Author Topic: Influencers  (Read 6803 times)

Kim

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Re: Influencers
« Reply #25 on: 07 June, 2019, 04:04:45 pm »
but I can categorically state that I have drink neither in the last year, despite knowing they are there.

It doesn't matter. They've got the important work done: you know they exist, you discuss them with other people, the sale cycle is 90% there.

Indeed.  See also the Coca-Cola Christmas Truck.  Usually encountered in sentences like "WTF is the Coca-Cola Christmas Truck, and why should I give a shit that it's coming to Birmingham?", it's still doing its job.


Not that I've ever drunk a Coca-Cola in my life.  Well, I had a mouthful once or twice as a child when people tried to persuade me that sickly carbon dioxide burns were in some way pleasant.  But here I am, ranting about it on the internet, as opposed to, say, Irn-Bru or Panda cola.

(I have on occasion bought it for other people's consumption.  Especially since <fat coke>[1] is one of the few commonly available drinks without sweeteners that barakta disagrees with.)


[1] BSL gloss.  It's not as amusing in English.

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: Influencers
« Reply #26 on: 07 June, 2019, 08:48:00 pm »
but I can categorically state that I have drink neither in the last year, despite knowing they are there.

It doesn't matter. They've got the important work done: you know they exist, you discuss them with other people, the sale cycle is 90% there.

I do not discuss them with people, only YACF'ers
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Influencers
« Reply #27 on: 09 June, 2019, 03:00:01 pm »
It was pointed out to me yesterday that the 'radicalisation algorithm' works in cycling with no intervention from social media or online sources. You start off as a run of the mill roadie, banging out PBs on carbon and lycra. Then after a particularly filthy winter club run, you decide to fit race blades, but you check the forecast everyday and only fit them if rain is due. Then you think you might as well leave them on all winter but after Easter you remove them. Then it rains again so you put them back on and soon you decide to fit permanent chromoplastics. Next winter you're the grumpy old git moaning at the newbie because they don't have a mudguard to within six degrees of the horizontal (it's in the club regulations, look, drawn up in 1922). After that the only future is audax with personalised mudflaps.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Influencers
« Reply #28 on: 09 June, 2019, 06:48:12 pm »
When I got to the stupormarket on my Utilitarian Adventure in the rain today, for the GREAT BRITISH TRADITION of SUNDAY TRADING LAWS, I found a cut out of "Mrs Hinch" advertising the aforementioned Unilever cleaning products. I didn't buy any though.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Kim

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Re: Influencers
« Reply #29 on: 09 June, 2019, 07:17:23 pm »
It was pointed out to me yesterday that the 'radicalisation algorithm' works in cycling with no intervention from social media or online sources. You start off as a run of the mill roadie, banging out PBs on carbon and lycra. Then after a particularly filthy winter club run, you decide to fit race blades, but you check the forecast everyday and only fit them if rain is due. Then you think you might as well leave them on all winter but after Easter you remove them. Then it rains again so you put them back on and soon you decide to fit permanent chromoplastics. Next winter you're the grumpy old git moaning at the newbie because they don't have a mudguard to within six degrees of the horizontal (it's in the club regulations, look, drawn up in 1922). After that the only future is audax with personalised mudflaps.

I think that's just a variation on the "all bikes eventually turn into touring bikes" rule.

Auntie Helen

  • 6 Wheels in Germany
Re: Influencers
« Reply #30 on: 09 June, 2019, 07:22:10 pm »
This even happened to my Velomobile. I bought a racing model (the current record holder, no less) and slowly ruined it by making it suitable for touring.
My blog on cycling in Germany and eating German cake – http://www.auntiehelen.co.uk


Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Influencers
« Reply #31 on: 09 June, 2019, 07:28:33 pm »
Then there are all the people who buy sensible hybrids and slowly remove the rack, mudguards, lights, fit slick tyres...

I suppose if you could say "all bikes end up as either touring bikes or racing bikes" that would be a sort of radicalisation...
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Kim

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Re: Influencers
« Reply #32 on: 09 June, 2019, 07:35:17 pm »
This even happened to my Velomobile. I bought a racing model (the current record holder, no less) and slowly ruined it by making it suitable for touring.

I was wishing I'd left my front mudguard on during actual racing last weekend.

Not as much as I wished certain tricyclists had some mudguards, admittedly.  A fountain of skog is an effective anti-drafting measure.

Kim

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Re: Influencers
« Reply #33 on: 09 June, 2019, 07:38:11 pm »
Then there are all the people who buy sensible hybrids and slowly remove the rack, mudguards, lights, fit slick tyres...

Is that a thing?  I thought they bought them like that (possibly along with a Hump rucksack cover), and were in the process of realising why those 'accessories' were important.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Influencers
« Reply #34 on: 09 June, 2019, 07:46:47 pm »
Both. Speed is addictive.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Kim

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Re: Influencers
« Reply #35 on: 09 June, 2019, 07:47:44 pm »
Both. Speed is addictive.

