Are influencers the new celebrities?

An insider’s perspective

By Gio Metodiev

Recently I had a chat with a couple of agents from a very notable agency representing some of the top celebrities in the world (whose names will remain private), about the changing landscape for the talent they represent. They were lamenting on the fact that influencers are taking so much of the pie share from traditional celebrities in terms of brand endorsements but also in awe of how much better they are at it. After all, a skillful influencer can deliver content creation that it is conceived, art-directed, executed and edited in standards close to what a full-blown production day in New York and Paris would take. Of course for a fraction of the costs and timings involved.

The question that immediately came to my mind was “are influencers the new celebrities of our era”? In order to fully address this conundrum, we need to understand what each of our heroes stands for. 

Celebrity endorsements date back all the way to the 1700s when the British potter Josiah Wedgwood self-proclaimed himself as “the potter to Her Majesty Queen Charlotte” after his famous client endorsed his creations. This innovative and brilliant marketing prowess helped Mr. Wedgwood to amass a fortune of close to £500 million in modern terms. The golden age of celebrity endorsements began to reach its peak in the second half of the 20th century from Marilyn Monroe’s famous line about only sleeping in her “Chanel 5” perfume to major motion pictures with actual brand names in their titles such as “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “The Devil Wears Prada” to name a few. The tabloid culture and rise of the internet in the early aughts only magnified this by a constant influx of red carpet appearances and images of our favorite celebs documenting even the most mundane life situations possible. Almost 10 years later, personally I still remember that Drake and Rihanna had an intimate sushi dinner at Nobu in NYC immediately after the VMA’s. Such is the power of celebrity endorsements. A true celebrity is someone who has entered the cultural psyche in a way that transcends their actual human being and morphs them into an image that people attribute their desires, emotions, aspirations and even life ambitions.

Andy Warhol prophetically claimed that one day in the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. He couldn’t have been more right. Here comes the rise of influencers around 2010. Regular people that connect to a number of other people based on their passion for a given subject, unique point of view of the world and most importantly the ability to tell a story visually or verbally that can influence others. These unique content creators of our times are normally a team of two (remember there is always someone on the other side of the lens). They express themselves freely without the constraints of a carefully curated image crafted by an army of managers, agents, and lawyers. It is this special authenticity that has turned them into the powerful voices they represent today. 

So to answer the question raised earlier, influencers are not here to take anyone’s place. On the contrary, they are here to bring something fresh and innovative, earning themselves a firm seat at the table. As television never replaced radio, nor will influencers replace celebrities. Instead, I foresee a future of closer collaboration and blurred lines where roles will be a lot more fluid. Still not convinced, some of our most successful influencer marketing campaigns in 2019 such as The Malibu Games Global and HelloFresh UK all incorporated both traditional celebrities and influencers to a great effect, exceeding even our most optimistic forecasts. As we are on the cusp of a new decade, we need to keep evolving our strategies to be as inclusive and true as possible. It’s a brave new world all over again!