Katie Johnson comp1

KATIE JOHNSON

What is an Influencer?

An Influencer is a person with a social media following typically higher than the average user, that use their platform to share their personality, perspectives, lifestyle, expertise, advice, etc. Influencers can have built their platform themselves from scratch, or may be celebrities who have always been in the public eye. Influencers can collaborate with third-party organizations and create a career ou of their platform. Influencers tend to gather their following from creating a niche their content which differentiates them from others.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a type of social media marketing that consists of product/service promotion through persons with their own following. Influencers are a great marketing strategy as they are seen as experts within their niche and are also great for brand exposure. Influencers have the power to affect the buying habbits of others through uploading their own original content to platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Youtube etc.

The influencer marketing industry is booming with an expected industry value of 21.1 billion USD in 2023. Influencer marketing is a very modernised form of marketing, and is successful as almost half the world, 5.07B, use social media. Most influencers have systematically built their own keen audience, and this is how they differentiate from celebrities. Celebrities have a very broad following consisting of those who follow them for several reasons, mostly just because of their fame, whereas influencers have built up a niche over a period of time consisting of those who are inspired by them, relate to them or who simply enjoy the content that they produce.

Introduction- Influencer Marketing

What is a Nano

Influencer?

Nano influencers have within 1k-10k followers. They are still under the ‘influencer category’ as it tends to be that, even though their follower count is smaller, their audience is alot more engaged that say those with millions of followers. At this stage influencers tend to build a closer connection with those who follow them, hence higher engagement. Brands will mostly use Nano influencers as they are less expensive than bigger influencers, or also if they want to test out a new audience demographic.

About myself as a Nano Influencer- @looksbykj

NANO INFLUENCER

As someone who as recently began a platform myself just under 2 months ago, I myself am a Nano influencer. I class myself as more of a Tik Tok influencer currently as that is the platform in which I have recieved most engagement. I have not yet worked with any brands but I have definitely built a ‘niche’ and I have a good amount of engagement from my followers. My niche is fashion related content including, styling, new fashion pieces I have found, and general fashion inspiration. My most viewed video currently has 122k views, which is a photo slide of some of my favourite pieces I found in Primark. Other popular videos from me have been dress inspiration for prom and the Grand National, these videos built most of my following. I believe being knowledgeable on your content and being aware of trends and upcoming events is a very effective way of building engagement. My Grand National and Prom dress inspiration videos blew up a considerable amount as they were big upcoming events that people need isnpiration for. Also being on top of fashion trends and always checking new releases has been effective for me, i believe this because you are doing the work for your audience. I think my followers follow me as they are constantly being presented with fashion pieces that they do not have to search for themself. Showing my face has also been more effective, as people also like to follow people they belive are similar to them or that they can relate to. Another video that blew up of mine was mens styling, and this is a very unpopular niche and something unique from me, however i don’t believe this boosted my following as that is not my ‘overall’ niche and a one off video. I believe doing something unique is the best way to boost engagement.

What is a Micro Influencer?

Micro influencers have between 10k-100k followers. These influencers have a higher follower count than Nano influencers, but have also still maintained a connection with their followers. However, at this stage they are more likely to have built their own personal niche/demographic. Brands who believe they can relate to a micro influencer will tend to reach out to them, or if they believe their following would be interested in their brand. At this stage they are not ‘celebrities’, and they build their following by uploading high-value content in bulk.

Heather Bowling

Heather Bowling is 20 years old from England, and is known as a TikTok star. She is best known for lip-syncing videos, lifestyle vlogs and relatable content. On Instagram she currently has 93.7k followers.

Heather was very popular for her collaboration with the brand Supreme Tan, in which she had her own tanning cream. However, Heather recently came out on her platforms and announced that she is quitting sunbeds and no longer wants to promote them, so she ended her brand deal with Supreme Tan. She also came out and said that they were not paying her enough for it to feel worthwhile.

She is also well known for having naturally long eyelashes and recently created her own lash serum brand ‘Lashceobybossbabes’, which currently has 14.2k followers on Instagram.

Heather is a student at the University of Manchester, and was on the news for her petition against the university’s ‘anti-abortion society’.

