Vertical dancing > vertical integration... 17-year-old Charli D'Amelio earned more last year than the CEOs of Exxon, Starbucks, McDonald's, and Delta (sorry, Ed). D'Amelio is TikTok's #1 kidfluencer, or under-18 influencer whose fans are mainly kids. While TikTok doesn't share ad revenue, last year the D'Amelio fam converted Charli's 133M following into $17.5M worth of brand deals, product promos, and a clothing line. By comparison, median pay for S&P 500 CEOs was $13M (womp).
- Kidfluencers are getting younger, with toddlers and tweens raking in more marketing $$. Like: 10-year-old Ryan Kaji, the star of toy-themed YouTube channel “Ryan’s World,” which clears his family $25M a year.
- Toddler influencers: Some of the biggest kid-driven YT channels feature toddlers. Take 3-year-old twins Taytum and Oakley Fisher, whose channel can reportedly rake in $300K/month through brand deals, sponsored posts, and ads.
"Account managed by mom"... Instead of watching “SpongeBob” on TV cut by cereal commercials, iPhone-laden kids are consuming sponsored content from young influencers they idolize (Addison Rae vs. Hannah Montana). As internet usage skews younger, corporations are putting kidfluencers at the center of their marketing strategy. Last year the global kids digital ad market was worth $1.7B.
Kidfluencer culture is raising concerns… Advertisers are splurging to reach children beyond TVs, but often kids can’t distinguish between ads and content — especially on social apps. They can be subconsciously prompted to pine for the latest Hot Wheels or D’Amelio eyeshadow. Also: Kidfluencers aren’t as legally protected as child actors (e.g.: parents don’t need to set aside their earnings). Kidfluencer marketing is sparking backlash from regulators, who view it as deceptive and potentially psychologically harmful. US lawmakers recently proposed legislation to protect kids from manipulative social-media marketing.