Up until something goes bang and all your skin comes off, yes.

n+1 is more addictive.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Influencers
« Reply #36 on: 09 June, 2019, 07:54:24 pm »
Yes. You start with amphetamine then MDMA then you graduate to the really hard stuff: velocity.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Kim

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Re: Influencers
« Reply #37 on: 09 June, 2019, 07:56:07 pm »
Now I'm not sure if we're talking cycling, future prime ministers or differential equations.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Influencers
« Reply #38 on: 09 June, 2019, 08:02:20 pm »
Talking of future prime ministers, has anyone else noticed the similarity between these two characters?


Coke-abusing elder statesman*


Future lead singer with the Undertones

*He may have confessed to a Pepsi habit too. And definitely Mars bars.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: Influencers
« Reply #39 on: 10 June, 2019, 09:20:12 am »
Some members of my family are 'influencers'.

They have cats on instagram. One channel is for their pair of burmese cats; 122k followers. The other is for some weird thing that looks like a fox; 112k followers. They post photos and vids of the cats every day.

The photos of the cats are syndicated. There are calendars.

I'm pretty sure that my son-in-law hasn't had to buy the fancy cat litter tray (it is robotic), or the cat tower, or any of the other cat gadgets.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Influencers
« Reply #40 on: 12 June, 2019, 10:27:44 pm »
I guess when you've got your photo on displays in supermarkets, you've crossed the line from influencer to celebrity endorser. Without ever having to act/sing/do sport... in fact, if a celebrity is someone who's famous for being famous, you're almost the definitive celebrity!
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Influencers
« Reply #41 on: 04 July, 2019, 09:31:19 am »
Anti-influence is the new influence: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/03/ice-cream-los-angeles-instagram-influencers
$4 for a cone? It had better be really good ice cream (looks like Mr Whippy... )
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Influencers
« Reply #42 on: 19 July, 2019, 10:45:56 pm »
Today I are writing about "the 61st most influential social media entrepreneur in the UK". No, I hadn't heard of him before.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Influencers
« Reply #43 on: 21 July, 2019, 08:58:29 pm »
I continue to be exposed to the bizarre world of the fashion influencer! (At least in fashion it makes sense!) Which is how I've discovered this article by a "content creator" – he doesn't like being described as an "influencer" – about the use of bots and other ways to "inorganically" grow your Instagram following.
https://gallucks.com/hunting-for-witches/
(This is not the 61st most popular guy mentioned above.)
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Influencers
« Reply #44 on: 21 July, 2019, 09:00:56 pm »
Also:
Quote
Brands feel pressure to work with more and more influencers and are usually very last minute in selecting who they work with.
How about prominent AUKs as influencers for Carradice?  ;D
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.


Cudzoziemiec

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Re: Influencers
« Reply #46 on: 25 August, 2019, 08:17:19 pm »
1. Brands are now getting free advertising.
2. Brands have actually lost control of their marketing.
3. It's just another way of flexing what you don't have, along the lines of those South Italian villages where (supposedly) people going into hiding for a couple of weeks every summer in order to convince the neighbours they've gone on a holiday they can't actually afford.
4. Faking your CV is nothing new.

These random thoughts were brought to you by the brain fingers of Cudzoziemiec. Cudzoziemiec, Cudzo and the cycling narwhal symbol are registered trademarks of YACF Productions plc.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

fuzzy

Re: Influencers
« Reply #47 on: 27 August, 2019, 11:36:47 am »
Influencers are just a symptom of the pathetic state of society today.

ian

Re: Influencers
« Reply #48 on: 27 August, 2019, 12:30:49 pm »
It's seems more the failure of critical reasoning and resilience amongst many people. It ought to be possible to be bombarded by messages and do a cynical yeah, whatever and to a degree that's a learned skill that it seems people increasingly aren't learning. The world is full of people who are more attractive, richer, slimmer, taller, etc. and yeah, social media will expose users to that, along with whatever they want to sell as part of their influencing package. But I don't think it can be wished away or somehow banned – people have to learn to deal with it.

caerau

  • SR x 3 - PBP fail but 1090 km - hey - not too bad
Re: Influencers
« Reply #49 on: 27 August, 2019, 01:22:50 pm »
Isn't 'influencing' just another way of getting a product name out there and into the consciousness of people?


My Dad used to work in advertising a little  - well he was a computer bod for Granada TV but was involved somehow in the advertising end of things - and his take was always that making things memorable is how the most successful ads work.  If you are bombarded continually with 'fairypersil' in pics, ads, t'internet videos essentially, then when you go down the supermarket you are more likely to plump for it since it's a known and 'comfortable' thing.  Often it's almost to the point of an unconscious bias - or at least that's what the seller wants it to be if at all possible.  That's why 'chicken tonight' was such as massively successful ad campaign - not because it was 'good', but because it was so annoying it stuck in the brain.


Unless they're an idiot* I don't think anyone goes - ooh, look - Kym Kardashian uses 'shakomatic grease proof cleanser' - they just know it when they get to the supermarket.  Getting to be a well known brand name is very powerful.




*Or maybe the idiocy is mine for having too high an opinion of people currently.
It's a reverse Elvis thing.