Beyond Adorable

Being an influencer is increasingly challenging. Fame, glittering careers, Olympic victories, or boundless wealth are not enough to make one credible and trustworthy. Nor are style, beauty, and talent. What is needed today is much more: it is authenticity.

Gregory Harris for Vogue via @haileybieber

And in a virtual world where everyone builds his own image, those who stand out are those who manage to convey spontaneity and simplicity, creating with their audience a pure and solid bond of complicity. In this regard, there is a group of influencers who seem to have a lot to teach. They are invading the world's feeds with their content, riding on a wave of the one trend that will never wane: that of shedding light on one's true self. Any idea about who they might be?

Pet-mania
Let's think and be honest. What content do we interact with the most? We open social media to see what our acquaintances are up to, interact with our friends, keep up with information, get inspired – and sometimes depressed – by the perfect, exciting, and adventurous lives of our idols, and, finally, to entertain ourselves with a binge of funny videos where animals are the undisputed stars. Sitting on the toilet, we laugh until we cry at chickens dancing to the beats of a techno song. And before we feel our legs have atrophied, we have scrolled at least for fifteen minutes on our feed, cackling at a series of dogs who, convinced they are going out, slam into a glass door, cats that look like they have OCD, and parrots that, with their short legs, walk like angry toy soldiers back and forth along a windowsill. Moreover, the memes depicting animals doing something completely senseless but at the same time comparable to the discomforts of our daily lives are the universal language that brings our experience together with that of others. So, we end up interacting with animal content a lot, tagging our friends in the comments, sharing reels with our closest ones, saving our favorite posts, and republishing them in our stories.
It has been proven that the stress reduction and sense of calm that animals instill in us when we are in their presence work even when our interaction with them is mediated by a screen. The tenderness they trigger through their cuteness and naivety is contagious: it speaks straight to our hearts, reminding us that we too are vulnerable, and resonating with our weaknesses and quirks without making us feel guilty or uncomfortable about them. With animals, we feel accepted, freer to be ourselves and, in return, worthy of being loved and appreciated. It is not surprising then that we love our furry friends, nor should we be amazed that pets are the influencers whose core values resonate the most with audiences of all ages.

Karsten Winegeart, French bulldog and fries (Unsplash)

The Rise of Petfluencers
Given the popularity of animals on social media, many content creators have launched pet-friends dedicated accounts. Somebody could argue that these contents are somehow fake since they are created by human social media managers. Yet, these people are animal lovers, and the stories they tell are related to the adventures, habits, fears, and everyday lives of their animals, from their hypothetical point of view. These are “as if” narrations, which means stories told as if the storytellers were the animals themselves, turning pets into real petfluencers. In this realm, dogs and cats are the most popular, and – with a steadily growing base of followers – they have become a point of reference for the world of entertainment, both on the side of consumers – who constitute a loyal and passionate audience – and on the side of content producers. Brands with the intention of boosting the quality of their online presence have decided to offer real collaborations to those who, just like their human colleagues, know how to engage an audience and capture its attention.

First and foremost, it is pet businesses that can benefit from the endorsement of their products by animal stars. From toys, to food, to accessories, getting sponsored by a petfluencer helps to increase the potential customer base of the business and to strengthen consumer trust in the brand because all the positive connotations that belong to the animals are indirectly transferred to the brand they endorse. This is, for example, the case of the highly-followed Ollie and Tato (@good.boy.ollie), the iconic Ringodanyan (@ringodanyan), and the very sweet Doug the Pug (@itsdougthepug). But even brands that have nothing to do with animals can benefit greatly from collaborating with them.

Tika the Iggy at the NYFW (@tikatheiggy)

Fashion Petfluencers

For instance: what do dogs and fashion have in common? Apparently, nothing. But the case of Tika the Iggy proves otherwise. Tika, an Italian Greyhound living in Montreal, has started to attract public attention because of the eccentric clothes she wears to protect herself from the cold temperatures of her city. Her fathers, in fact, chose Lady Gaga, Céline Dion, and Judy Garland as style icons for her, turning their dog's natural elegance into a style icon itself. With wool suits, faux furs, and bright dresses, Tika has not only colored and brought cheer to feeds all over the world but also attracted the attention of several brands such as Boss – which have invited her to participate at the Milan Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week wearing sponsored clothes – and Dior, which chose her to advertise its Gris Dior perfume. Because of her elegance, for sure. But also thanks to the sweetness, tenderness, and goodness that goes hand in hand with being a dog.

Pets' Lesson
Whether they portray themselves in their everyday lives or collaborate with important brands from a wide variety of sectors, animals seem to be a trump card on the web. Their nature is good, spontaneous, and sincere and, therefore, we also interpret their actions as such. They remind us that being oneself, in one's uniqueness, with one's strengths and weaknesses, determines the added value with which we can contribute to our community. They inspire us in the direction to take care of our uniqueness and that of others, always valuing it over homogenization. These are the values that a petfluencer conveys, so let’s get inspired by the trend that will never get old and embrace our true selves.