CHAPTER 6

Implementing Influencer Marketing Campaigns

Fyre Festival Explodes

Of course, any time there is a collaboration between brands and influencers, there is the hope that all turns out positively. However, that is not always the case. Probably, one of the most famous influencer successes and misfires is the Fyre Festival. It all depends on how you look at it. Let’s start with the basics. The Fyre Festival was billed as a luxury music festival on an island in the Bahamas in 2017. It launched with 10 supermodels to set the tone of luxury who then posted on Instagram. The organizers assembled the most famous (and most expensive) SMIs to attend—about 400 macro- and celebrity influencers who uploaded a simple orange visual on their Instagram with the #fyrefest. This coordinated effort helped the event sell out where tickets started at $1,500 and up. There was a ton of hype. It looked like it would be a massive success.¹

And it was a disaster! The festival was underfunded and poorly planned. There really was no event—and what was there was a complete bait and switch. Not enough food, lodging, or transportation and the music lineup was practically nonexistent. People were angry. Vendors were left with massive unpaid bills both in the United States and in the Bahamas. The Fyre Festival organizers have since been sued, and the whole debacle has been the subject of a variety of investigations and lawsuits. And the vast majority of the more than 400 influencers had little to no knowledge of the venture and the marketing team. They also did not follow the FTC rules on disclosure. As such, followers lost faith in the ability of influencers to be honest and transparent and really put the whole future of influencer marketing in doubt.

Knowing this, it is vital that while the concepts and ideas behind a campaign are important, the actual implementation and execution of the campaign cannot be ignored. This includes some not so exciting topics like contracts and disclosures and ensuring brand safety (as much as possible) on both sides. But this is the line between failure and success.

Dealing With Social Media Influencers: Creative Control

Once a brand determines the right influencers, it is time for all parties to agree on the details and specific requirements of the campaign. Having an influencer marketing agreement minimizes the chance that something will go wrong. What could go wrong? The influencer could not follow through on the expectations. The brand could not be put in the best light. The deadlines are not met. The influencer (or the brand) could do something to create a PR nightmare. People are not paid. All of this has happened. Getting something formal is the next step. A signed agreement provides both parties with legal protections and transparent expectations.

Start with general campaign expectations. This is where the campaign brief is particularly useful. Remember, it provides all the details about the campaign message, deliverables, and deadlines. However, there is one important concept that is hard for brands who have spent millions of dollars and several years designing their brand image to understand. Creative control. It is a major challenge for brands to “let go” but also something that is vital for authenticity. It’s a “Goldilocks” effect—too much control and the content will not be authentic or even very good and too little control and the influencer may not have enough brand knowledge to good an effective job. So, it needs to be “just right” and that will largely depend on the experience of the influencer, the comfort level of the brand, and the length of the relationship. Guard rails on content and the influencer are not a bad thing, if they don’t stifle the deliverable and thus the campaign outcome.

“In terms of content creation, most brands give you a lot of creative freedom. They trust you know your followers the best. They do want high quality photos and if they are looking for content to also feature on their social media, then the brand will usually send over some examples for inspiration on look and feel,” said West Gissinger, fitness influencer. “For example, when working for Steve Madden, they outlined the exact intended use for the photos and I was able to go from there.”

Legal Considerations: Contracts and Compensation

As brands move from transactional influencer campaigns to more long-term relationships, contracts are starting to look like traditional talent for TV or other advertising. The language is more comprehensive and detailed (sometimes including the length of the post, the period of paid amplification, and the specific type of content like an Instagram post or a TikTok video), as well as the exclusivity rights, confidentiality agreements, and payment terms. Influencers are being referred to as brand spokespeople or brand ambassadors and brands are likely to request participation outside of social media, such as in person appearances. Some contracts are also including morality clauses to guard their brand safety. Importantly, contracts have longer time periods, showing that brands are increasingly engaging influencers on a more relational level.² This also leads to a professionalization of the industry—away from direct messaging and e-mails between brand managers and SMIs—to more of a structured legal agreement. This should not come as a surprise given the amount of money that brands spend on influencer marketing. Contracts are also including the investigation of fake followers to ensure that the influencer’s audience is legitimate and to reduce advertising fraud.

