Deep Dive: The Rise of Social Media Influencers and Their Brands

Executive Summary

• Over the past few years, we have witnessed the rise of bloggers and social media influencers, and influencer marketing is rapidly becoming commonplace in categories spanning beauty to fashion.
• Reflecting the decline in TV and print, companies are harnessing the growth in social media consumption and increasingly utilizing Internet personalities to reach consumers.
• Influencers have become a driver of consumer purchases, especially among young consumers. Brands are working with celebrity and social media influencers to attract Gen Zers, a demographic group that is the most influenced by social media endorsements.
• Numerous social media influencers are launching their own product lines, from beauty to fashion to homeware categories. As a result, the influencer brand space is crowded, especially in the beauty category.
• Given the cutthroat level of competition and market over saturation in both beauty and fashion retail, we believe it will be very difficult for the majority of influencer brands to gain meaningful scale in either the beauty or apparel categories.