Cricut Is Everything Wrong with the Influencer Ecosystem

Cricut Is Everything Wrong with the Influencer Ecosystem | Let's Talk Sponsorships

Рет қаралды 5,005

3 жыл бұрын

Cricut's new Design Space policy has sparked a volatile debate, and their influencers are caught in the middle of the crossfire. We chat with Jen from Sewing Report about the tricky road to navigating cosplay and crafting brand sponsorships, what often ends up in these kinds of contracts, and what hopeful influencers should consider before they sign!
This video is part of a 2 part series! Jump right into a deep dive into Cricut's financials and SEC filing at Sewing Report's channel:
Cricut Heads to Wall Street for $322M IPO | What's in the SEC Filing? • Cricut Heads to Wall S...
Watch more of Sewing Report at / @sewingreport
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Since this video was recorded, Cricut has released a second statement on March 18th, rolling back all proposed Design Space changes: inspiration.cricut.com/new-fe...
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More of our cosplay: cowbuttcrunchiescosplay.com/
The Art of Extreme Wig Styling book/e-book: cowbuttcrunchies.ecwid.com/
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Sources:
SEC Filings www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da...
Make The Cut Settles Cricut Software Lawsuit With Provo Craft nallystudios.com/blog/2011/03...
Crafting machine maker Cricut sets terms for $322 million IPO www.nasdaq.com/articles/craft...

Пікірлер: 38

@CowbuttCrunchies 3 жыл бұрын

This video is part of a 2 part series! Jump right into a deep dive into Cricut's financials and SEC filing at Sewing Report's channel: Cricut Heads to Wall Street for $322M IPO | What's in the SEC Filing? kzfaq.info/get/bejne/beCnh9aWysixgps.html

@SewingReport 3 жыл бұрын

Really enjoyed speaking with you about the influencer world! 🐈 Sending kitty love!

@AuntieTay 3 жыл бұрын

Ooh I’m living for this!!!

@AnonPanOn 3 жыл бұрын

This whole cricut situation has been eye-opening in so many ways...

@kelseyjane818 3 жыл бұрын

This video should be required viewing for crafters of all levels. Thank you 💖

@diapernh 3 жыл бұрын

I bet the main reason it took Cricut so long to respond was the massive amount of e-mails and call volume and damage control that they had to endure on monday and into tuesday. They walked back their original plan and the heat died down... but not enough, so they walked back even further. This is NOT the last time we will hear of Cricut forcing the subscription model. They are likely going to try it again, this time they will try something like charging a fee to get advanced features of DS (as if they are ever going to make it good), or the cost of the machines is going to skyrocket; but rest assured they aren't done with the money squeezing yet.

@jessii_d 3 жыл бұрын

I agree. Cricut doesn't seem like a company worth supporting. They seem to have no morals or care for their supporters and even the influencers

@webwarren 3 жыл бұрын

They already have. You can't have more than 5 "collections" (ways of organizing your projects) without having a paid Access subscription.

@SarahCoxWrites 3 жыл бұрын

Additionally, Cricut has spent a lot of energy fostering a cult-like following whereby if you dare to suggest the product isn’t working, you will get shot down. And it’s influencers form a big part of this, as outed by the ex-influencers that spoke out last week. This particular form of brandism has really set Cricut apart and has made for not such a nice community, which was very visible when the debacle kicked off. Forums and groups became war grounds. I personally unfollowed every single influencer.

@Cullens_Workshop 3 жыл бұрын

One thing I find interesting is the way craft influencers/youtubers handle reviews, sponsorships, and ambassadorships vs how camera and tech influncers/youtubers handle it. The craft space seems a lot more restrictive and controlling.

@ArtBrain 3 жыл бұрын

People in the crafting industry who've left their influencer contracts call it "working for glitter". These companies think they've got a herd of rubes to work with and will take advantage at every opportunity. I have seen even some Cricut influencers looking like hostages. It may make sense to develop some short-term contracts when you're getting started but you really have to be careful, especially when signing vague contracts. And I suspect that Cricut's reversal had nothing to do with users, but everything to do with Joann's, Michaels, Walmart, Amazon getting peeved at them for potentially cutting into their sales. It's like with TV. TV viewers think their "Twitter campaigns" or whatever, may make a difference but it's really all about what does or doesn't please the advertisers, and users get largely ignored. And the reality is that people who are active on social media in every area represent a very small number of users.

