Can one tweet really do that much damage?
That’s what everyone was asking last week when Kylie Jenner took to Twitter to question the viability of Snapchat, the very platform that was core to her rise to celebrity status. Following her comments, Snap Inc.’s stock dipped, shedding more than $1.3 billion in valuation in a matter of hours.
While there are larger trends at play with regard to Snapchat’s financials—we don’t give Kylie all the credit this time—the incident did open up a conversation on the power that influencers hold with regard to the continued relevance of social platforms in culture.
In many ways, influencers are the new brands. More specifically, artists are adopting this mindset by expanding their empires beyond music to truly cement themselves as forces within lifestyle and commerce.
Look no further than the explosive growth Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty line for evidence of this trend. (Oh, and by the way, Fenty is on pace to outsell Kylie Cosmetics by 5X.)
So, what does this mean for brands and marketers? Aligning with artists and labels isn’t as linear of a process as a used to be. Artists are more multifaceted than ever before. They have their own brands that can often extend far beyond music—which creates a huge opportunity for attaining relevance in culture.
My advice to marketers: Look at musicians as the ultimate influencers: influencers with tangible talents; influencers with passionate fan bases; and influencers who carry their own cultural currency.
I will be speaking on this topic at the upcoming Digital Hollywood Media Summit here in NYC on March 7 and 8. I would love to see you there!
No Fields Found.Also published on Medium.