Parents Can we talk about IG Brand Ambassadors?

[3rd_time_around]

Oh, I read your initial post multiple times before deciding to comment. I’ll start with this. “Not the best idea” for my first post? I think that’s my decision, not yours.

Now to your original post. Your whole first paragraph mentioned the ambassadors. Your “question” about the companies didn’t happen until you passive aggressively took a shot at the kids themselves by referring to them as “winners” in the quotation marks, indicating they aren’t actually winners.

Now to the companies.As i said, it must work for them. If it didn’t, maybe they would want exclusivity. So, if your question truly is, “Why do the companies do this?,” I guess the simple answer is, it works.

I’m just saying! its not the best idea to come to CB and first post attack, well, everyone. And if you read it again, I’m citing how many of the 25 new Ozone ambassadors also rep for 1-6 other leotard companies. its fine to join the convo, give your opinion, but don’t make an account just to yell at everyone. And I guessed right, didn’t I? You’re kid is an Instagymmie. That’s fine, I know many (MANY) IG and YouTube famous gymnasts personally, and I like them all. My own kid has a channel that I monitor closely and had to make private due to harassment and threats and people using her pictures.

As for the “winners” comment, you completely misinterpreted that. It’s in quotes because it was pretty much a given who would be chosen as the ambassadors (and it actually sounds tacky to say winners because it could imply that not being chosen means loser, and I was trying to be careful NOT to imply that). I literally could have made the list and picked at least 15 of them correctly. One of them must be yours, right, and she’s repping several leo companies?

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

I pretty much feel this same way. I think part of what bothers me about it is that the source of pride for the parent's running these accounts comes from their gymnastics. That's the driving force behind these accounts. Often when a child quits or is contemplating leaving the sport, the accounts just stop posting, or take a long time to finally come around and talk about what's going on. I'd appreciate so much more an account that REALLY talked about how hard it is. Not just a bad day here or there, but a bad month, 6 months, just someone who is actually honest and continues to be just as proud of their kid even when they quit. It sure seems like that is not the case, across the board.

Easier said than done, trust me.

 

[HoldThePhone]

Easier said than done, trust me.

I don't doubt that. I certainly don't think that these parents dont care about their kids, I think it's more about what is portrayed, thay gymnastics is the most important. That's all. I think it's very easy as a parent to get caught up in our child's sport, and by putting them out there on Instagram, only exacerbates that. I think if more parents tried to have more well rounded Instagram pages and saw that people wanted to follow for more than just gymnastics it would create a more relatable and honest experience, where feelings aren't as caught up in the sport itself. I definitely believe that a child contemplating quitting the sport they've been so dedicated to will take its toll on the parent(s) as well, but adding in the loss of this IG environment that revolves around said sport, adds a whole other layer that I don't necessarily feel needs to be there.

I'm not trying to hate on anyone over this. Just trying to express one reason some parents are perhaps turned off by it.

 

[LemonLime]

@GAgymmom @LJL07 No, I meant what I said. I know the payment rules, although they have recently been greatly relaxed. I think getting a small number of free leos in exchange for advertising on a social media site means the female athlete is being paid less than their worth.

BUT my daughter did it a couple times because she enjoyed it. If there's value for the child or she's moving up in the social media world for non-sport products, I see the argument to participate. It's solely the parent and child's choice, but there's a lot more going on than a free leo.

 

[TumbleTimes4]

I created an IG account for DD’s Gymnastics for me only. This is a place where I can store her best routines and videos from coaches of the new skills she is working on, without having to filter through various albums on my phone. It’s all in one place. I also created it for family members and close friends that like those updates. The account has six followers. It will probably never go above 15. The only people that I will “friend” are family and friends that I know well. She has no access to this account.

I followed a couple of elite gymnasts like Suni and Riley, because she likes watching their bars upgrades. Within 24 hours, I had 20 friend requests from gymnast instagram accounts, the majority “managed by mom.“ I think a lot of them are public as well. I just have a hard time believing these accounts are “just for fun” when you are constantly seeking out new followers that are complete strangers. The risk, in my opinion, is not worth instafame and free leos.

 

[nikkinemo95]

let me explain what brand ambassadors can help you with:

1. They increase your brand awareness.

If your brand advocate is a celebrity, influencer or creator with a significant audience, they can drastically increase your brand awareness. And thus…

2. They enhance your website traffic.

The more target buyer personas know about your brand, the more traffic you get on your company website. A key insight here: a brand ambassador’s audience needs to be your target audience.

3. They increase conversions, leads, and sales.

Once the target audience visits your website, it is likely they would love to learn more about your product — test a free trial, get something you offer for free, or simply buy your product right away. Isn’t it what you strive for?

