Alyssa Coscarelli, an influencer in the fashion industry, has more than 363,000 Instagram followers who look to her for trend-setting recommendations. She quit her full-time job as a vice president at media company Vice three years ago to focus on developing her own brand. However, in July this year, Coscarelli re-joined a corporate career as director of partnerships at Emcee, a Los Angeles-based online commerce firm.
The collaboration between Coscarelli and Emcee signals a shift in the connection between artists and businesses, where both may discover new value in collaborating beyond advertising items. Internal jobs are becoming more popular among influencers: in December, Youtuber Emma Chamberlain was hired as creative director of cosmetics company Bad Habit, and this summer Instyle hired social media comedian Tefi to run its Tiktok account.
Companies are enhancing the responsibilities of influencers beyond trendy tastemakers to help them better connect with new, young consumers. The most effective marketers have a firm grasp on what attracts to young customers and how to capture their attention. Influencers are natural marketers, according to Coscarelli.
However, why would a successful influencer with a flexible schedule and a nice salary want to work 9 to 5? According to the creators, learning how a bigger organization works is a wonderful opportunity, especially if they want to grow their own business beyond a series of brand partnerships.
How can influencers assist?
Celebrities have long been the public’s primary impression of everything, from fragrance to dish soap. Thomai Serdari, a professor of fashion and luxury marketing at New York University, says that the distinction between influencers and authorities is that consumers trust them more. “It’s more difficult than ever to discover individuals who are up on the current cultural scene,” she says. “An influencer may not have received design, marketing, or business training, but they’ve been successful in building their own communities.”
According to Serdari, a shift in values has opened the doors of fashion recruiters to a wider range of individuals. Today’s creative director isn’t always a skilled tailor, but rather someone who brings the greatest ideas and establishes relationships with other people. In this era, the most powerful influencers have an advantage.
John Aghayan, the founder and CEO of Emcee, discovered Coscarelli through her curated service for Re:Store, a physical retail shop in San Francisco. Coscarelli is now an Emcee employee, working as both a maker and an entrepreneur. Her job at Emcee is to get companies and individuals to join the platform. Emcee allows celebrities to establish and manage their own internet shops, with commissions ranging from 5 to 25 percent on sales.
“I wouldn’t have hired a person with a huge following if I didn’t think they were business savvy or had an entrepreneurial spirit,” says Aghayan. Coscarelli was responsible for bringing Shopify on as a partner. Her position as an influencer makes her an important piece of the feedback loop. It’s been very effective so far: Emcee has 3,000 creators and 800 brands on its waiting list (about 300 creators and 50 brands have been accepted to date), according to Aghayan.
Other internet personalities are becoming editors and social media managers. Estefania Vanegas Pessoa, better known as Tefi, gained a large following on YouTube (112,000 subscribers) and Tiktok (1.2 million followers) for her funny and honest views on celebrity gossip and pop culture. She currently serves as the main host of Instyle’s Tiktok account.
Instyle.com’s executive editor Molly Stout says Tefi was the perfect fit for the publication’s treasured brand values, which include a healthy dose of humor. When looking for someone to manage the Tiktok account, it was natural to choose a resident of the platform, according to Stout. Instyle was searching for someone who had never been in the media spotlight. Tefi’s cordiality automatically secured her the part. “She doesn’t require any scripts, cues, or direction. What sets her apart from other professional social media influencers? She’s herself.”
The rewards, on the other hand, are being appreciated by both parties. “The landscape of the creator economy is always changing. Who’s to say that Instagram will be my primary source of income for the rest of my life?” muses Coscarelli. “I’m very entrepreneurial, and I want to learn as much as possible about entrepreneurship by taking these chances now and maybe applying what I’ve learned to my own firm down the road.”
Tefi, unlike Coscarelli, is a freelance employee at Instyle who creates six to nine videos each week. She took the position at Instyle because she was passionate about the brand and wanted to move toward her ultimate goal of creating an all-encompassing pop culture platform that includes books and programs.
A larger firm’s resources are also appealing. Louis Pisano, a self-described internet personality and writer for Vogue France who has more than 124,000 Instagram followers, is both a contributor and consultant for the magazine. Soon under new editorial director Eugénie Trochu, he will take on a more formalized position at the magazine. This will allow him to link his personal and professional aspirations: to raise awareness about diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism education in France on the greatest possible stage. “When you’re in a more typical job, you have the infrastructure to accomplish bigger things that may reach even more individuals.,” he says.
According to Signalfire’s 2020 projections, the creator economy now counts more than 50 million creators. It is said to be worth more than $104 billion in today’s economy, and it is still growing rapidly, providing marketers with an ever-increasing supply of talent to tap into.
Balancing two jobs
However, assuming larger responsibilities such as creative director, editor-in-chief, or partnership director is a more difficult job than a typical collaboration or ambassadorship, according to NYU’s Serdari.
She worries that some appointments are interpreted as short-term PR stunts. “There’s a risk when you allow someone from the outside to have too much influence over your aesthetic or company, no matter how short the time frame is,” she says. “Brands must consider whether working with a creator will truly and effectively assist them in the future before they hire one. The process of developing a business is not the same as having a large Instagram following and being able to push product releases.”
Primary producers must also figure out how to effectively balance their day job with their personal brand agreements. Despite Emcee CEO Aghayan’s firm stance that Coscarelli should not be discouraged from continuing to work as an influencer, nor did she attempt to limit her brand agreements, juggling the two responsibilities was tough for Coscarelli. “Because I run my own business, it was difficult for me to complete the number of calls I needed to make each week.,” she explains. “It was a crucial element in the company’s success. Given how quickly everything was expanding, I wasn’t making as much progress as we’d hoped.”
In October, Coscarelli moved into a more strategic role as Emcee’s director of business development, which included responsibility for social media, editorial material, and influencer marketing. The new director of partnerships and three coordinators have since been hired to fill the position formerly held by Coscarelli. For her personal influencer career, she has a manager from talent agency Purveyor to handle contracts and vet new partnerships. She’s also become pickier. “I’m just telling people no more and more,” she explains. “In general, all influencers should exercise caution when selecting partners.”
Getting the correct balance is crucial, according to influencer strategist Idalia Salsamendi, who has advised Dior, Chopard, and Valentino. “Is it feasible for you to devote the time required to this position? If you don’t have it, as a creator, you’re doing yourself a disservice because you won’t be satisfied, you won’t live up to the expectations of the job, and you’ll probably get some negative press as a result. Consumers notice when a creator doesn’t give their all to anything, whether it’s a campaign or a capsule collection.”
“Voice authenticity is critical,” says Salsamendi. “It’s exciting to see influencers embracing larger responsibilities than just pushing a product for a brand, but it’s essential that the influencer is actually executing the task and not simply slapping their name on anything.” When it’s a genuine passion project with the company’s mission and values aligned with their own, creators are most fulfilled and contribute the most to a brand.
Expect the increasing number of influencers moving into brand marketing to continue. “As a creator, you work for yourself, so you’re clearly an entrepreneur,” says Coscarelli. “I believe that more influencers will take on the role of business leaders and advisors as they invest more in the brands with which they work.”
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