Santosh Desai on influencer marketing: “The traditional celebrity has to excel or at least feature in something that naturally attracts our attention- cinema, music, sports or at the very least glamour and spice. They usually are part of an activity that is larger-than-life and that scale rubs off on them. The influencer on the other hand, engages in the far more everyday pursuits. What clothes to wear, where to shop, how to choose between two brands of a gadget, how to wear make-up, how to add facets to your personality, how to study for that important exam, what makes for a good interviewee, these are the kind of questions that a lot of influencers provide home-grown answers to. The communication lacks the sophistication of traditional advertising, and that is what gives it a sense of authenticity and makes it relatable. For the follower of these influencers, what they receive is wisdom from one of their kind on things that they find useful in a lived context. In that sense, the influencers exert much more direct influence on how people behave for unlike the conventional celebrity; the reason for their popularity is their perceived proficiency at the same acts of consumption that they are pushing for others. The key insight that influencers operate on is that public attention does not necessarily need big spectacles.”
Kristian Niemietz: “If we judge market economies primarily by their shortcomings, while judging socialism primarily as an idea, and by the intentions of its proponents, then the market economy can never win.” [via CafeHayek]
Marie Curie: “Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.” [via Shane Parish]
