The newspaper Le Figaro published a revealing article on the difficulties many influencers face today. On the one hand, the new law which regulates the practices of influencers in the country has signaled the end of the golden age of a system of product and destination placement. We learn that several influencers even had to leave Dubai because life has increased too much!
Back to reality
“Today, the dream that many young people had of becoming an influencer is collapsing,” says Le Figaro a participant in the reality TV show “Love Island” (do you know it?). When he left filming, the Marseillais only received two product placement proposals in the space of six months. Like the young man, who chose to retrain in a professional project around sport, many of his fellow adventurers have decided to turn to more traditional professions given the difficulties in monetizing their notoriety.
Prices have collapsed
This year, prices for product placements have generally collapsed since rapper Booba’s campaign against “influvoleurs”, then the numerous actions of the Ministry of the Economy. It seems that brands that yesterday offered an average of up to 2,000 euros for product placement on Instagram are only prepared to pay 300 today.
Deceptive marketing practices
Beyond the new regulation, the image of part of the profession continues to be degraded by the “name and shame” policy initiated by the executive in recent months. The DGCCRF, the armed wing of Bercy, chooses to publicly display influencers flagged for deceptive commercial practices.
“The hope of moving to Dubai and living the high life is over”…
…confirms an influencer, who wishes to remain anonymous. “Defeat calling for defeat, I don’t want brands to perceive me “as a failure,” explains the 22-year-old young woman.
Symbol of this social phenomenon, Dubai has stood out over the years as an essential setting for these Instagram galleries, where hotel swimming pools, cars and luxurious interiors have replaced the American dream of the last century. Many personalities had gone into exile in this El Dorado of the United Arab Emirates (whose population is 80% expatriates), where taxpayers pay almost no income or corporate tax.
Does the loss of steam in part of the product placement market now signal the end of this lost paradise for influencers? “There is a wave of personalities who are starting to leave Dubai to settle in Thailand, Indonesia or Morocco, countries where we pay less taxes than in France but whose daily life is much less expensive than in the Emirate,” says Nicolo Federico Ferrari (830,000 subscribers on Instagram).
Rents, already very high in the Emirate, increased by an average of 27% last year, according to the Dubai Land Department. And the access conditions assume a comfortable cash advance.
Read the Figaro article HERE