Heather was born into Gen-Z and posts relatable content for young adults, which is why I believe she has became so popular on TikTok.

MICRO INFLUENCER

What is a Macro Influencer?

Macro influencers have between 100k-1M followers. These types of influencers have most likely made a career out of their platform, or are beginning to. They are still not celebrities, but would be said to be ‘internet famous’. They are different to Mega influencers as their following has most liekly come from nuilding their platform themself, rather than gaining their following from previous fame.

Olivia Neill

Olivia Neill is a 22 year old Youtuber from Belfast with 750k subscribers. She uploaded her first video back in 2016, but began to grow popular around the time of the pandemic. One of her most popular videos being her Prom Night vlog which accumulated over 1.9m views. She started off her content with videos at home in Belfast with vlogs, GRWM’s, and general lifestyle content and grew very popular for her humorous personality and fashion sense.

During the summer of 2020, after splitting with her boyfriend John, she moved to London and has lived here since. She has had two partnerships with the brand MOTEL rocks, which is known for being a fast fashion brand. She is signed with Elite Model Management and has also started up her own podcast ‘Inner Monologue with Olivia Neill’. She has attented events such as Paris Fashion Week and has definitely found her true style in the past year or so.

MACRO INFLUENCER

What is a Mega Influencer?

Mega influncers have over 1M followers and are usually celebrities. It is however possible to be a Mega influencer and have had built your platform from online growth. Mega influencers are usually expensive to work with and for this reason they will mostly work withbig brand names. They will have less of a niche than those of a smaller following and their audience will be very broad. Working with a mega influencer is great if youre looking for a ‘buzz’ over your brand, but not great if you want to target a specific market.

Zoe Sugg

Zoe Sugg, known as Zoella, is 34 years old from England. She began as a youtuber back in 2009 and has since gained over 10m subscribers, and she currently has over 9.2m followers on Instagram. She is now known as a media personality, entrepreneur and author. In 2014, Zoe released her beauty range ‘Zoella beauty’ and later launched a homeware range, which had a combined revenue of £3.8b a year. She also published her book ‘Girl Online’ in 2014 and has since released two sequels and a non-fiction book ‘Cordially Invited’. Her current net worth is around $4m. Zoe is often criticized for still purchasing from fast fashion brands since she earns so much, I believe Zoe still wants to be ‘relatable’ and relevant as that is how she grew her platform.

MEGA INFLUENCER

What is fast fashion?

Fast fashion is when recent catwalk trends are replicated into lowquality, cheaply sold pieces which are mass-produced. This happens on repeat with all the newest fashion trends, and as smaller trends go in and out of fashion quickly people buy these items and quickly throw them away. These items are produced cheaply and then mostly go straight to landfill, and a common reason for this is because people buy them for so cheap they don’t bother to sell them. Fast fashion is growing in todays economy as people are opting for the cheapest options, and it causes extensive damage to the planet, exploits workers, and harms animals. Its ‘cheap, trendy and disposable’.

The Facts

As of 2023, the fashion industry produced 97 million tons of waste annually, of which 18 million were left over textiles, 2.5 million were chemical waste, and 3 million were packaging waste.

Clothing production is the third biggest manufacturing industry. Textile production contributes more to climate change than international aviation and shipping combined.

The fashion industry is responsible for 8-10% of carbon emissions. Every second, the equivalent of a rubbish truck full of clothes is burnt or buried in landfill.

3/5 of the 100 billion garments will end up in landfil within a year.

Plastic particles washed off products contribute up to 35% of the primary plastic that is polluting our oceans.

Introduction-Fast Fashion

About Shein

SHEIN is responsible for 6.3 million tons of CO2 emissions currently, and its only going to get worse. SHEIN is a Chinese-Singaporean online clothing retailer known for its very low-priced clothing. It started in 2008 as a wedding dress e-commerce company and eventually evolved into a womenswear retailer. Additionally to being criticized on their sustainability, SHEIN has faced accusations of labour violations, encompassing substandard working conditions an child labour. The website is constantly updated with over 500 products daily, and they sell a staggering 36 million pounds of good each year.

