When scrolling through Instagram, a picture pops up… it is Kylie Jenner holding Sugar Beach Hair vitamins. Scroll a little further down, the caption reads “blue for my hair + pink for my body @sugarbearhair has the most delicious vitamins #ad #sugarbearhair.” 198m followers, Kylie Jenner, who markets products, is what the social media world calls an influencer. Influencer MarketingHub defines social media influencers as “people who have built a reputation for their knowledge and expertise on a specific topic.” Kylie Jenner revenued 1,000,000 off of the Sugar Bear Hair ad. Some may be thinking, well, how much did SugarBearHair make? In 2019, the company was rumored to have made millions. However, the mega-million company profits did not arise until after Kylie Jenner’s post.
Another Jenner, Kendall Jenner, in 2017 made a deal with Pepsi and their “Live For Now” campaign. The commercial is centered around a social protest. Kendall is shown amongst a diverse group of protestors against the police. Then, Pepsi’s big selling point shows Kendall making peace with the police officers as the crowd roared in excitement. The ad went viral, to say the least. Pepsi’s brand image suffered immensely after the commercial aired. Public outrage after Pepsi’s commercial surfaced on all social media platforms, as shown in the Tweet below.
Pepsi, like other brands, suffers detrimental effects of marketing. They simply did not follow a cardinal rule: choosing the right influencer. With a net worth of $45 million, Kendall Jenner, coming from a privileged background, is not an accurate representation of having first-hand social injustice experiences. Marketers and or brands need to evaluate the relevance and authenticity of each influencer/campaign. The audience needs to feel as though they can relate to both the person and the product, thus being relevant. Kendall Jenner, a Caucasian, affluent celebrity, was the worst possible representation of Pepsi’s marketing message. In the public’s eye, she is not someone who has suffered, felt, and stood up for racial discrimination, racial injustices, police brutality, etc.
Why was Sugar Bear Hair a success story while The Live For Now campaign was a disaster?
Sugar Bear Hair picked a guru of beauty, a CEO of a cosmetics company, Kylie Jenner, to promote an enhancing beauty product.
Here are two post of Kylie Jenner:
These two Instagram posts are similar in appearance, audience reach, and message; however, one is an ad. Kylie’s Instagram ad reached her audience by merely giving a beauty technique and an advertisement simultaneously. Kylie remains transparent with both her image and her Instagram audience.
The following two pictures show the reality of protesting for social injustices versus how Kendall Jenner was displayed in the Pepsi commercial.
The pictures above are not consistent compared to the images shown above of Kylie Jenner. Here we have two ethnically diverse individuals and different facial expressions. The photo on the left was captured at a protest for Breonna Taylor’s death caused by police brutality. On the right, Kendall Jenner is shown happy, clapping, and excited after making peace with the police officer at the unidentified social protest. Pepsi failed to capture the reality of protestors and further silenced the pain felt struggles and discrimination. All in all, the campaign was unable to understand the audience. Pepsi’s choice of influencer for the commercial, Kendall Jenner, failed to provide transparency and authenticity which led to Pepsi’s negative image.
References
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52905408
https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2017/apr/04/kendall-jenner-pepsi-ad-protest-black-lives-matter
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtMODPMH4SH/?utm_source=ig_embed
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