@ArtBrain 3 жыл бұрын

And out of touch influencers, influencers literally do greeting card demos using $100-150 worth of supplies. And the manufacturers either control numbers or won't let you sell goods made with these supplies on your Etsy so it makes no financial sense to buy these supplies. It's a huge thing in the stamp crafting industry.

@sarahsmith1124 3 жыл бұрын

I think them backtracking was more about how much money they were losing in a matter of days and could no longer ignore it. If you watch The Sewing Reports other video about cricuts IPO. It mentions how the money cricut makes is mostly from their subscriptions. And you’d be amazed at how many people cancelled their subscription to cricut access. Many people have bought a silhouette or a brother print and scan due to this. It’ll be interesting what cricut does from here.

@SarahCoxWrites 3 жыл бұрын

Great video. Interestingly, there was a post on reddit by an anonymous Cricut employee who came out and said that a lot of the employees didn’t knw about the change before it was announced, that they were confused as to why they would do this, and that Cricut left the customer service team to field some pretty irate customers. It would seem that Cricut doesn’t limit its greed and disdain to influencers and customers but to employees too.

@janicek9399 3 жыл бұрын

Oh that’s awful! It doesn’t surprise me, unfortunately.

@ssconeson1189 3 жыл бұрын

That's awful, leaving your customer service people high and dry is so unnecessary and cruel

@webwarren 3 жыл бұрын

@@janicek9399 That's pretty Industry Standard where customer service employees and call centers are concerned.

@JulieEbersole 3 жыл бұрын

Fantastic follow up to the 1st in this series! Yes, people need to understand fully what they are getting into--SO many extremely important points you highlighted!

@PaperZenCeceliaLouie 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for your honesty, unveiling transparency, sharing your experiences, helping the community put in brand deals in better perspectives. Two thumbs way up!

@breannmollaun3231 3 жыл бұрын

Very informative. Thanks for giving us the details!

@DeeSperling 3 жыл бұрын

Fascinating look into influencing. Thank you.

@LiliaArmoury 3 жыл бұрын

there need to be laws allowing 3rd party software for devices like cutting machines and sewing machines

@webwarren 3 жыл бұрын

16:40 re: $10,000 sewing machines. Reminds me of the 1990s when there were a whole bunch of sewing TV shows on PBS (Sewing With Nancy, Quilt in a Day, Sew Beautiful / Martha's Sewing Room, etc.) where the instructors all had top-of-the-line sewing machines and pressing equipment and used features that hadn't even been thought of at the time our circa 1965 then-top-of-the-line machine was manufactured. It made one feel pressured to get higher-end equipment, when all that was really needed was a set of specialty presser feet. 17:30 re: "ride that easy choo-choo train": It's not always that simple. There's a level of expertise between "I don't know this" and "I know it thoroughly enough to teach it to someone with absolutely no experience" (or "I can break it down so someone without expensive tools can replicate it") in which one is hard-put to actually _explain_ the concept, the process, the reasoning, etc.

@reallunacy Жыл бұрын

I like that Jen brought up that it's hard to generically suggest a machine for someone without knowing more about their goals. Generally I recommend people snag a cheap used unit until they have proven to themselves they'll genuinely stick with the hobby and have learned what features they really need.

@janicek9399 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this video!

@mzchristine 3 жыл бұрын

Had no idea what goes on behind the influencer scene, very eye-opening! Subscribing to you both.

@PretzlCosplay 3 жыл бұрын

Love this video! Ooh all the shady influencer deals 🙈🙈🙈 I get those so much too. I think it's good to talk about this subject. Thank you :)

@cardstockcollector 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you.

@lillianalvarado8011 3 жыл бұрын

I am a cricket maker what are your thoughts on the silhouette?

@LiliaArmoury 3 жыл бұрын

yay now i can listen to this not on mobile data

@stagpie6449 3 жыл бұрын

We should throw these machines off the docks.

@EzzyDT 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the video. You should make a influencer 101 video.

@cupsandclawscatcafe 2 жыл бұрын

How do you get a small sponsorship from Circuit? We are a small business for adoptable cats from a local shelter.

@webwarren 3 жыл бұрын

Around 4:15 talking about a brand. Some years ago, those of us doing paid patient blogging at a community/portal/resource for people with, or caring for people with, diabetes were given the opportunity to try out a no-sugar-added line of an existing food product. Two of us took management up on the opportunity. The other blogger took the product at face value. I, however, compared it to its full-sugar variety under controlled circumstances and found it... not performing as advertised. I was not allowed to post that content. And this was something potentially affecting people's _health_ On the plus side, my editor was able to recompense me for the expenses I incurred purchasing the full-sugar products...