Areas of environmental impact:

Overproduction: 35,000 to 100,000 items daily. Carbon footprint: 6.3 million tons of CO2 emissions

Chemical Pollution: SHEIN’s products contain lead, PFA and phthalates which can cause liver and kidney damage, hormone imbalances, respiratory problems, anemia, and allergic reactions.

Packaging: The company has faced criticism for using non-recyclable packaging, contribting to land waste.

Fast Fashion Brands

About Primark

Primark is an Irish brand known for its on-trend affordable clothing, footwear, accessories and homeware for men, women and children. There are some positives to talk about when it comes to the brands sustainability. Primark is a member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, and the brand has been using paper bags instead of plastic since 2022 and has also introduced initiatives to reduce waste and packaging. The brand also committed to eliminate hazardous chemicals in it’s products.

However, Primark’s business model relies on overproducing mass quantities of cheap garments which eventually end up in landfills. They are taking some steps in the right direction, however they just aren't enough to minimise the brands huge carbon footprint.

Beyond the environmental repercussions, the brand often relies on labour from countries where worker’s rights are not adequately protected, leading to exploitation and unsafe working conditions. The brand has ethical issues consisting of environmental reporting, pollution and toxic’s, worker’s rights, animal rights, animal testing, use of controversial technologies, anti-social finance and likely use of tax avoidance strategies.

Fast Fashion Brands

About Boohoo

Boohoo has plenty of ethical scandals under its belt. The brand has even had a BBC doctumentary created about them called ‘Boohoo’s Broken Promises’ where the reality is truly exposed. A reporter spent 10 weeks undercover as an admin assistant at the brands Manchester HQ to really experience how the brand operates. Boohoo is known for its greed and for putting profits over all else. The documentary shows that the garment makers in Leister are yelled at and forced to work overtime against their will.

Boohoo adds new dresses, tops and accesories to its website every day. To turn around items quickly they use a “test and repeat” model, where it produces small batches of lots of styles, sometimes just tens or hundreds of one item. in 2018 Boohoo emitted about 588 metric tons of CO2, and increased to 793,926 the following year and then grew further in 2021 where they amounted to over 1 million metric tons.

Boohoo was identified along with Missguided as one of the UK’s least environmentally friendly fashion companies. The brand has worked with big celebrites/influencers such as Khloe Kardashian, Hayley Bieber and Paris Hilton.

Fast Fashion Brands

About Zara

Zara is one of the most famous and influential fast fashion retailers in the world. Zara releases new collections several times a year, sometimes even weekly. Zara has 3000 stores in 96 countries.

Zara’s parent company, Inditex, has started a repair and reuse program called Closing the Loop, which offers customers the opportunity to drop off their used garments in-store or through the post in order for their used clothes to gain a second life. They also used recycled paper packaging.

Half of Zara’s final stage of production is undertaken in Spain, a medium risk country for labour abuse, and the brand received a score of 51-60% in the fashion transparency index.

Zara animal welfare policy includes a strict ban on fur, angora, and on stocking products tested on animals. However, the brand does use wool, leather, down and exotic animal hair. Their Join Life program isn’t doing enough to make meaningful change. They're also still promoting the mass consumerism that feeds into fast fashion.

Fast Fashion Brands

HOWFASHIONBRANDSCAN BEMORESUSTAINABLE

Use sustainable materials such as organic cotton and bamb

Reduce water usage

Use natural dyes

Reduce waste

Support ethical labour practices

Invest in renewable energy

Educate their customers

Collaborate with like-minded brands

Mostsustainablefashionbrands

PATAGONIA

Patagonia is an outdoor apparel company with a business model that revolves around making quality items that will withstand the test of time. They offer a diverse range of premium clothing which perform well and have a minimal impact on the environment. The brand has a commitment to utilising 98% recycled materials.

Influencers I am inspired by

These are 3 influencers I have been inspired by for the past few years. These girls create fashion based content such as hauls and outfit inspiration, which is a similar niche to mine. These girls do show fast fashion brands in their content, but I believe this keeps them relatable to Gen Z as they are still young girls on a budget.

