A new report from SevenSix Agency has highlighted the impact that race and ethnicity has on pay and pricing in influencer marketing, in stark results which will be of interest to members of ISBA’s Diversity & Inclusion and Influencer Working Groups.
The report – Lifting the Lid: The Influencer Pricing Report – shows that 57% of influencers believe that their ethnicity impacts the fees they can charge.
In other results, the report finds that 37% of influencers believe the impact of ethnicity on pricing to be negative, with prices decreasing as a direct result. Of this group, 99% identified as a person of colour. By comparison, only 45% of those who don’t believe their ethnicity affects their process identified as a person of colour. 55% identified as white.
The report also finds that:
- 69% of influencers (of many different ethnic groups) believe that they undercharge when setting a price for paid partnerships.
- However, breaking down this figure, there are distinct gaps between groups: nearly half of influencers who believe they undercharge and that their ethnicity impacts their fees are Black, followed by 18% South Asian and 13% mixed heritage.
- Only 11% of this group were White, suggesting a link between race and influencer pay.
- Less than a quarter of influencers said they felt confident setting a price for paid campaigns, demonstrating a desire for more structure around pricing within the industry.
ISBA’s Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Bobi Carley, said: “These results underline once again the importance of systemic change within all aspects of advertising and marketing, meaningfully to address obstacles to proper diversity and inclusion.
“ISBA is at the forefront of efforts in this area. In the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter protests, we joined brands and fellow trade bodies in taking a strong stand on the need for action. Along with the AA and the IPA, we have driven the UK Advertising industry’s first Census, with the aim of establishing the very best record of the make-up of UK advertising’s workforce and a vital benchmark for progress.
“We have also worked with colleagues at Direct Line Group and Channel 4 to launch research which enables us to measure perceptions of representation in advertising. This six-monthly tracking measures levels of agreement both with the importance of diverse representation onscreen and also people’s perception that ads look, feel, and sound like them (including sector-by-sector). This research forms a useful baseline establishing where we are, so that we can track progress.”
Our Diversity & Inclusion Working Group this work forwards, while our Influencer Working Group is working across disciplines and sectors to establish best practice for brands, agencies, and influencers themselves, with the impact of race and ethnicity very much part of the conversation.
For more information on our Working Groups, please click here; and ISBA members can download the full SevenSix Agency report below.