Influencers; useful or not?

Ha, going straight in with this one. A couple of weeks ago I saw a post on social media asking if whisky influencers are the new “Brand ambassadors”, but just paid in whisky*. (I can’t remember the exact wording, but it was along those lines.

(*I suspect some are in paid contract, though I wouldn’t know who).

Now, I don’t class myself as “an influencer” though I recognise that I may “influence” people who have some kind of trust in what I say. So generally, I am careful about what I say (in writing).

Although I have a great interest in whisky and I do paid work within the industry, I am certainly NOT an influencer in the modern social media sense.

Firstly, lets define an influencer in the terms of social media:

A Social Media Influencer is a user on social media who has established credibility in a specific industry. These content creators have access to a large audience and can share information to persuade others through their authenticity and reach. Social media influencers often partner with brands, promoting products or services to followers in exchange for monetary compensation, free products, or discounts.

(Source: Definition: What is a Social Media Influencer? | Pixlee TurnTo)

Now that’s just one definition, I’m sure you can search for more. But this one is interesting; lets break it down:

“established credibility in a specific industry” – how is credibility established? Do they have a blog, do they demonstrate excellent knowledge of the industry.

“access to a large audience” – well we all have access to a large audience (i.e., we all have access to social media platforms), but do all the influencers have a large audience? What is considered a large reach? How do the companies decide who to use? Over the past few years, I have seen persons on Twitter with less than 1k followers be continually “gifted” items from companies, yet people with over 5k follows never get a thing. Now from what I understand, marketing teams do want to see numbers. How many followers on what platform; how often was post “x” read, shared, etc. Surely the person with 5K is going to have a better reach than the person with 1k?

“authenticity”. sorry, had to stop a little snigger here. Whisky/ey is a huge bandwagon now and everyone wants to jump on it. So how do we prove authenticity? Is it by how many bottles of whisky someone has (note I say has, not buys…), is it by how often we see them drinking whisky? (Honestly, there is one influencer who I have never seen allow whisky to touch their lips…not at shows, not online NEVER! Maybe they just don’t like how they look drinking, but jeez at least show us sometimes that you actually like the product).

Next, let’s look again at the influencer types themselves. We all know them. We follow them on X (formally known as Twitter), we watch the videos of them on Instagram. We probably drink with them if they are local to us, and we certainly see them at events. But generally, whisky influencers are normal people, with an interest in whisky and they do the social media work as an extra bit of fun.

The next type of influencer is the “celebrity”. David Beckham with Haig, Nick Offerman with Lagavulin, Sam Heughan, The Sassenach; the list goes on. Now weirdly most would trust these people within their own arena but add them to whisky and it’s a free for all. We’ve seen derogatory comments about the product based on the celebrity and vice versa. But, most of all, it was talked about, and any publicity is good publicity…right? The thing is these celebrity campaigns cost a fortune. Celebrities know their worth and demand accordingly. Your normal bog-standard influencer may just be a happy with a sample, or a bottle. So, there are more of them around.

Sticking with the authenticity line, how often do you buy a whisky after seeing an influencer talk about it? Are they even behaving in the legal manner?

Legalities: There is a lot of very clear information about the laws surrounding adverts. (basically, social media influencers should ALL be abiding by this).

If you are not sure if you, as an influencer are abiding by the laws, or if you are a company and you aren’t sure, the links below are useful. Also, very useful for the viewer!!

For influencers: Hidden ads: Being clear with your audience – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

For companies: Hidden ads: Principles for social media platforms – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Bottom line is this; if some one is being incentivised to talk about a product, how do you know they are being truthful (authentic, honest, with integrity) about the product?

Let’s move away from influencers and look at Brand Ambassadors (BA’s).

Now, for full transparency, I work as a freelance brand ambassador. I have worked with That Boutique-y Whisky Company, Mackmyra and am currently doing some work with Torabhaig/Mossburn distillers.

I don’t do social media posts telling you how great the whisky is. That’s not my job. My job is to come to a show, or a tasting and talk to hundreds of people face to face about the product. I am there to impart knowledge, not opinion. I am there to welcome people to a brand and to help them learn more about that product and the industry.

Now, I and most* BA’s I know will only work for a product or brand we genuinely believe in and are passionate about. Trust me, it’s hard work standing all day talking to people. It would be hellish if we had to fake it. Some of the top BA’s have lower followings online, example; Mark Thompson (Glenfiddich), Dave Worthington (TBWC), Calum Rixson (Monkey Shoulder), Charlotte Barker (Diageo) than you would imagine. And quite frankly, given the amount of work and travelling they do, adding social media work into the job description would be a step too far.

(*of course, we still find the odd “pourer” who has no clue about the product, but this is becoming far more of a rarity than the norm).

But BA’s and influencers have very different personalities and skill sets.

As an example, this year, I purposely looked out for influencers visiting shows. It was intriguing! You could almost put a David Attenborough voice-over on the behaviours.

….” And here we have a lone, single influencer entering the event. A jungle fraught with danger, from navigating around trying not to make eye-contact yet protecting themselves by holding a camera at arm’s length in front of them. A world away from the safety of the home office, a light and of course the quiet, recording camera. “….

The TV crew cut away to a busy whisky stand. It’s three or four people deep, the Brand Ambassador speaking to large groups, pouring drams, gesturing and keeping the crowd happy, at bay. There is noise of shouting, laughter…it’s all too much for the influencer. They’re frozen to the spot, watching from a distance. The BA notices and recognises the influencer, they beckon them over to the stand. The influencer trying to look away…they don’t like peated whisky!! How can they go and drink it, the world will find out…The BA beckons again. The influencer cautiously steps forward, camera held in front of them, warding off the scent of peated whisky…. the BA holds out the bottle, ready to pour…and *snap*, the influencer takes the picture and backs off quickly before they have to try the dram….

Back to David.

…” after all the drama, the influencer, looks around, hoping to find help, a safe haven. Just over the horizon, in the roped off VIP area they notice a group of influencers, all sat down, looking at their phones, bottles of water in front of them…the influencer approaches, raises an eyebrow, and a space is made in the nest for them. They sit, quiet amongst their kind, wondering if they got away with just taking a photo. Would that company ever send them anything for free again? Or would they have to approach the world of gin, to maintain their survival in the cut-throat world of social media influencing? …”

Of course, this is a bit of fun, but based on reality. At one show I really did see an influencer behave very similar to this. Then you have the group that walks around in a pack. Honestly, look out for them next time you are at a show.

But back to BA vs Influencer.

BA’s have a whole different skill set. The main, and most important skill is the ability to communicate. To communicate to 1 person or a hundred face to face. To maintain interest and energy when doing this. Then doing this repeatedly, every week, in bars, clubs, shows, in the UK and Worldwide. Not only to speak to us consumers, but to train staff in establishments that serve the product. Being a BA looks glamourous from the outside, but even on my level, which is minimal, its damned hard work). But point a camera at me, and I’m off. Hate it. Not my thing. The fulltime BA tends to travel a lot, the hours are not always sociable (in fact the work is done in YOUR social time, not theirs).

Influencers have a good grasp of technology and social media platforms. They are more comfortable in front of a camera. It doesn’t have to be a full-time occupation. The perks are “just enough”.

So maybe there is space for us all based on what a company wants from its marketing.

But let’s not call influencers, Brand Ambassadors. They are very different.