Are you familiar with influencer marketing? Definitely a phenomenon of this day and age of social media!
I didn't know there was a name for this sort of thing, but I've definitely seen it on social media! A lot of celebrities (or people who want to be celebrities) giving personal testimonies about how great products are.
Exactly! The focus is more on the person than on the people they're trying to sell to / influence. Kind of backward, and definitely risky given that it's pretty easy for one person's actions to suddenly have a negative impact on a product or service.
Celebrities these days aren't just shilling for fashion or beauty companies! You can see them giving rave reviews to foods, vacations, airlines, and so much more....
I know, it's ridiculous -- any and every thing. What's worse, is that some people will just blindly *bite*. So yeah, the companies relying on influencers are definitely getting what they want. I just don't think it's sustainable.
Celebrity branding
Celebrity branding or celebrity endorsement is a form of advertising campaign or marketing strategy used by brands, companies, or a non-profit organization which involves celebrities or a well-known person using their social status or their fame to help promote a product, service or even raise awareness on environmental or social matters. Marketers use celebrity endorsers in hopes that the positive images of the celebrity endorser of the brand will also be passed on to the products or the brand image associated with the celebrities. Celebrity endorsement is usually
also used to describe the Chinese digital economy based on influencer marketing in social media. Wanghong has been predominantly used to generate profits via retail or eCommerce, by attracting the attention of celebrities' followers.
Internet celebrities have also become a popular phenomenon in China with the likes of Sister Furong (Fu Rong Jiejie), who received worldwide notoriety and fame for her efforts at self-promotion via Internet postings.
According to CBN Data, a commercial data company affiliated with Alibaba, the Internet celebrities economy was set to be