Qianna Smith Bruneteau isn’t an influencer. But she founded the American Influencer Council (AIC)—a trade group that’s aiming to become the Association of National Advertisers for the influencer marketing industry—after holding social media roles at companies such as Saks Fifth Avenue and the United States Tennis Association, which involved working with creators. Leading the AIC is now Bruneteau’s full-time gig.

The non-profit was founded in 2020 with the goal of sustaining the “integrity and viability of the influencer marketing industry in America,” per its website.

But in her words, it’s about “destigmatizing” influencers and giving them professional skills. Since then, it’s gained about 100 members (Bruneteau declined to share membership dues with Marketing Brew) and offers mentorship and trade resources, as well as business development services, Bruneteau said.

Who’s who

Founding members include artist and product developer Kendra Dandy and entrepreneur and fashion designer Rocky Barnes, but you don’t have to be an influencer to join. Bruneteau told us AIC has three member tiers: “Career creators” are the only ones with voting rights, but “member advisors” from brands, as well as companies that work with influencers, are eligible to join. Influencers interested in joining must meet certain criteria, like having an active social media presence and regular brand partnerships.

We spoke to Bruneteau about recent AIC happenings as well as why she wanted to build the non-profit. Read a snippet of the interview below, or click here for the full Q&A.—PB

Qianna on Qianna

Marketing Brew: Have you ever considered yourself an influencer?

Qianna Smith Bruneteau: Never.

MB: How about an influencer marketer? Where do you fall within the landscape?

QSB: 100% an influencer marketer and an influencer advocate. I have done content as a blogger with brands, but I would never say that I was an influencer…I have an affinity for creators (or digital creatives), because when I was blogging or working with brands, I experienced all of the things that young, small businesses go through—like struggling to get your invoice paid on time, or not knowing how to advocate for yourself because you’re super young.

When starting the AIC, a lot of my experiences are a culmination of wanting to be an advocate for people who don’t necessarily have a voice or can’t stand up for themselves because they don’t know the right way or approach to do so.

Read the full interview here.

If you, like many of us, follow dozens of influencers, you might have noticed a budding trend. Several are creating their own brands—at least according to Ian Borthwick, SeatGeek’s senior director, influencer channels.

“Emma Chamberlain is a good example,” Borthwick told Marketing Brew, explaining that she went from creating content featuring coffee to debuting her brand, Chamberlain Coffee. “Now she’s doing more in-store advertising, and I could see a world where she would eventually do full-scale advertising,” Borthwick said.

Big picture: When influencers roll out their own brands, they’re lucky enough to have a built-in audience: followers. But for some select influencers, Borthwick said it makes sense to start promoting their products outside of social media, especially if they’ve been able to “prove traction” on their own channels.

Little Chonk—a new dog-backpack brand born out of Bryan Reisberg’s TikTok and his Insta-famous dog, Maxine the Fluffy Corgi—is one such brand that recently went beyond social channels to advertise.

• Late last year, the brand’s founder said he approached the MTA with an idea that ultimately became an out-of-home (OOH) campaign in partnership with MTA Away, a new informational program that promotes local tourism via public transit.
• It kicked off on January 2—which Little Chonk founder (and Maxine’s dad) Reisberg told us is National Pet Travel Safety Day, with dual Little Chonk and MTA Instagram and TikTok posts announcing the tie-in.
• The OOH ads started running on digital screens throughout NYC subway stations the same week and ran through the end of January.

The ads—which were shot with a phone camera to mimic the videos on Maxine’s social media accounts—show Reisberg and Maxine’s New York adventures, frolicking everywhere from a lighthouse underneath the George Washington Bridge to the Hudson Valley.

Read more here, including why Reisberg wanted to advertise on the MTA in the first place.—PB

Legacy entertainment giants that first built ad-free, subscription-based streaming services that were modeled after Netflix are increasingly eyeing another path to growth: free TV.

The soon-to-be merged WarnerMedia and Discovery are just the latest to consider it. Discovery, Inc. CEO David Zaslav told investors that by combining the subscription services Discovery+ and HBO Max, the company could create “a subscription-only service, an ad-light service, and then a free digital service.”

Zaslav, who has been tapped to lead the merged company that will be known as Warner Bros. Discovery after it closes in the second quarter, said that a free digital service could help the combined companies extract value from less-trafficked content on their subscription services.

“There’s a load of people that will never pay for television, but they can go and view this content, and that’ll be advertiser-supported,” Zaslav said. “I think there are a number of players that are very tied to this idea of subscription only.”

Déjà vu: Paramount (formerly known as ViacomCBS) has long touted a three-funnel strategy as core to its streaming ambitions, with the free service Pluto TV commanding more than $1 billion in advertising revenue while serving as a marketing vehicle for Paramount+, which has ad-supported and ad-free tiers.

NBCUniversal has also taken a similar approach with Peacock, which has a free tier as well as two paid ones that come with additional content offerings. Meanwhile, entirely free, ad-supported services, including Tubi and Roku, are investing in original content to attract audiences.

No, I don’t want no subs: Executives are warming up to free tiers as evidence of subscription fatigue continues to grow. While more than 80% of US consumers subscribe to at least one paid video-streaming service, an increase in cost was the most likely reason why consumers would consider canceling a subscription, according to Deloitte. Meanwhile, about 55% of consumers already use one free, ad-supported video streaming service, Deloitte found.

And, advertisers are increasingly eager to spend across streaming. Global connected-TV ad spend is projected to rise by nearly a quarter in 2022, to $20.3 billion, according to a recent estimate from GroupM.—KS

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

Meta: Here’s how to set up Facebook Meta Pixel.

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