American Influencer Council (AIC)

From the Los Angeles Times: “Revolve is facing a $50-million lawsuit alleging that the brand’s social media marketing tactics deceived at least a million consumers. A class-action lawsuit, filed Friday in California Central District Court, accuses the Cerritos-based online retailer of violating federal trade law by operating an advertising “scheme” in which influencers disguised paid product endorsements as genuine recommendations in order to boost Revolve’s sales… FTC-mandated disclosures should be ‘difficult to miss,’ like the ‘paid partnership’ label advised by Meta or the #ad hashtag, the lawsuit states. Instead, Revolve’s paid influencers often merely tagged the fashion brand‘s Instagram account in their posts, according to the complaint.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/gybtF3_u #ftcguidelines

Last week, I wrote a post on my substack Ny's Dolce Vita discussing motherhood, that Chappell Roan quote and mommy blogging (https://lnkd.in/e3UFpznz) "I also don’t want to be exploitive of Blue, if it’s paid content, she’s getting paid - her account. That’s the only way it’s right. And often, what I’ve seen, that’s the gross underbelly of the mommy content world — the brunt of unpaid labor." To me, that's the most frustrating part of the creator economy, the amount of work done for exchanges. It's part of the reason why I joined American Influencer Council (AIC). And when kids are involved, it's just completely exploitive. At this point, I have a blanket response for these brands. With the large influence of mom content and the creators being women, I find it problematic when multi-million dollar companies generate unpaid advertising and story-telling from said women in exchange for items that couldn't cover the cost of a pack of diapers (big ticket items like car seats and strollers obviously not withstanding). Then as if right on cue, a kids brand that I reached out to as they are expanding their travel accessories discussing a partnership responded seemingly eagerly. And with a brand package. Here's what we would need from you: - 2-3 images - 2 Edited Reels - 1 Instagram post - 1 Instagram story Here's the products* you could get in return: And they go on to list 6 products and you can select 2-3 of them in the form. This brand has a 2022 reported revenue to $301 million USD and increasing yearly. It wasn't even the in-kind gifting option that I found problematic, but the ask in exchange. A great deal of work / content for an item that retails for $159 - $199. As creator economy extraordinaire Gabby Beckford ✈️ says STOP WORKING FOR FREE. This is a major brand in the children's space. I know people unsolicitedly tag them all the time. They could simply ask to repost those. If they want creative control and guidance and approvals, it's weird that they don't have a budget for that.

On March 26, Goldman Sachs’ Global Investment Research released a follow up report, Creator Economy: Framing Market Opportunity, Drivers of Content Creation/Distribution & Ads/Commerce, to their 2023 analysts on the creator economy. The AIC obtained the full report for our members and online community to instantly download. Authored by Goldman Sachs’ Eric Sheridan, Aarshiya Sachdeva, Alex Vegliante, CFA, Lane Czura and Julia Fein-Ashley write, "We expect continued growth in both the number of creators globally [67M] global creators in [2025] growing at a 10% [compound annual growth rate CAGR].” Visit our blog to download the report: https://lnkd.in/gJYyRHRS #creatoreconomy #contentcreators #influencemarketingtips #creatorlabor

Creators need to understand their legal rights and responsibilities. We have added a ‘Legal Aid’ section in our free-to-access Resource Hub. View & bookmark 🔖: https://lnkd.in/grGdsrYm #influencermarketingtips

Meet Brittany Ratelle, JD, an American Influencer Council Impact Supporter. Brittany is a practicing business and IP lawyer who obtained both her Bachelor's & Juris Doctorate at Brigham Young University. Brittany serves as fractional outside counsel to high-net-worth influencers and provides DIY legal resources through templates, courses, and legal kits at the Creative Contracts® shop. We're thrilled to have Brittany's expertise and creator-first mindset part of the Council, as she has a proven track record of turning a creator's vision into a legal business proposition. Read her Q&A here: https://lnkd.in/gPm_p2RY #AICforALL #creatoreconomy #influencermarketing #legalexpert

Thinking about investing in AI influencers? “A new study led by a Northeastern University researcher delivers a warning for brands looking to delve into using virtual influencers to help them sell their products. The research found that there is likely to be more reputational damage done to a brand’s trust if artificial intelligence-powered influencers — rather than their human equivalents — are involved in selling a product that a consumer is unhappy with.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/gXeBzDHx #AI #aiethics #aiinfluencers #creatoreconomy

It’s Women’s History Month, a perfect time to celebrate female creators in business. With respect to all persons, we are defining female creators as anyone who identifies as a woman, including cisgender, transgender, and nonbinary people. Brands are spending more on influencer marketing in the US. EMARKETER released new estimates expecting spending to increase by 15% to $10.5 billion in 2025, and we must continue to advocate for pay equity. According to Meltwater, the creator economy is powered by 84% of women. Link: https://lnkd.in/gQCc4bBV In 2022, IZEA released the State of Influencer Equality study, which revealed that “across all social media platforms, men make 30% more than women, charging $2,978 per post compared to $2,289.” Link to study: https://lnkd.in/gdR-jXps #womenshistorymonth #genderpaygap #womeninbusiness #creatoreconomy

In 2012, YouTube Original Channels launched to compete with Netflix and featured programming from creators like Liza Koshy, PewDiePie, Markiplier, Rhett & Link, as well as celebrities like Madonna, Jay-Z, Shaquille O’Neal amongst others. Originals was a $300M initiative that that resulted in marginal dividends and was scaled back in 2022. Originals did, however, usher in an era of UGC and the demand for highly produced creator content, which rivals TV. Read the full article, Why YouTube Exited the Original Content Business: ‘We Weren’t Good at Picking Content, by Todd Springer via Variety. https://lnkd.in/gqmCWrdD “Neal Mohan, who became YouTube’s CEO in February 2023, says the one-time thesis was that the platform could give a boost to homegrown creators by financing bigger-ticket productions — and then share in the upside,” writes Todd Spangler. “What happened, he says, is that popular YouTubers organically began producing premium-level content that was as good as anything on TV or other streaming services. Big creators on YouTube ‘are the new Hollywood in that sense because they are producing the content that people want to watch,’ Mohan says. ‘And so that eliminated the need for us to do anything in that regard because our creators were doing it on their own.’” #youtube #ugc #creatoreconomy

Join the AIC LIVE, Thursday, March 6, from 1:00 to 1:45 pm ET, Making It In the Middle, a discussion with honorees from our inaugural Creators Trailblazing to the Top List. #AICList

Join the AIC, TODAY on LinkedIn LIVE, Thursday, March 6, from 1:00 to 1:45 pm ET, to discuss making it in the creator middle class. Hear from #AICList honorees Kaitlyn Meslin @kaitsplatess, Kalissa Persaud, Nakya L. @NakyaJoi, Marley Blonsky, and Scarlett Magaña-Singh @ohmyletto. The List recognizes top US-based performers on Instagram working in the middle: nano (1k-10k), micro (10k-50k), and mid-tier (50k-500k). We will chat about four key topics: 1. Survey results from the List study. 2. Opportunities and challenges working in the middle. 3. Future for middle-class workers. 4. How to partner smarter with brands.   Click to watch: https://lnkd.in/ge5446_y   #creatormiddleclass #creatoreconomy #contentcreator #influencer #influencermarketing