Influencers, marketers have their say

A synonymous name throughout the UAE influencer industry, Alex Hirschi aka Supercarblondie, told Khaleej Times that while some influencers initially shrieked at the idea of paying a notable sum of money to carry on working legally here, it has been a change for the better.

“The social media licence has given businesses the extra bit of assurance that many of them were looking for in order to engage with a content creator on social media, and make the decision to apportion their marketing budget to something new.”

Being represented by an agency in Dubai, she said they took care of the licensing process so it wasn’t difficult. “It was actually a very smooth transition.”

“It’s probably too early to say how the licence has impacted the industry as a whole, but it hasn’t had any major impact on my business,“she added.

Currently, Supercarblondie has 357,246 subscribers on YouTube; 1.9 million followers on Instagram; and 4.7 million followers on Facebook.

But have social media marketing agencies seen much change?

“Yes. It has definitely helped set a precedent for industry expectations. The introduction of the UAE’s e-media regulations has highlighted for all parties — influencers, brands, agencies and consumers — the importance of transparency and the need to adhere to global advertising standards,” Tanaz Dizadji, founder and CEO of Brandripplr, told Khaleej Times.

With “technology fuelling influencer marketing at a much faster pace”, the growth of the UAE’s influencer industry gave rise to multiple problems that preceded — and demanded — the newly enforced legislation, he said.

“From issues surrounding inflated pricing and ‘diva’ requests to concerns about fake followers and lack of accountability, the new e-media regulations are now shaking up and reshaping the advertising landscape. These regulations have brought accountability to the forefront of industry practice.”

Andrew Thomas, managing director of Nexa, said initially there was an amount of “uncertainty on who should register and what the law would cover”. “But ultimately, as more light has been shed on the licence requirements, it has cleaned the influencer landscape and helped regulate a fairly loose industry.”

For Taghreed Oraibi, group account director at BPG Orange, the benefit of having the licence in place has now “increased reliability from all parties involved, since they’re operating within the UAE jurisdictions”.

And depending on person to person, some agencies said the presence of a licence could give the influencer the power to put a higher price tag on their endorsements. However, no influencers shared this information with Khaleej Times.

Headquartered in Dubai, two BPG Orange studies conducted in 2016 and 2017 reported that over 70 per cent of consumers’ purchasing decisions are affected by social media influencers. In addition, 94 per cent of in-house marketeers in the UAE believe influencer marketing is very significant for the success of their brands.

Due to their effect, Oraibi said “advertising, PR, social media and media planning and buying agencies are all in the business of integrating social media personalities in their campaigns”.