The killing of George Floyd and subsequent global protests have rocked virtually all industries, including the business of influencing. The relatively young field of influencer marketing, just over a decade old, is riddled with racism, say influencers and talent managers. Black influencers on marketing platforms, including Fohr, say they are paid less than white peers, overlooked for advertising campaigns, and unable to negotiate on offers and terms.
But the founders of Open Fohr said they were “being passed over for offers, receiving lowball offers, receiving gifting campaigns with no payment option, unwillingness to negotiate or simply ignoring follow-up questions and negotiations altogether.” Fohr has since acknowledged some of those criticisms. In a 54-page deck presented at a town hall held online on June 10 in response to the Open Fohr account, Fohr said the 2018 Freshman Class “fell short” due to “mismanaged expectations,” a “flawed selection process” and a “lack of dedicated resources” to the program.
Fohr does not require its influencers to report their ethnicities, and nearly three-quarters of Fohr’s 100,000 influencers have not reported. Of those who have, 52 percent identify as white, 16 percent as Black and 32 percent as non-Black people of color. U.K.-based fashion and beauty influencer Shantel Rousseau said low rates are typical from agencies because they charge brands fees. Tasha James, a beauty and style blogger and photographer, said agencies are known to “withhold or take extra” from brands’ campaign budgets, which often leads to pay disparities.
Product as a form of payment is a common practice within the influencer industry, though the ethics are murky. Sources told WWD that luxury fashion brands are especially notorious for sending products in exchange for social media posts. Influencers with smaller followings are often on the receiving end of these kinds of offers.
“There’s lots of different reasons why brands choose to pay people versus others, but I think the problem that a lot of Black influencers feel is that the specs are very narrow when brands decide who they want to spend their money on,” Rousseau said. “I can see the difference in pay,” Renee said. “Brands think that [with] Black creators’ content, you don’t get a return on the dollar. [They] want to touch that market, but they don’t want to pay for it because they don’t see value in it. It’s evident on brands’ pages. If you’re not posting Black creators, you don’t value their content.”
“We know, as Black influencers, that we’re not paid what white influencers are paid,” said one of Black Influencers Matter’s founders, who is an influencer and wished to remain anonymous. “Let’s say a brand you know is going out for press trips. You can see nine white influencers and one Black influencer. It relates to one thing: not being valued, not being paid the same thing, not being given the same opportunity. It shouldn’t be so.
There are some signs that these proliferating anecdotal accounts are leading to formal efforts toward change. The American Influencer Council launched in late June with the purpose of promoting consumer transparency, standardization and professional ethics. It is the only organization with these goals — other than the Federal Trade Commission, which has long struggled with enforcing and amending its influencer guidelines.
And we want it for them.
Influencer life is entreprenuerial😂 it’s the influencers’ own fault for not negotiating🙄
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