4. They offer their loyal audience to you.

Their audience becomes yours by default when you start partnering.

 

[LemonLime]

let me explain what brand ambassadors can help you with:

1. They increase your brand awareness.

If your brand advocate is a celebrity, influencer or creator with a significant audience, they can drastically increase your brand awareness. And thus…
2. They enhance your website traffic.
The more target buyer personas know about your brand, the more traffic you get on your company website. A key insight here: a brand ambassador’s audience needs to be your target audience.
3. They increase conversions, leads, and sales.
Once the target audience visits your website, it is likely they would love to learn more about your product — test a free trial, get something you offer for free, or simply buy your product right away. Isn’t it what you strive for?
4. They offer their loyal audience to you.
Their audience becomes yours by default when you start partnering.

Very well explained.

Gymnasts should be paid for these services because they are providing a significant financial benefit to the leotard companies. My problem is with the NCAA, and not with parents. Fortunately a series of law suits against the NCAA has moved the needle.

 

[3rd_time_around]

let me explain what brand ambassadors can help you with:

1. They increase your brand awareness.

If your brand advocate is a celebrity, influencer or creator with a significant audience, they can drastically increase your brand awareness. And thus…

2. They enhance your website traffic.

The more target buyer personas know about your brand, the more traffic you get on your company website. A key insight here: a brand ambassador’s audience needs to be your target audience.

3. They increase conversions, leads, and sales.

Once the target audience visits your website, it is likely they would love to learn more about your product — test a free trial, get something you offer for free, or simply buy your product right away. Isn’t it what you strive for?

4. They offer their loyal audience to you.

Their audience becomes yours by default when you start partnering.

We understand all that. I just have a problem with 1 person being an ambassador for 3-8 leotard companies at the same time. I think the companies should be exclusive, like Plum, for a set amount of time, then ambassadors can be released for another company. I don’t know when a gymnast would have time to post like they’re supposed to for each company. I was disappointed that Ozone, a huge, well-known company, would choose 18/25 ambassadors that already rep other leo companies. As big as Ozone is, they didn’t need high profile IGers, they could have given others a chance and it would have been good for both parties. It makes a little more sense for a small or new company to seek out the 20,000+ followers accounts.

 

[LJL07]

Very well explained.

Gymnasts should be paid for these services because they are providing a significant financial benefit to the leotard companies. My problem is with the NCAA, and not with parents. Fortunately a series of law suits against the NCAA has moved the needle.

We are not talking about the same thing. You are talking about NCAA athletes and elite athletes who rep for huge leo brands like GK or Ozone. And in this regard, I agree with you about the disparity between what male and female athletes get paid.

However, the person who started this post was not talking about NCAA or elite athletes. For the most part, many of these leo companies start out as smaller companies or even mom and pop leo companies. There is no possible way Foxy's or Rebecca's Mom or GymGear (just examples) can afford to pay young amateur gymnasts $100s of dollars for modeling their leos. And getting paid what they are worth? They shouldn't be getting paid because of their "athlete status." If these parents want their children to be paid models, well, that's different, and an instagram gymnast account isn't the easiest way to make that happen.

Somewhere up in this thread, I and others made the point that these smaller leo companies are choosing huge instagram accounts to serve as ambassadors because they are heavily trafficked accounts and it draws the target audience. No one is arguing with @nikkinemo95 there. It all makes sense.

I think the OP's point in starting this post is that Ozone is a larger, lucrative brand, and why was it necessary for them to choose large instagram accounts when these kids are already repping for multiple companies? How is that really benefiting Ozone?

 

[JBS]

There is no possible way Foxy's or Rebecca's Mom or GymGear (just examples) can afford to pay young amateur gymnasts $100s of dollars for modeling their leos.

Why?

 

[LJL07]

Why?

well I don’t know what any of these company’s annual net income is, but I’m guessing it’s not enough to hire and pay multiple gymnast ambassadors for repping their leos. As Nikki pointed out though, it’s far more exposure for them to use a bunch of heavily trafficked Instagram kids’ sites for free. When I started ordering Foxys leos five years ago, they appeared to be a very small company. Foxy’s and plum do seem to have grown a lot in the last few years. I’m not even sure plum pays their ambassadors for the in person modeling shoots, but maybe they do now. Perhaps one of the ambassadors can weigh in.

 

[JBS]

well I don’t know what any of these company’s annual net income is, but I’m guessing it’s not enough to hire and pay multiple gymnast ambassadors for repping their leos. As Nikki pointed out though, it’s far more exposure for them to use a bunch of heavily trafficked Instagram kids’ sites for free. When I started ordering Foxys leos five years ago, they appeared to be a very small company. Foxy’s and plum do seem to have grown a lot in the last few years. I’m not even sure plum pays their ambassadors for the in person modeling shoots, but maybe they do now. Perhaps one of the ambassadors can weigh in.

