a TikTok influencer, she's a social media thinker.

UTA power brokers on "The Influencer Cliff" Nilay Patel Editor-in-Chief, The Verge A TIKTOK INFLUENCER - SHE'S A SOCIAL MEDIA THINKER - I THINK HER NAME IS CARMEN THE INFLUENCER CLIFF HAS BEGUN VICENTE, AND SHE COINED THIS TERM CALLED "THE INFLUENCER CLIFF," WHICH IS WHEN THE CREATOR GOES TO TRY TO DIRECTLY SELL THEIR OWN PRODUCT AND THE AUDIENCE REBELS BECAUSE THAT'S A MISALIGNMENT, RIGHT? THEY ACCEPT THE SPONSORSHIP DEALS OR THE BRAND INTEGRATIONS 'CAUSE THAT SUPPORTS WHAT THEY'RE THERE FOR, AND WHEN YOU FLIP THE SWITCH TO BEING MORE DIRECTLY COMMERCIAL, THAT MISALIGNS YOU WITH THE AUDIENCE, AND THEN WE ALL END UP ISSUING APOLOGIES. YOU HAVE A LOT OF CLIENTS WHO'VE MANAGED TO PULL IT OFF. WHAT DO YOU THINK THE DIFFERENCE IS? WHY DO YOU THINK ... YOU'RE NODDING YOUR HEAD. I THINK YOU GENERALLY AGREE I VERY MUCH AGREE ... THAT IT'S REALLY HARD. I'LL GIVE AN EXAMPLE. WE HAVE, A CLIENT, PATRICK STARR. HE HAS A BEAUTY LINE THAT HE CAME OUT WITH FIVE YEARS AGO, AND IT WAS LIKE, "OKAY, WHERE WHAT PRODUCT ARE WE GONNA START WITH?" AND HE SAID, "WHEN I WAS YOUNGER, I WORKED AT A MAC STORE, AND I WAS A BOY WHO WORE MAKEUP, AND I WALKED IN, AND I HAD ALL THIS MAKEUP ON AND THIS- AND I WALKED INTO MAC TO WORK, AND THEY SAID, "YOU'RE WEARING TOO MUCH MAKEUP. YOU NEED TO TAKE IT OFF," AND HE SAID, "MY FIRST PRODUCT IS GOING TO BE MAKEUP REMOVER WIPES," WHICH WAS A STARKLY DIFFERENT THING THAN HOW YOU WOULD NORMALLY YOU'RE LAUNCHING A BEAUTY BRAND WITH MAKEUP REMOVER? THAT SORT OF FEELS COUNTERINTUITIVE. THAT WAS 100% THE RIGHT DECISION, AND IT WAS HIS DECISION. THE PARTNER SUPPORTED IT, AND IT WAS ... BUT IT WAS A COUNTERINTUITIVE THING. BUT HIS AUDIENCE KNOWS HIM, AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT HE SHOULD HAVE DONE. WHEN YOU'RE LAUNCHING SOMETHING AND YOU ARE SO PROFOUNDLY PASSIONATE ABOUT THAT THING, AND YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THAT POINT OF VIEW IS AND HOW IT INTERSECTS WITH YOUR AUDIENCE AND WITH SELLING TO THE AUDIENCE, THEN IT'S- THEN YOU'RE GONNA FIND SUCCESS. WHEN IT'S LIKE, "OH, I WANT TO DO A BRAND, THEN IT'S A LITTLE MORE CHALLENGING, AND THAT'S WHEN I SORT OF- THE SORT OF, THE CLIFF HAPPENS.