Abstract

This thesis examines how brands utilize the marketing tactics of social media influencers to promote themselves in platform spaces in order to connect with their users. While contemporary netizens have become increasingly resistant to most forms of digital advertising (Ramadan 2017, Ariagada 2021), influencers have found success in promotional campaigns due in large part to their ability to appear authentic and demonstrate their relatability through the content they produce. Due to the success of these marketing strategies, several brands have altered their approaches to social media and incorporated aspects of influencership into their presentation in these spaces or attempted to become influencers themselves as a means of circumventing the ad resistance of their userbases. This thesis explores this phenomenon through examinations of two brand social media accounts that have found success through utilizing influencer marketing tactics: the Twitter profile of the fast food chain Wendy’s and the TikTok account of the language learning app Duolingo. By examining these brand accounts through the lens of existing research that defines the promotional strategies of influencers, this thesis highlights the aspects of influencership that both companies have incorporated into their respective approaches and illustrates the rationale behind these choices in digital presentation. Ultimately, this thesis seeks to expand the definition of influencership by demonstrating its potential as a tool of the market as its strategies continue to be co-opted by corporate entities and to encourage further academic scholarship that recognizes the steady progression of this phenomenon.