SPONSORED CONTENT IN THE AGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS
KATE LA VIE
Kate La Vie is "a globally recognised for her impeccable style and beautifully captured posts featuring all things beauty and lifestyle," according to her management company Storm Management. She started her blog back in 2009 and has worked with many brands such as West Elm, Pandora and NARS ("Kate La Vie"). As well as her blog, Kate runs a YouTube channel where she posts vlogs and tours of her Pinterest-worthy apartment (G., "Kate La Vie"). Kate does not address sponsorship on her blog's FAQ page.
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In her blog post about "Lazy Weekend Mornings," Kate starts off by writing "sponsored content" under her header photo and before the post itself. Then she goes onto to talk about why she loves weekend mornings, the new collection of homeware from Tesco and how she uses it. So other than that first mention of sponsored content, the blog post reads as one of her regular posts.
ESTÉE LALONDE
Estée Lalonde is a Canadian blogger and vlogger, currently living in London, who is writes about travel, beauty and fashion. Unlike Rosie, she does not have a FAQ section with a explanation on how she discloses sponsorship. Despite this, Estée is very upfront about the sponsorship, probably more so than the other two bloggers.
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The title itself is: "Emporio Armani Fragrance Launch in Milan (Sponsored)." In the first paragraph, Estée writes that she is traveling with Emporio Armani. Throughout the article she discusses the new perfumes, which was obviously mandated by her contract with Armani. At the end of the blog post she thanks Armani for the trip. This is the most blatantly sponsored post out of the three, but it still does not read like an advertisement. Estée is able to imbue enough of her voice into the article, which keeps her as a good reccomender for brands and readers alike.
THE LONDONER
AKA Rosie
Rosie, the writer of "The Londoner," blogs about travel, lifestyle and life in London, with restaurant and shopping recommendations. On her FAQ, Rosie addresses sponsorship posts by writing:
"I fund the blog through the partnerships with brands, consulting work and a couple of affiliate companies; places like “Skimlinks” and “Reward Style” which pay you a very small percentage every time someone buys something, via a link they found on your website. This way readers don’t pay anything for content, the shops just share a little of their profit. If I feature a sponsored post, I will say so in the post" (R, "FAQ").
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In this article about Mother's Day shopping, Rosie keeps in line with her FAQ and tells the reader that Michael Kors sponsored the post. Even though it is sponsored content, the blog post reads like any of her other blog posts, and keeps the good rapport between herself and her reader by disclosing the sponsorship.