I can weigh in as I used to sell leotards and gymnastics supplies online. I also know one of the owners of one of these companies. Maybe right now there could be an issue during COVID times... but not normally. Spending $100's on advertising and marketing is a very normal thing for companies. As a matter of fact... spending $1,000's and even $10,000's on marketing and advertising could be a very normal thing if someone there knows what they are doing. It's all about the ROI.

Now if they choose to pay these ambassadors or just give them free stuff... that's not my call... but I would just give them free stuff and spend my marketing $,$$$'s elsewhere.

Let's put it this way... if you sell 2,500 leos at $40 each... that's already $100,000. If a company is pulling in $100,000+ and they don't have a marketing budget or at least a concept to market... well... they are probably going to get beat by the company that does.

If you pay an ambassador $100 for a post... that post only needs to bring in a very small amount of sales to make it worth it.

 

[OptionalMom12]

We understand all that. I just have a problem with 1 person being an ambassador for 3-8 leotard companies at the same time. I think the companies should be exclusive, like Plum, for a set amount of time, then ambassadors can be released for another company. I don’t know when a gymnast would have time to post like they’re supposed to for each company. I was disappointed that Ozone, a huge, well-known company, would choose 18/25 ambassadors that already rep other leo companies. As big as Ozone is, they didn’t need high profile IGers, they could have given others a chance and it would have been good for both parties. It makes a little more sense for a small or new company to seek out the 20,000+ followers accounts.

I agree. Rhe problem with these accounts with large followers, the parents have bought the followers. There are creepers, bots, many inactive accounts and a ton of grown men and inappropriate accounts. These are not genuine followers and obviously these accounts (which makes us a large percent of follower count) will not buy any gymnastic products.

 

[3rd_time_around]

I can weigh in as I used to sell leotards and gymnastics supplies online. I also know one of the owners of one of these companies. Maybe right now there could be an issue during COVID times... but not normally. Spending $100's on advertising and marketing is a very normal thing for companies. As a matter of fact... spending $1,000's and even $10,000's on marketing and advertising could be a very normal thing if someone there knows what they are doing. It's all about the ROI.

Now if they choose to pay these ambassadors or just give them free stuff... that's not my call... but I would just give them free stuff and spend my marketing $,$$$'s elsewhere.

Let's put it this way... if you sell 2,500 leos at $40 each... that's already $100,000. If a company is pulling in $100,000+ and they don't have a marketing budget or at least a concept to market... well... they are probably going to get beat by the company that does.

If you pay an ambassador $100 for a post... that post only needs to bring in a very small amount of sales to make it worth it.

You make a good point. I do personally know 2 owners of new leo companies. i know how long it took to break even. I know she got a couple very well-known/IG/YouTubers to wear her leos to get traffic moving her way. I don’t fault her at all. The company is doing well now, for the most part. I also know the owner of a fairly new apparel company geared towards gymnasts, but also branching out to other sports. She doesn’t have ambassadors, but will repost any post you make wearing and tagging her company. Her IG has a fraction of followers as the other, because she screens every follower to try to weed out the creepers and fake accounts. She also couldn’t afford to pay per post. She hopes to get there someday, though.

 

[LJL07]

You make a good point. I do personally know 2 owners of new leo companies. i know how long it took to break even. I know she got a couple very well-known/IG/YouTubers to wear her leos to get traffic moving her way. I don’t fault her at all. The company is doing well now, for the most part. I also know the owner of a fairly new apparel company geared towards gymnasts, but also branching out to other sports. She doesn’t have ambassadors, but will repost any post you make wearing and tagging her company. Her IG has a fraction of followers as the other, because she screens every follower to try to weed out the creepers and fake accounts. She also couldn’t afford to pay per post. She hopes to get there someday, though.

Yes, that is how Foxy's started out. My daughters used to message them pictures of themselves at practice in the leos, and she was great about reposting all of the kids. They've really grown though. Plum did the same, but my girls were never posted bc they required a public Instagram to repost.

@JBS that makes a lot of sense. If I were a business, I would also give out freebies in exchange for the posting and publicity. It’s to the financial benefit of the company to do freebies and get maximum exposure—cheap and easy advertising. From the standpoint of the kids, I agree with @GAgymmom. How many Leos can they possibly wear with multiple ambassadorships? But most of these accounts are looking for fame and exposure. So in that way both sides are benefiting.