PR and branding expert Hayley Knight recently took note of Meghan’s apparent transformation into an influencer.
She shared these comments while speaking to FEMAIL during one of their candid chats and admitted that it was “difficult to deny” that there was “standard influencer behavior.”
A behavior that can seriously “cheapen” the overall image of Meghan Markle and her philanthropy.
“The Duchess of Sussex has long positioned herself as an advocate, humanitarian, and media entrepreneur, distancing herself from traditional influencer culture. Yet, with this latest move, she is embracing a model that is predominantly about monetising and sales,” Ms Knight said.
“Meghan’s new shop directly contradicts her claim that she’s not an influencer because affiliate marketing is one of the most common revenue streams for influencers.”
Abd “Meghan is also showcasing standard influencer behaviour by curating selections of products in order to drive sales, so it is not surprising that she has received backlash for there being a disconnect between her comments and her actions,” she even added.
While “It allows her to monetise her brand,” the expert added, “it seems to cheapen her overall brand, reducing her status” because in the past “she has put so much emphasis on activism and philanthropy, this diminishes her to a simple lifestyle influencer.”
“This means that her challenge will be maintaining credibility and engagement. If she continues to combine being a serious thought leader with influencer marketing, her messaging will become unaligned and contradictory and she’ll struggle to find her audience.”
“Meghan’s recent moves – relaunching a new Instagram account, teasing a lifestyle brand, and maintaining a media presence through her podcast – all represent influencer culture, so we can definitely argue that she is moving towards establishing herself as such.”
“It seems that this recent move is all about driving sales and making money, rather than an impact, making it her most overtly commercial influencer move yet,” Ms Knight also added before signing off.
This comes despite the Duchess herself saying she is not a social media star in her own eyes, instead sees herself “as an entrepreneur and a female founder and if the brand ends up influential, then that’s great.”