Once the contract terms are developed, it is time to consider compensation. This is where being specific and detailed is required. There are a variety of ways of being compensated—from free products and services to money. Most influencers are getting paid money for posts. Prices can vary based on several criteria such as the number of followers, the engagement rate, and even the type of brand. Other issues to consider is timing. Is this a one-time payment or ongoing payment? If ongoing, for how long? Does the influencer get some money upfront and the rest at the end? Or are there interim payments? How will the campaign be tracked? Promotion codes help direct the influencers work to sales. Other types of links were outlined in Chapter 5 but are important to consider for payment contracts.

In addition to payment, the agreement should also include the degree of exclusivity—whether the influencer works with other brands. What does that look like? Can the influencer work with similar brands? Think about it as a noncompete agreement. Last, make it clear who owns the content. Is the copyright owned by the brand or the influencer? What can the brand do with the content? Hammer out those details early so there are no surprises.

As relationships grow between a brand and influencer, many will become brand ambassadors. This has been discussed a few places in this book, but essentially when an influencer becomes a brand ambassador, the relationship is a bit more exclusive. Some of this can (and does) include social media, but it is not exclusively online. A great example is how Lululemon uses brand ambassadors. These are typically local fitness instructors in specific cities with retail locations who have an in person following as well as a strong social media presence. Lululemon identifies instructors who embody their values and provides them with high-quality merchandise. They include their photos in the stores. In return, the brand ambassadors post and tag when they wear Lululemon apparel and sometimes promote and attend events in store and elsewhere. This is a great way for Lululemon to tap into each instructor’s fitness community in an authentic way.⁴

The Role of Intermediaries

In the introduction of the book, I outlined the various players in the ecosystem. When it comes to implementation of campaigns, there are a few that play an outsized role. Influencer marketing agencies and influencer marketplaces are obvious players. Consider the structure of supply and demand. Supply is represented by influencers. Influencers can use agents (like Estate Five for macro-influencers or other agents) to assist matching them with brands and essentially running their business. Influencer marketplaces allow brands and influencers to connect, and some facilitate important tasks like communication, contracting, payment, and measurement. On the demand side are brands. Influencer marketing agencies are there to provide a seamless full-service experience for brands. If the brand is large, there is likely a role for the agency of record (AOR) which are large advertising or digital marketing agencies who work on broader campaigns other than influencer marketing. Brands also often have in-house capabilities for influencer marketing. Depending on the brand and their desire for control (and their budget), they may have influencer teams in house that do everything. Or they may do part of it. The point is that there is no one path to this. Implementing campaigns take a lot of time, energy, and resources. Technology platforms provide value for all sides—tools for creators and influencers to create their content, make money and run their businesses, tools for brands to search for and select collaborators, and tools for social media platforms to provide value to both sides.

Legal Considerations: Disclosures

Influencer marketing can be particularly tough to regulate. Research shows that for native advertising and influencer marketing alike, consumers fail to recognize content as advertising, leading them to respond more favorably to it.⁶ That is great for brands but probably not great for consumer welfare. As such, there have been calls for greater regulation and transparency among all types of advertising and sponsored content, from native advertising to influencer marketing. Researchers acknowledge that influencer marketing is a specific case. The relationship of the influencers with the audience—that engagement that creates a more personal connection—could make consumers more likely to disregard sponsored content. Additionally, given the nature of influencer content, influencer may post a photo of a product with little additional information and no disclosure. Where does this fall? There has been no research showing the different effects of disclosure depending on the type of influencer (e.g., celebrity vs. influencer). There seems to be a pressing need for research to understand the public policy implications of influencer marketing.⁷ But others argue that consumers don’t always appreciate the disclosure. In a 2017 study, survey respondents viewed a brand more negatively when the relationship was disclosed. But by 2018, there was really no difference. There was no difference in trust and no difference in intentions to buy. Given that influencer marketing is moving quickly, even data from 2018 may prove to be dated. So ideally, as authenticity importance increases, disclosures may also become vital.⁸ Newer research shows that disclosures can enhance rather than detract from consumer-based outcomes.⁹

In 2019, the FTC devised and disseminated regulation and disclosure policies for influencer marketing. The premise to influencers: if you endorse a product through social media (meaning you are paid or provided something of value), then you have a relationship with the brand, called a material connection. A material connection to a brand includes a personal, family, or employment relationship or financial relationship such as the brand paying or giving you free or discounted products or services.¹⁰ The FTC has constructed strict rules about endorsement and disclosure. This is important since brands don’t always want influencers to disclose their financial arrangements (given the efficacy of influencer marketing). One study showed that 28 percent of influencers were requested by their sponsoring brands not to disclose the relationship.¹¹ However, most reputable brands understand the importance (and several high-profile enforcement cases have added to the effect).

