Changes I Wish To See In Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is considered to be new media in Malaysia and the rest of the world and as a progressive space, we should shed away some of the bad marketing practices and be better as a marketing channel than our predecessors. Yet, of course, there’s a yet! I still see brands setting the same standards on influencers as they do traditional channels. In writing this article, I hope, we could change the way we do influencer marketing for the better. The changes that wish to highlight here today, not only change the way influencer marketing is done but if done right could fundamentally change consumer perception in general and through time make us a more wholesome community. I speak my mind a lot in my writings and if it offends some of you, I apologize in advance.?

The biggest failure I see is the lack of diversity and inclusiveness in influencer marketing. This does not only affect Malaysia but it's a phenomenon all over the world. Minority races are underrepresented in traditional media and even the Oscars, that’s normal but I expect us in influencer marketing to be better. There is clearly a lack of diversity of all races, sizes, and opinions when running campaigns. I would be honest, not all of our clients would consider adding the minority races into their campaigns and that is the reality we live in. I can understand and empathize, as they only want the best ROI for their business, but I too, hope that we could be less capitalistic. If there is a mandate now for carbon footprint, then shouldn’t there also be a mandate for diversity in media expenditure? As leaders that constantly complain about the government or the lack of one, are we ourselves also acting right in our own ways to create more diversity in our marketing campaigns??

This does not only happen when it comes to the issue of race, we are also not very inclusive of the elderly too. Besides celebrities, there has been no demand for influencers over 50 this year. There has also been very little demand for influencers above 40. Granted, the older generation is less tech-savvy, and with that does not produce as good content as the younger generation (in terms of TikTok video skills), but they are also more mature and clearly have a higher propensity to spend? If we say there haven’t been any older people interacting and consuming content on social media, that is also incorrect, my mother (age 74) watches TikTok and surely she’s not watching the 17-year-olds dance on TikTok? Yet, the brutal truth is that there is little to no place in influencer marketing for older people.?

So many of our campaigns in Malaysia are to promote sales, to drive more ROI for our brands, and while this is great short-term, I believe it’s bad for our society as a whole in the long run. What are our children consuming on social media? Is this all we want them to grow up with? Rarely do we get a request for corporate social responsibilities and that's, to be honest quite upsetting. I wish both brands and influencers could do more for our society. For influencers I’d love for you to stand for something, be it animal rights, a cleaner environment, a healthier lifestyle, or political transparency, I’d love for us to be a nation that stood for something other than consumerism. For the brands, I truly hope for us to also stand for something we believe in other than the bottom line. I’ve had brands who refuse to use influencers who stood for some political view, some religious belief, and in some extreme cases, even mild profanity. We’re not TV. We should not have to adhere to any such establishments. If anything, we should be the anti-establishment here.?

When I founded SushiVid, it was my vision to build a business that gave every creator an opportunity to live their passion. A dream I had to give up once because I didn’t have enough funds to sustain a living. It is my hope to thrust the next Michelle Yeoh into Hollywood but with our conservatism, we are not giving our creators the freedom of expression and with our lack of inclusiveness, we are not giving everyone a fair chance to attain their dream. This is my “Why”.

With this realization in mind, there are only two things I could do. Hopefully, write more articles to create some awareness for this, and through my own company, put to action some of the things I would need to do to stay true to my "why". We must educate our brands and advocate for equal opportunity for all in influencer marketing. If we could do our part as a company and even push for a small change, we are already making a small difference to our society. I hope, all influencer marketing agencies would band together and try to make our industry a much more progressive one. I've grown a lot through the seven years and know that my idealistic dream is not real, but I have to continue hoping and continue pressing for change, cause what else would I be fighting for if not for hope? If you’re interested to talk about this further, feel free to email me at wen(at)sushivid.com ?