The economics of clout and social media publicity stunts

In the age of digital evolution, having a huge number of followers on social media equates to influence, leading to financial power.

Kenyan celebrities are well-informed of the power that comes with being in the headlines, having people glued on your social media page, waiting for your next announcement or scandal.

To keep, a social media community glued to their pages, celebrities have mastered the art of entertaining them, showing how they are living large or causing controversy.

Comedian Eric Omondi has proven to be a good case study on causing social media fuss through clout chasing and controversial antics.

Since the end of last year, the comedian dedicated his energy towards advocating for the playing of 75 per cent of local music and other artistic work on media platforms.

He extended the campaign to his social media platforms, clashing with local and international artistes.

One victim of his attacks was dance hall singer Konshens, who later jetted into Kenya and worked with Eric to promote his concert.

This is when it became clear that other than fighting for the rights of artistes, Eric was also interested in clout chasing.

In an interview, the comedian affirmed that what others term as clout chasing is his style of entertainment and has earned him money.

“My style of entertainment has increased my endorsements. Corporates must realise the value we give them and they cannot dictate how we entertain people," he said.

ANYTHING GOES?

On February 9, the comedian locked himself inside a transparent cubical at Parliament buildings in an effort to lobby MPs to debate on increasing the local airplay and content.

"I will remain here until they start the debate. This is a hunger strike," Eric said, only to leave the premise even before a motion began.

The drama that is meant to entertain fans on social media creates an avenue for influencer marketing.

However, celebrities have proved that marketing does not stop at pulling dramatic stunts and hurling insults at each other.

What started as finding publicity to market certain products and brands has extended to the healthcare field.

Some celebrities have faked severe illness with the aim of marketing certain hospital services, according to media personality Willis Raburu. He describes this as a poor content creation and marketing strategy.

“Be careful with the lines you are crossing. Tell the hospitals to make sure the standards they give you are the standards they will accord the common mwananchi," he said.

"You don’t always have to be sick to showcase a hospital. Content creation is a vast and creative field.” 

BIG BUSINESS

The economic benefits of clout chasing and negative publicity have been playing well on the Kenyan ’gram.

An article published on Forbes.com in December 2019 highlighted that Instagram could be a crucial part of a social media marketing strategy.

This need for social media marketing has pushed brands and influencers to create content that is non-factual, distasteful and morally wrong.

It appears, as the saying goes, “There is no such thing as bad publicity.”

All the mentions on social media are aimed at maintaining relevance or having your name in the headlines to have an influence on a community.

Social media marketer and campaign strategist Janet Machuka says whether to work with an influencer with a good or bad reputation remains the obligation of the brand, in accordance with their interests and campaign goals.

Campaign goals vary from brand awareness, website traffic, engagement and conversation, leads and sales and posting frequency.

“The fact that we don’t have a standard guideline for influencer marketing across the industries makes it hard to tell what makes a right influencer for brands A and B. Hence, brands end up choosing influencers in accordance with their interests,” she says.

CHOOSING AN INFLUENCER

It is not always a case of what is good for the goose is good for the gander in influencer marketing.

Before a brand settles on a celebrity to be their influencer, they look at their personal brands and niches.

Influencer marketing contributes a lot to a brand’s reputation and building trust with their audiences.

Take an example of a finance company working with an influencer with a bad reputation and you can tell it from the way the audience engages with them on their posts, it will cause a reputation crisis.

“You can’t work with an influencer who has been exposed to be a ‘conman’ to influence your company that deals with money-saving solutions,” Machuka says.

There have been cases of celebrities faking their lives on social media to attract attention, which leads to marketing gigs.

On this, Machuka says it is difficult to know whether a celebrity is living the reality they showcase online.

“If brands do a background check on the influencers’ real lives, it might cause an uproar of privacy invasion, and that is a crime. What we should encourage more is building authentic influencer marketing personalities.”

There have been cases where some companies have pretended to gift an influencer expensive things, such as houses, cars or land.

This, Machuka says, may work for some time, but once the audience realises they are being duped, it stains the marketing campaign.

“This is a strategy that is working for them in terms of visibility, but in the long run, it might not equate to direct sales,” she said.

“The audience is not stupid and doesn’t like it when they are duped. I have a feeling this is about to be regulated before it becomes a norm. An influencer regulation in Kenya might be in the oven.”

In the process of being a brand ambassador for a certain product, celebrities also risk damaging their personal brands.

This creates the need for social media influencers to be wise before associating themselves with some brands.

For example, a scenario where a brand is exposed for how they treat their customers or steal from them and an influencer is brought on board to defend it.

If such allegations are confirmed to be true, they may affect the way people feel about the influencer. The audience will elicit negative reactions towards them.