Sponsored content and sponsored social aren’t exactly like other forms of advertising (even native advertising). Most people have a tough time identifying sponsored social by an influencer because it matches the tone and language of the influencer’s content. Another key difference is that content is not developed by the brand but rather by the influencer. Influencers typically have control of the look and feel to maximize authenticity for their audiences. There are six types of sponsored content, all of which require disclosure. Product reviews are when a brand sends a product to an influencer to review it. “Like” a brand of “Follow” a brand on social media is more of an implicit endorsement, but an endorsement, nevertheless. Marketers have hired influencers to do both for years. Product placement in sponsored content is probably one of the most popular types right now. A post features a product or service (or even simply mentioned). Unboxing videos (and haul videos) are where influencers are sent products and then video themselves unboxing it. Maybe strange, but popular. Social media takeovers have been around for a while, but essentially an influencer is given free reign over a brand’s Snapchat, for example. Creative campaigns can take multiple forms and often do include multiple posts and stories. If money or free products and services exchange hands, then the influencer must disclose it.¹²

One consideration—regulations are different in different countries. So, if the campaign is international, the other country’s regulations must also be included. Chances are those campaigns are for bigger brands who are using agencies who have more resources to ensure that accountability level.

Ethical Considerations: Fake Followers and Influencer Fraud

One of the biggest concerns that brands have about influencers is whether the number of followers and the engagement rates are real and whether the influencer is real. It is easy and cheap to purchase followers and early on, this was a huge problem. These are generated by bots and can look quite real. In 2017, influencer agency Mediakix created two completely fictitious Instagram accounts—one for a lifestyle and fashion model and the other for a travel photographer. They posted daily and then started purchasing fake followers. With minimal investment, one account grew to more than 30,000 followers. They also purchased engagement in the form of comments and likes. After they got it started, they joined a few influencer marketplaces and applied for a few opportunities and were accepted. The whole point of the experiment was to show how easy creating fake influencers and faking followers can be. Each of these opportunities came with compensation and most of the brands did not suspect a thing.

How to spot a fake? Check out their followers. Do they appear to have any interest or connection to the influencer? Do they have names and avatars that sound like the influencer’s name? Or are there long lists of names and numbers that just look strange? Check on those followers and see if any have no posts or posts that look the same. Fake influencers will use automation and borrowed content to populate their feed and links to give the appearance of activity. Also look for conversations (not only comments) among followers to see if they are real. Watch out for short comments that are useless and repeated comments from the same person. The big lesson here? If you are influencer, don’t try to fake it. And if you are a brand, do your homework.

Unintended Consequences

Given that influencer marketing is increasingly important but still relatively new, there are inevitably negative issues to consider. As brands, platforms, creators, influencers, and even governing bodies define the ecosystem, mistakes are bound to happen. Major issues include the issue of brand safety (for both brands and influencers) and cases of deceit, and vulnerable audiences can cause problems and should be considered when implementing campaigns.

Brand safety is the ability for a brand to avoid content that is inappropriate for advertising and unfit for publisher monetization regardless of the advertisement or brand.¹⁴ For brands, brand safety is crucial. Brands take crisis communication and PR scandals quite seriously, and they don’t want to be caught up in controversy, especially from an influencer. This is increasingly important as scandals around brands can lead to the loss of millions of dollars. As such, vetting influencers has become much more rigorous than in the past. “There is a lot of hesitation and caution and more vetting criteria being added to contracts because brands are terrified of having a negative halo effect from an influencer mistake,” said Addi McCauley at IZEA.¹⁵ She adds that vetting influencers is probably one of the biggest aspects of launching a campaign, especially for large brands and for conservative brands. “They are asking us to go back through several years’ worth of posts—I mean, that is not the norm, but some brands are looking for certain topics and we are doing comprehensive searches on influencers. The normal litmus test for most brands is 30 and 60 days.”¹⁶

