Influencers are social media content producers who commercialize their audience relationship. Depending on the influencer’s audience, commercializing possibilities range from product recommendations in brand-sponsored content and commission-based affiliate marketing to actually owning and operating a brand.
Below is an attempt to visualize the various cases of influencer monetization, including the case where an influencer is an owner, or a co-owner of a brand they sell to their followers. In contrast to the “traditional” influencer marketing process which is initiated by the advertiser (top left corner in the graph), the influencer-entrepreneur (bottom right corner) is the public face of their owned brand.
While the international cases (such as the energy drink PRIME) are well reported (recent NPR coverage here) - more influencers are becoming public faces of consumer brands in the Nordics as well, especially in fashion and beauty.
The Swedish marketing media site Breakit mapped the financial success of a number of influencer-owned brands (Adoore, Caia Cosmetics, Clean Drink, Djerf Avenue, Organista among others), whereas the influencer industry media Influens.se listed all the new influencer-brands this year.
Breakit.se August 25, 2022 (paywall) Stor kartläggning: Sveriges hetaste influencers – så går kändisarnas bolag (snabbväxarna, utmanarna och succéerna som uteblev)
Breakit.se 20 April, 2023. (paywall) Här är svenska influencers som verkligen äger sina bolag (och de som inte gör det)
New York Times August 18, 2022: Making Matilda Djerf a Household Name. The Swedish influencer is building a multimillion-dollar lifestyle empire catering to the TikTok generation.
Influens.se July 12, 2023. Första halvåret 2023 – här är alla nya influencer-varumärken
Although I have already made many interviews for my dissertation research project (a warm thanks to You all who have given your valuable time for this research), I would like to do more. If you are one, or know someone, who could contribute to this research by way of a 60-minute-or-so research interview, please get in touch via email at tuija.aalto@tuni.fi, IG DM tuija_aalto or via LinkedIn.
I’m collecting influencer-entrepreneur experiences especially in Finland.
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