low attachments/commitments (being truly free of parents/guardians), and feel that spending is their just reward for slogging it Monday to Friday. It's a typical "work hard, play harder" mentality, and encouraged by many cultures (including Japanese?).

Alcohol is also factor in some way with many decisions - it probably doesn't come as a surprise to non-drinkers just how expensive a weekly habit can get. It also helps to be able to work on spreadsheets and compound interest calculations whilst staying strictly sober. ;)

Overall in the end, it's still the same old phenomenon; advertising, but carried through a newer medium. TV infomercials, print ads and telemarketing used to be big, but that's passé now.

Perhaps what I find more interesting about the OP is how there are still so many businesses with informal processes when it comes to promotion - even something as a simple as an up-to-date Google Maps listing can sometimes go neglected.

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

#254

Post by coatmatter »

mywittyname wrote: post #242
majani wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the majority of people that get large disposable income are heavily influenced by lifestyle marketing. The tech crowd tends to be the exception with our frugal, down to earth ways despite earning lots of money.

I don't think we are immune, we just aspire for a different "lifestyle" than a teenage girl from NYC. While the teenage girl would be dreaming about partying all night on a beach with cute guys (and nursing hangovers in a beautiful spa), a tech bro might dream about taking a Wrangler through the Moab, camping under the stars for a few weeks.

Apple currently still encompasses all.

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

#255

Post by burger_moon »

kop316 wrote: post #239
Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They looked incredible because he had scouts and fixers setting up the places before he went there. If you know some of the developing countries he filmed in, it is quite obvious -- and rather disappointing -- just how inauthentic his local encounters were.

Heh, interesting. Do you have a source for that? I would be curious to read more into it.

He actually talked about it a lot when he was on the Joe Rogan podcast years ago. If you search for it on youtube you'll see it. I recently watched it after his death so it's fresh on my mind.

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

#256

Post by chrshawkes »

I personally have 100,000 people following me on YouTube. My daughter at one point had over 100k people following her on Instagram.

It's much more difficult to get subscribers than followers on Instagram. In addition, a lot of followers are typically on Instagram just to creep on young women and provide no monetary value except for just being another creep in their followers.

Basically, 100k followers on Instagram is a joke and is about equivalent to 25k subscribers on YouTube, only it earns less cash.

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

#257

Post by rsynnott »

overcast wrote: post #90
staticautomatic wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you?

Promoter.

So basically a defective reviewer?

As someone who only reads restaurant reviews in the hope that they'll be bad (I blame over-exposure to AA Gill), I find this whole social media 'influencer' thing deeply boring. Bad reviews are the fun type!

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

#258

Post by coatmatter »

intrasight wrote: post #154

I use Instagram and other social media. But I just don't get how this works. Perhaps someone can give me and others an overview. I only see the posts from my friends, so how would posts from these "influencers" influence me or other's like me? Why would I follow some random person I don't even know? Really, I'm looking for some enlightenment here. I assume that I'm not the only one.

Quick question: Do you own any Apple or similar big-brand products? If so, why?

Six months ago, I bought a Penny Skateboard because I discovered they were a "thing", thanks to Casey Neistat's videos. I don't even particularly like that YouTuber, but find his "content" fascinating and videos a pleasant way to burn time.

I don't aspire to be like Casey Neistat in most ways - I'm not even interested in making YouTube videos. First class flights don't intrigue me, because I handle economy just fine and like flying in any form. If I saw him in the street, I'd probably say hi but I wouldn't ask for a selfie or shoutout.

So why did I buy a Penny board - something one might associate as only being for children (some people feel this way about bicycles too) - why was I "influenced"? Because I discovered that there exists a third option to skateboards and longboards (both of which don't really enamour me because the former are too noisy and the latter are too large). Penny boards, on the other hand appear inoffensive but are challenging and thus rewarding to learn. Plus, they're not expensive - so I figured, why not give it a go and see if I can learn a new balance-skill especially since it's not something everyone can manage?

Next, I saw a pre-Christmas sale, said "yolo" and just went for it.

I'm glad I did go for it because not only have I learned something that some people will never be able to learn, but I'm still continuing to improve more than 100 hours later while others my age decide to stay on their couches, or almost worse: sign up to boot camp-style ongoing gym memberships so they can hit the meat market on a Saturday night or beach weekend.

Like with any business, it's a numbers game. You might not feel directly influenced and you very well may not be, but most people still will have tried Coca-Cola at least once in their lives.

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

#259

Post by coatmatter »

gm-conspiracy wrote: post #174
0x38B wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in the same boat, but what I've found from talking with many people is that they use Instagram to discover places and get an inside look, with what they see on Instagram determining whether they go or not. This leads to reviews on Google like "they run a really good Instagram, but things don't measure up in-person" (I saw this exact review the other day).

Ha. I just checked into a Marriott about an hour ago. In the lobby, there was a giant touchscreen and one of the icons was "social media". I tapped it, and it said "Our Instagram account is currently offline."

I chuckle to myself every time I see a superfluous piece of technology like this being out of service. Then, I realise the probable reality is that no one cares. All they care about is that the core business is still operating (for better or worse).

I've never managed to get free WiFi properly working on a plane or train.

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

#260

Post by kop316 »

burger_moon wrote: post #255
kop316 wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heh, interesting. Do you have a source for that? I would be curious to read more into it.

He actually talked about it a lot when he was on the Joe Rogan podcast years ago. If you search for it on youtube you'll see it. I recently watched it after his death so it's fresh on my mind.

Thanks for the follow up! I'll look it up.
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