Chiara Ferragni, the first ‘influencer’ to go public?

The marketing that revolves around influencers is already a succulent business that moves around A market niche that could increase because the influencer Chiara Ferragni, with 21 million followers on Instagram, is considering going public.

As she said in a September interview with an Italian newspaper, the 33-year-old model is considering making her debut on the stock market to monetize the image she has created for a decade. A possibility that would test the staying power of the influencer business model.

The celebrities of social networks are a key part of the marketing strategy of many companies. They have the power to increase the sales of a certain bag or shoe, to bring down a large company. And if not, tell Snap, Snapchat’s parent company, which saw its market capitalization wipe out $1.3 billion in February 2018 when influencer Kylie Jenner, with 198 million followers on Instagram, tweeted about their disagreement with the redesign that the application underwent. Or, also, raise new business icons such as Fenty Beauty, which bears the Rihanna seal even though the cosmetics brand is part of the LVMH group.

chiara ferragini

Ferragni’s list would not be in that league. In the interview with the Italian media, he did not specify which of the three companies he controls would enter the market or when. Sisterhood, which manages its marketing campaigns, posted revenue of €11 million last year, according to Italian press reports. Together with the fashion business Serendipity and the TBS Crew, owner of Ferragni’s blog “The Blonde Salad”, they generated some 20 million euros of sales in 2019, collects Reuters.

At the sales multiple of 4 times that Prada shares reach, the Ferragni group could be worth 80 million euros. It would be small, but probably the first IPO to feature a one-person brand built solely on web self-promotion, the agency continues. However, as the pandemic forces companies to cut marketing costs, some are questioning the influencer model. Investors will also need to be convinced that influencer-based digital businesses are more than skin deep.