#19: Expanding upon “People are the New Brands”
Who do you really follow?
One of the most thought-provoking articles I’ve read over the past year is No Mercy No Malice’s “People are the New Brands”, penned by Ed Elson. Throughout his take, Ed argues, “America has fallen out of love with brands and in love with people.” He calls out the epidemic of loneliness and how our reliance (err addiction) on technology and social media have led us to favor parasocial relationships over IRL friendships.
People who have become today’s brands include groups like athletes, content creators, politicians, podcasters, and successful entrepreneurs. All of whom are willing to bask in the limelight and offer a parasocial relationship to any viewer or listener. A singular name can stand out in contrast to conglomerates or omnipresent brand names, as they’re the ones who speak more directly to the consumer.
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What I find most fascinating about this piece is how valid I believe his points are. The rise of the creator economy has been predicated on consumers shifting their attention from large brands to individuals. Today, most creators are simply a solo act, with a few notable creator collectives acting as the exception (ie Dude Perfect, Nelk, Sidemen). Although the creator groups do have a collaborative dynamic, each individual personality boasts hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of followers.
In tandem, the practice of content creation no longer belongs to Hollywood nor fancy creative agencies. Today, anyone can take out their smartphone, film a video, post it on a social platform, and receive instant feedback from hundreds of millions of people across the globe. It’s not a table-stakes requirement to have a massive production staff to film a thirty-second commercial anymore. Capital is no longer a major barrier to entering the content game, allowing individuals to compete with omnipresent brands for your attention. It doesn’t take years of experience or a specialized skill set to scale an audience via content creation. Technological innovation for the win.
Ed argues that at its core, the “people are the new brands” trend is rooted in the loneliness epidemic. I agree with this perspective, as loneliness was likely the spark plug for the trend. However, I’d like to make a case for a different catalyst for the movement: accessibility.
People always wanted to learn more about the individuals behind a brand, but access wasn’t logistically possible since technology was the constraint.
For me, I’ve always been curious about how professional athletes prepare for competition. Athletes are creators too, as they are putting on a performance for entertainment’s sake. Back when I was a teenager (2010s), there wasn’t much of a window into their daily habits, training secrets, or diet choices. Learning intimate details about an athlete was only achieved via a GQ article or a special interview hosted by a cable news network. I don’t even recall ESPN getting into much of the off-court story of athletes besides maybe a 30-for-30 episode here and there.
Steadily over time, technology has opened the supply side of the attention equation. Fans always had the desire to learn about what makes successful individuals tick, but the successful individuals didn’t have the right technology to deliver their attention in a scalable way. Nowadays, athletes, celebrities, or musicians can pull their phone out of their pocket, head over to Instagram and post a picture, video, or host a live stream, sharing whatever message they’d like.
Perhaps they didn’t like the way they came across in a press conference or red-carpet interview. They can course-correct the narrative in a matter of seconds, which certainly wasn’t possible even a decade ago. Or they can share little details about their day to evoke relatability. I recently watched a TikTok of Bryce Harper (MLB all-star) sharing his “nature’s Gatorade” recipe that he drinks every morning (spoiler alert: it’s coconut water, lemon, salt, and water). The thought of filming a simple, wholesome morning routine video likely didn’t cross the minds of top-tier celebrities prior to the 2020s.
So, you have these forces coming together over the past five years: technological innovation breaking down the barriers to entry of content creation (creating accessibility), the ever-present desire to learn more about successful individuals, and then the loneliness epidemic serving as the accelerant. This shift didn’t happen in a vacuum and thus it’s important to note the “how” (technology) and the “why” (always present demand).
At the end of the day, people have always craved authenticity, it was just tougher to get with such structured media formats. Did you really learn much about an athlete from a post-game interview? I point to the rapid rise of the creator economy and the boom of influencer marketing as key proof points that once the technology was available, the flood gates of creator-led content production would open.
Think of your favorite brand: it may be the brainchild of a creator themselves (ie Logan Paul’s Prime, Mr. Beast’s Feastables, Selina Gomez’s Rare Beauty). In these cases, the line between the person and the product is nearly erased. Or maybe your favorite brand has key creator ambassadors or brand partners (ie MKBHD with Ridge, Roger Federer with ON, Lewis Hamilton with Lululemon). Either way, individuals are key stakeholders of big-name brands today because the brands know consumers prefer to divert their attention towards said individuals.
Pay attention to the content you consume. Next time you’re scrolling Instagram, it’s likely you will pass a creator shilling either their product or a brand they’ve partnered with product. This form of affiliate marketing ends up being one of the most efficient acquisition channels because you’re establishing trust with the potential customer through an individual they are already interested in (assuming you follow this creator already). Also, creator partnership deals tend to be variable commission (ie 20% of sales go to creator), motivating the creator to try to sell more. The incentives between brands and their acquisition channel are rarely aligned as clearly as this case. This dynamic also reshapes trust as a building block of digital marketing.
Forgive the sports-heavy references today, but I think they illustrate the point of a key component of the creator economy who have gained escape velocity. Ask yourself, “when LeBron James left the Cavs (two times over), did you stay a Cavs fan?”. If not, I can’t say I’m surprised. For me, I’m a LeBron James, not a Cavs fan. I guess people really are the new brands.