Parenting

'A modern-day beauty pageant': the mothers who pay to endorse brands online


Between high-profile lawsuits and calls for more regulation, the world of “influencer marketing” has garnered plenty of attention. Some influencers hold a celebrity-like status with hundreds of thousands, even millions, of followers. Brands pay to have their products featured in influencers’ posts because anyone with a large enough audience has the power to charge for advertising.

But there are “micro-influencers” too: everyday people who still rave about products publicly but only have a few thousand followers.

Micro-influencers exist across all interests and industries, but one of the most prominent groups is mothers. The Australian “brand rep” community consists of thousands of mothers who connect with each other through social media. They take photos of their children in clothing or with toys, post them to their Instagram profiles and let brands use the images in advertising.

Most of these micro-influencing mothers don’t receive payment. Brands love them as they provide a niche channel for advertising without the exorbitant fees charged by celebrities. In fact, many brand reps are actually paying businesses for the privilege.

Kim Nutt, a mother whose one-year-old son models for brands, says “there’s a very big misconception that a lot of brand reps get heaps of free product and paid for their posts. Ninety per cent of the time you’re actually required to make monthly purchases.”

“When we first started I naively took on way too much; I bought so much stuff I didn’t need, I repped for brands I didn’t really love.”

Brands advertise rep positions to this community through social media. Applications are made by leaving a comment on the ad. Some mothers apply because they want discounted products, others want a modelling career for their children and to be noticed by large brands that actually pay for posts. Nutt has seen the intensity and competition that exists, in a trend she likens to a “modern-day beauty pageant”.

Dr Crystal Abidin, a digital anthropologist and senior research fellow at Curtin University, says the research indicates many people “who take this pathway of being brand reps have aspirations to become ‘mummy bloggers’ or [paid] influencers”. They may want to “groom some sort of public persona or small business. It could be their desire to form communities … them being the leaders”.

Mothers in the Australian brand rep community also speak of another emotional pull that keeps them involved long-term: new friends. Through brand repping Nutt has “met some incredible women and formed great friendships with them”.

While most of the work of brand repping takes place on Instagram, the community connects through Facebook. Friends are made when reps interact in busy and vibrant Facebook groups, where they exchange advice and help each other improve their profiles. Brand reps increase their Instagram followers by following each other, using hashtags such as #brandrepsearchau and #ausbrandrepsearches. This leads to ongoing conversations too.

Amye Byars is a mother and Facebook group manager. She speaks to her “repping girlfriends” more than her own family most days. They have shared her highs and lows and are always online – some work nights, some live in different time zones and some are awake feeding crying babies. They bond through a mutual love for their children and photography. “You never feel alone,” she says.

Amy Byars’ daughter with other children in a photoshoot.



Amy Byars’ daughter with other children in a photoshoot. Photograph: Amy Byars/@the_adeline_social

After previously working full-time, Byars suddenly found herself as a stay-at-home mum, living in a different state to her family and friends. She believes the brand rep community is the reason she didn’t get postnatal depression: “It gave me a reason to be creative and connect with other mums.”

“Repping helped get me out of the house. I drive all over Victoria for photos and because I’m obligated to take pics, I can’t just push it to the side and be like ‘I’ll do it another day’, which I think was good for my mental health. Just being outside and getting fresh air, seeing new places.”

Despite appreciation for the friends they’ve made, brand reps can still be critical of what they’re doing. “Does anyone else feel like the requirements expected of brand reps are starting to become too much? Like there are fewer perks and more work required these days?” wrote an anonymous poster in one Facebook group.

Brands have high expectations of mothers. They are often required to sign a three-month contract, supply photographs of their children and purchase a minimum number of products each month.

Byars doesn’t find the expense of products hard to manage, but she has felt pressured to spend money in a different way. “I have purchased a full-frame camera and some pretty impressive lenses,” she says. “I think over the last two years I’ve maybe spent $15,000 on camera gear plus a $4,000 laptop to run Photoshop.

“I really do love my camera … I did, however, feel like I needed a better camera to be noticed in the rep community.”

Amy Byars’ daughter, in a photoshoot she created.



Amy Byars’ daughter in a photoshoot she created. Photograph: Amye Byars/@the_adeline_social

Time is invested too. Photoshoots need to be planned, locations need to be scouted and pretty dresses don’t iron themselves. Instagram accounts must maintain a respectable number of followers and brands ask reps to interact with all of their posts. Any value provided by the brand, like a 15% discount on purchases or even a free $30 toy, is outweighed by the effort put in by mothers.

But Abidin says brands are not taking advantage of reps as they are choosing to make a commercial exchange. “It’s not like they’re forced to engage in this,” she says. When would-be reps are just starting out “it might feel like the odds are against you and that you have to invest more of your own resources”.

For mothers whose primary goal is friendship, “if we’re talking about just basic social support, there are so many other avenues that do not involve this investment of your own money and time”.

Abidin says there are ethical considerations, for both brands and parents, relating to the use of children’s images online. Can children consent to their participation? How will a brand respond if a child is compromised because they are put in a public space?

“If we put something on the internet it’ll never get deleted ever. And then what sort of protection do we have over these kids in the images?”

On the other hand, Abidin says we “really should value the fact that they’re working within their means”.

“They are doing their best to ‘keep a rice bowl’ or earn some income while being in a stage of life where perhaps doing internet business or online marketing could fit with the complexities of their lives.

“They are also putting … public value on the act of mothering.”

Nutt now applies only for positions where she genuinely loves the brand and she would buy their products anyway. She takes photos on her mobile phone and isn’t competitive: “I don’t buy into it, that’s not why I’m here. I think my kid is pretty bloody adorable and that’s all that matters.”

She doesn’t worry about her son’s images being online. “I’m very mindful of posting appropriate photos,” she says. “I’ve pulled right back and I’m very aware of who is following our account. I regularly block users.”

Byars’ advice for her fellow brand reps is similar: “Support the stores you love and try not to compare yourself to others … if it upsets you that much it’s not healthy.”



READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.