JetBlue Airlines is an example of a brand who experienced negative backlash due to an influencer campaign. However, in this case, it wasn’t the influencers’ fault. The campaign was a sweepstakes that awarded influencers the chance to win free travel for one year. JetBlue asked the influencers to archive their posts and upload the JetBlue image from the content website along with a branded hashtag. The intention was for users to see the JetBlue material across several accounts, but the sponsored posts lacked clarity about what the contest involved causing a lot of negative comments and confusion. Additionally, JetBlue did not announce the winners, leading to more anger. The campaign lacked authenticity and influencers were not provided with enough detail to execute on it effectively.¹⁷

Given the events of the last few years, social issues—especially social justice—have garnered increased attention. “There are massive conversations for better or worse happening around cultural topics and political topics and brands are synthesizing that and want their brand content to be there,” said Addi McCauley at IZEA. “Some of these conversations are very positive but also some are very negative and filled with hate. How do we synthesize that from a brand safety perspective? It comes to vetting who works with you and that these are real people because you may have a brand that worked with an influencer and then four months later, they go and say something inappropriate and then there are people trying to cancel that brand because they worked with them. Sometimes it is hard to know if it was intentional or an accidental misstep by the influencer.” McCauley cited an example of a well-known influencer in her field with more than a million followers on Instagram who was attacked because of a donation to a political candidate. She added that would have been a nightmare for any brand working with her at the time.¹⁸

Given the issues around the pandemic and social justice, both brands and influencers feel the need to say something. Some brands were voicing support of issues around the pandemic such as testing and vaccines and voicing support for social justice and issues around diversity. Despite these topics being controversial in some circles, some brands seem to feel that it is needed for their relevancy. Influencers used their voices to raise awareness around nonprofits and different organizations around the same topics. In many cases, their audiences were expecting them to say something, and if they did not say something, it would cause more trouble than if they did. Interestingly, prior to 2020, if influencers were discussing sensitive topics around social justice, they ran the real risk that brands would stay away. That changed in 2020.

Brand safety is also important to the influencer. They don’t want to be associated with a brand that has garnered negative attention since this can backfire on their audience’s perceptions of their authenticity. Influencers have worked hard to build up their following and engagement, especially around specific topics that they talk about and that brands talk about. The topics that resonate most with followers is what influencers are willing to partner with brands about. Most influencers are not going to partner with a brand just for the money unless it fits with their values and topic areas. “Micro influencers and nano influencers are not taking a deal if it wasn’t something that truly does authentically resonates with them,” said Addi McCauley. “These influencers are not going to alienate their entire audiences for something that they would normally not talk about.”

However, influencers also make mistakes and don’t follow through on their obligations. Kim Kardashian failed to disclose potential side effects of a morning sickness medicine, violating Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards. She had to issue correction and amend the post. Bethany Mota failed to uphold her contract with Studio71. She agreed to promote a skincare brand on YouTube for $325,000 and she failed to do it and Studio71 filed a lawsuit. Others have been burned by their past comments. PewDiePie has had a few influencer fails including racially insensitive comments. Same with beauty YouTuber Laura Lee who apologized for racists Tweets going back to 2012. Some are just silly. Influencer Scott Disick (of Kardashian fame) cut and pasted his campaign instructions directly to his Instagram showing a shocking lack of detail. Actions like this actually hurts both the influencer and the brand involved (in this case Bootea, a brand that sells fitness and detox products). Sadly, the same thing occurred with Naomi Campbell and Adidas. And then, there are the major scandals. Olivia Jade Giannulli lost most of her endorsements after the Varsity Blues college admission scandal. While the target of the investigation was her parents, her comments about only going to college for the parties and the football games did not help her reputation.¹⁹ The Fyre Festival covered at the beginning of the chapter outlines outright deceit, in this case from the “brand” but also showed a lack of due diligence from influencers.

Another issue to consider is who is online. While this is far greater than influencer marketing, most social media platforms require users to be 13, but we know that many of the users on Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok are much younger. Are there unintended consequences to consider? Younger users can certainly follow influencers who may not share content in a PG manner. Younger users can be exposed to language and content they are not ready for. There can also be issues such as social comparison and fear of missing out (FOMO) that can also affect how users are reacting to social media. As such, influencers should at least consider who is in their audience and why.