Fashion Creator

Pheobe Gore

Instagram-454K TikTok-321.8K

Fashion/lifestyle creator Queenie Griffiths Instagram-43.2K

Fashion creator Marni Dawes Instagram-9,540

MY BRAND IMAGE

GEN-Z FASHION TRENDS

Gen Z fashion trends come from past trends that have come in and out of fashion such as 1980's baggy jeans and Y2K cropped tops. Fashion trends come and go quickly and this has increased with the prominence of social media.

Some Gen-Z fashion trends for 2024 consist of streetwear, nostalgia/retro styles, Y2K revival, gender-fluid fashion, athleisure and minimalism.

A big fashion impact on Gen-Z was definitely the global pandemic, as we all got used to wearing comfy loungewear. This is why trends such as gym attire and baggy jeans have come about as we have learned to maximise comfort.

GEN-Z VALUES

Gen-Z are a socially conscious and trend focused generation, as we have been born with social media and the internet right infront of us. We are more aware of what's going on around us in the world as information is so easily accessible.

We are also very confident on our identity and creating our own style, and typically rebel against fashion norms.

Gen-Z also expect a lot of good-moral from companies, with ‘cancel culture’ being thrown around a lot on social media. We also prioritize mental health, social media has big impacts on peoples mental health and I believe this is why our generation is so focused upon it.

S/S 2024 trend forecast

White Noise

High-rise trousers

Polo Club

Transparent Skirts

Designers have shifted away from colour this season and have introduced pastels and sheerwhites. This trends fits in perfectly with the lightness of summer.

Johnathan Anderson has had a big impact on this style when he celebrated his 10 year anniversary at Loewe. He created pants so high waisted that even some designs incorporated corsets to hold them in place under the bust.

Miu Miu has become a leading fashion brand in the past year, with one of their most popular fashion shows introducing a collared cotton style. Styling polo shirts with mini skirts, slip dresses and sequinembellished blouses.

Similar to the ‘White Noise’ trend, sheer skirts have also been popular within brands for this season. With styles such as layering up sheer fabrics and styling them with bomber jackets and chunky belts.

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Fashion brands use social media strategically to gather an audience that will buy into their brand. It is done successfully by:

Understanding the changing demands of the industry globally, eg. sustainability.

Monitoring the latest trends

Building brand awareness

Building customer loyalty and a brand family

Visually showcasing their products, eg. modelling images

Ensuring marketing campaigns are resonating globally

Sharing company updates and new releases

Collaborations with influencers, sponsors and partners worldwide

Paid adverts

Engaging with customers

Good customer service

Social Media statistics 2024

Facebook

Facebook remains and advertising powerhouse and is the most used platform by marketers worldwide (89%).

As of 2023, Facebook is the largest online social network with roughly 3.05 billion monthly active users. 56.3% of Facebook users are male and 43.7% are female.

Instagram

Instagram is the second most used platform (80%), it boasts 2 billion actively monthly users.61.1% of total Instagram users worldwide are between ages 18-34 and mostly identify as male. Instagram’s engagement rates are four times higher than Facebook’s.

TikTok

TikTok has transformed into a must-have platform for brands. TikTok has reached over 2 billion users in 2024 and is the most frequently used app worldwide. 48% of TikTok users identify as female. 36.7% of users are aged 18-24, targeting mostly Gen-Z.

Most followed influencers 2024

622,164,64

Cristiano Ronaldo

Funchal, Portugal

429,805,01

Selena Gomez Texas, USA

380,308,91

Ariana Grande Florida, USA

400,477,34

Kylie Jenner

Los Angeles, California

Going forward

Going forward I will be looking into working with the brand Adanola as an influencer. I chose this brand as I am familiar with them and I am highly influenced by gym wear and day-to-day clothing. I strive form comfort in my clothes but also reach for comfort. Adanola strives for sustainability, they run small production lines to avoid waste, use 100% recyclable packaging and are committed to offsetting their operational carbon footprint. They are also passionate about the working and living conditions of their staff, including those in their manufacturing facilities in China.

I want to learn what its like to work with a sustainable brand and show how people can wear sustainable, comfortable, functional, and stylist clothes