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Straits Times

Influencing without the influencers: How fashion and lifestyle brands are taking back social media

Ms Sarah Tang, a content strategist for the homeware brand Dusen Dusen, edits a video at the company's studio in Brooklyn on June 26. NEW YORK – Ms Sarah Tang did not set out to be internet famous. The 28-year-old does not sing, dance or share outfit-of-the-day videos. She does not post about her personal life, offer career or dating advice, or share finance tips. She does not have an agent or a manager, and she is not flying off to brand-sponsored retreats in coastal cities. Her TikTok following is modest. Still, Ms Tang is often recognised, particularly on the J train in New York City, for her appearances in TikTok video ads by buzzy brands targeting Gen Z and millennials. 'I started feeling really anxious about things like falling asleep on the subway or just like looking really grumpy,' she said. 'I'm not, like, anonymous anymore.' She is what some in the fashion and lifestyle industries call a brand or in-house content creator. Unlike influencers, who are typically paid to promote products on their own channels, Ms Tang's job is to produce short videos that emulate influencer-style content like room tours, vlogs and get-ready-with-me snippets on brands' own social accounts. Her videos can generate thousands of views. The goal of Ms Tang and others like her is to make ads feel like anything but ads. The brand's voice is embedded in the content, as are its products, but there is no overt pitch or the awkward energy of a sponsored partnership. The videos are seemingly unpolished, even if they may have been meticulously planned. And, in many cases, viewers may not even realise they are being marketed to. Ms Sarah Tang makes videos that feel more like the typical content produced by influencers, rather than traditional advertising. PHOTO: HIROKO MASUIKE/NYTIMES This approach, which has existed on some level for quite some time, is part of a growing shift in social media marketing. Rather than investing in work from external influencers or celebrity ambassadors, many fashion, beauty and lifestyle companies are turning their cameras inwards, enlisting their own employees to be the faces of the brand, while striving to make it feel more casual than that. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Business S'pore to launch new grant for companies, expand support for workers amid US tariff uncertainties Singapore Proposed new law protecting Singaporeans' genetic data to be strengthened: Ong Ye Kung Asia Dr Mahathir at 100: Still haunted by the Malay Dilemma Singapore HDB flats less attainable in 2024 compared with 2022: Report World 'Do some homework': 6 key exchanges between US Senator Duckworth and S'pore envoy nominee Sinha World Trump's ambassador nominee to Singapore Anjani Sinha has a rough day at Senate hearing Multimedia 60 objects to mark SG60: Which is your favourite? Singapore NDP 2025: Diamond formations, 'multi-axis' fly-past to headline parade's aerial display Brands including LVMH-owned Loewe, accessories brand Mejuri and Danish fashion label Ganni have adopted the format, often showing behind-the-scenes moments of building the brand and photo shoots on social media. Vogue magazine, soda brand Poppi and clothing and homeware brand Damson Madder regularly feature lo-fi office content starring staff. At luggage brand Baboon To The Moon, in-house creators film vlogs and sit-down interviews with the brand's designers. This kind of behind-the-scenes content is a clear departure from the glossy, heavily produced campaigns that typically fill Instagram feeds, brand websites and fashion magazines. Dr Jonah Berger, a marketing professor at the Wharton School of Business and author of Contagious: Why Things Catch On, said this off-the-cuff content is appealing because it offers viewers a rare glimpse behind the curtain. That insider perspective gives people a sense of social value or currency, making them more engaged and more likely to share the content. This approach also helps solve what marketeers call the content problem, according to Mr Anthony Svirskis, chief executive of creator marketing company Tribe. In the past, a brand might have produced a few polished ads a year for TV or print. Now, with dozens of social platforms, each demanding its own stream of content, brands need a constant flow of posts. Influencers and in-house creators help meet this demand. For some brands, it is not just about volume, but also the tone. The hard-sell of traditional advertising can feel out of sync with how young people want to be engaged. In-house creators offer something more casual and more human. 'I find all of advertising to be embarrassing,' said Ms Ellen Van Dusen, founder of homeware brand Dusen Dusen. 'Part of it is because this business is so personal. It just feels embarrassing to ask people to buy my stuff. I always think like, 'Oh god, all my friends are going to see this.'' Ms Ellen van Dusen, founder of homeware brand Dusen Dusen, at the company's studio in Brooklyn. Ms van Dusen originally handled her brand's social media accounts on her own, mixing her actual life with the brand she was creating. PHOTO: HIROKO MASUIKE/NYTIMES The Dusen Dusen line was born because Ms van Dusen could not find decor in stores that matched her colourful, irreverent aesthetic. When she started the label, she took on the role of a one-woman marketing team, treating the brand's Instagram like a personal account. She documented her print design process, decorated her studio in real time and posted photos from her wedding, snapshots of her dog, Snips, and eventually of her child. Early on, she realised that that kind of intimate, offbeat content resonated with her customers. When it came to TikTok, a platform she described as hard to 'wrap my head around', Ms van Dusen brought in Ms Tang in 2023. Several of Ms Tang's videos had taken off during her time as the in-house content creator for Baboon To The Moon. On any given day, Ms Tang arrives at Dusen Dusen's studio in the Clinton Hill neighbourhood of Brooklyn, checks in with Ms van Dusen about upcoming launches or sample sales and then maps out video concepts tied to the calendar. Her style leans towards deadpan humour, and she films, edits and posts the content. These days, Ms Tang is more protective of her boundaries. She no longer films from her home or includes her friends in videos . She works strictly from the brand's office, which includes a staged set with couches, a kitchen and even a made-up bed designed to resemble a lived-in apartment. (It is where she once filmed an 'apartment tour'.) She is unsure how long she will keep lending her face to brands, describing the work as 'taxing'. Moving forward, she says, she is interested in working only with brands she feels aligned with , noting that she could not be an in-house creator for a large corporation ; she appreciates that Dusen Dusen's team is small and that the business is self-funded. 'There's a point where I'm going to age out of the attention economy,' she said. But for now, 'when I'm on camera for the brand, I am the brand'. NYTIMES