Future of Influencer Marketing

So, what is next? What is the future of influencer marketing? “Our CMO who is really, really smart and who has been in this space for a long time said ‘find me somebody who says they’re an expert in influencer marketing and I’ll show you a liar’,” said Lynsey Eaton, cofounder and CEO of Estate Five. “Things are constantly changing and what we need to do is be nimble and ready and willing to open up doors and run through doors and stick our heads in and be find out what’s going on and try anything.”²⁰ Just consider how much activity has happened in the past few years! Hundreds of millions of dollars in investment, hundreds of start-up companies in the space, and millions of new influencers and brands who are finally realizing the value of authentic communication. It will be interesting to see what happens. Generally, however, there are few areas to watch.²¹

Platforms

Platforms come and go. There are already new ones rising. Clubhouse, the audio-only social media platform, is a great example and brands are starting to look at the possibilities there. Andrea Arias mentioned that Cetaphil is looking at Clubhouse for potential. Addi McCauley mentioned that some of the clients at IZEA are exploring it, and Lynsey Eaton said that it is something they are reviewing as well. Instagram launched Reels as a competitor to TikTok. The growth of TikTok in such a short amount of time is a good indicator of how fast things will move. Other platforms will focus on diverse audiences. Dubsmash is a great example of a platform that has been around since 2014 where 70 percent of the content is created by females and more than 25 percent of Black teens use it. Some platforms will see a resurgence. “People are starting to come back on Pinterest,” said Eaton. “Randomly we have been getting these contracts that are Pinterest only campaigns. Pinterest itself has been working with influencers to try and create more awareness about the brand and are having influencers create Pinterest exclusive content.”²²

Technology

Data and planning will rule the day. This will include performance-based contracts and deals in order to maximize return on investment. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning will enable brands and influencers to accomplish more in less time. This will include a greater ability to track and measure influence and ultimate success from the brand’s perspective. eCommerce solutions like shoppable videos and posts will become more important as brands are able to draw direct lines from influencer to sales while also creating a seamless experience for customers. Think about it. An entire consumer journey can occur on one platform.

Technology such as neuromarketing (uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study the brand’s reactions to marketing stimuli) could help marketers select an influencer who resonates.²³ Wearable devices like the Apple watch can provide a different kind of influence on buyer behavior (that in a day redefines influencer marketing away from social media).²⁴ And there are more AR (augmented reality) filters that allow for more effects on Instagram.

Specialization

Influencers will start to carve out niches and develop specific expertise and trust in an area making them even more sought after by brands. There will be a greater emphasis on the “creator” part of it rather than only the “influencer” part of their roles. Content houses have been around since YouTube developed them to create an environment for creators and influencers to make video content. Jake Paul’s Team 10 and Clout House are two earlier examples. Recently, TikTok content houses have become popular. Hype House and Sway House (both LA based) launched the careers of several major TikTok influencers.²⁵ The Crib around the corner is the only Black TikTok house and is home to five Black creators which is sponsored by AT&T TV. This will inevitably lead to more creator collaborations.

Diversity

Brands are reaching out to more diverse influencers. IZEA’s earlier information on the state of the creator economy (Chapter 2) showed that Black and Latinx influencers are in high demand. “More and more there is a definitely brands have asked for more diverse influencers. I think that brands understand that in their marketing in general, they need to stop showing only skinny white blonde women,” said Addi McCauley of IZEA. “We have run campaigns that are very specifically all Hispanic influencers or all influencers of color across different ethnicities.” McCauley added that more multicultural agencies are popping up to reach specific types of communities of color.²⁶ As brands embrace diversity and inclusion, they will have to determine who to partner with and how to meet their goals. But more is needed. Social media platforms (like TikTok and Instagram) have faced criticism about their lack of diverse audiences and influencers leaving an opportunity for new platforms and new influencers. Look for brands to try to change that (e.g., AT&T TV).

New Influencers

One thing seems to be for sure. Brands will be looking to influencers with smaller audiences but greater engagement. Micro- and nano-influencers will continue to grow, meaning that more and more “everyday people” can become influencers in their own space. This also allows marketing budgets to stretch further and increase their return on investment. “Smaller influencers are great because they are going to work hard for you (the brand) because they are honored to have a chance to show what they are worth and their content creation will have great photos and video assets of the product in all kinds of settings from all kinds of people from all walks of life and if you are really a brand focused on quality-based marketing and accessing the widest audience possible, that makes a lot of sense for your business,” said Ryan Schram, COO IZEA. “It’s not only economically feasible, it’s also very rational in terms of where we are as a society.”²⁷

Brands will start pushing toward using other types of influencers such as the AI-generated “people” discussed earlier in the book. Digital avatars like Miquela Sousa (Lil Miquela) is a good example. This further blurs the lines of reality and artificiality in the online personas of influencers and celebrities. Additional uses of AI and VR (virtual reality) will continue to allow to do more than consumer content. They will be able to experience it. Technologies like Live Streaming will become more popular allowing influencers to get even closer to their audiences.²⁸

Relationships

Following best practices to date and taking into consideration authenticity and brand safety, brand will likely develop relationships with influencers, rather than single transactional campaigns. This gets into the earlier endorser models (e.g., Michael Jordan and Nike) where the endorser became synonymous with the brand, at least in basketball circles. Obviously, Nike did this well. Can other brands build effective relationships with influencers that maximize their return on investment while also allowing the influencer to remain true to his or her audience?

This can ultimately lead to new ways of collaborating. The typical influencer who is only focused on social media is giving way to a broader perspective on the concept of a creator. As such, influencers could be partners in product development and extension, new businesses, and start-ups, featured in major traditional media, subject matter experts, and strategists.³²

Multiple Revenue Streams

Social media platforms are revisiting some of their regulations and providing more ways for creators to make money. Instagram announced a new affiliate program that allows creators to earn money from product promotions. This is in addition to its Stars creator donations process. Facebook has announced that it will allow creators to earn ad revenue on short videos. Additionally, it will allow creators to use its tools like paid subscriptions and paid online events through 2023, and then when it does charge, it will be lower than some of the competition (namely Apple who charges 30 percent). Snapchat has been paying $1 million per day to creators who make viral short videos on its feature called Snapchat Spotlight. Twitter recently announced it would launch “Super Follows,” which would let users charge followers for exclusive content. YouTube shares ad revenue with video makers. Social media platforms are realizing that they need creators who are essentially providing the value of the network.

Backlash

Authenticity will remain one of the most powerful considerations for both brands and influencers. As such, partnerships and collaborations as well as creative control of the messaging will become more and more important. This idea of authenticity will likely clash some with disclosure requirements. That means campaign structure will go beyond sponsored posts, and it will be difficult for audience members to determine if their favorite influencer loves the brand for real or are they just being paid to create a different type of content.

A different kind of backlash is around cancel culture. How will brands and influencers handle the growing political divide and the loud voices of people who want to cancel things they don’t agree with it. Social activism will become more important. Brands will have to decide their point of view on many topics—many related to social justice—and influencers will also have to decide their own point of view. Pressure will come to both sides on taking stands on political and social issues, which could leave some brands and influencers with unhappy audiences.

Future Research Areas

From an academic perspective, there is still so much to be learned about influencer marketing. For example, there is still more development needed on some tried and true concepts like trust, expertise, liking, attractiveness, and similarity. Additionally, there is a huge need to better understand the role of authenticity in influencer marketing. This is something that differs from celebrities and macro-endorsers. More research needs to be done on brand safety and subsequent backlash when things go awry. Brand safety should be examined for both parties. Typically, when we think of brand safety, the company comes to mind. But each influencer is a brand, and they also have concerns about backlash due to collaborations and partnerships. More work needs to be done on disclosures and their effectiveness. Researchers can also examine the differential effects on various audiences. Are there some audiences who are more susceptible to influencers? Are there negative implications like social comparisons to an unrealistic ideal? Are there other theories that better explain influencer marketing than the ones we have adapted from celebrity endorsement? Perhaps, there are new theories to be developed that can explain the effectiveness of influencer marketing.

“It is laughable to put some timestamp on what is going to happen because if you had told me that those same contemporaries would be making millions of dollars based on the same content that they would be posting and it would have lasted this long, it sounds insane. A lot of this is tech driven and not predictable,” said Eaton. “But I am hopeful. I am hopeful that there will be more accountability. I am hopeful that people will have more respect for the creators themselves and the actual work they are doing, because it is hard. And I am hopeful that there will still be growth and more understanding and more collaboration between the brands and the creators.”