Interview with Author

As part of my research, I wanted to conduct an interview with published Author Mark Carrigan whos book I also read as part of my secondary research. I contacted him through his website as I wanted to seek his opinions out about how he felt about online influencers and marketing collaborations such as paid advertisements. Overall, unfortunately, the interview wasn't so successful. After emailing back and forth over a five-day span, I eventually gave up on his vague answers. I even thought about not noting that I attempted an interview, however, an unsuccessful one is part of the research project I suppose. I asked Mark;

1. Do you think it is worth the time and money that a brand could put into a celebrity endorsement/influencer collaboration? And do you think that in your opinion they are successful? 
2. Do you think that there is still a risk for brands to collaborate with these kinds of influencers, such as “youtubers” even though their celebrity status has been cemented in pop culture for at least the past 10 Years? 
3. Who do you these collaborations are most successful for? (Such as, which market do they target the best and which brands would see the most benefit from something as small as a sponsored post)
4. Would you ever consider purchasing something endorsed by a celebrity you may enjoy? 
5. And finally, do you see a future for social media “influencers” and brands working together? Do you have any ideas of where it can be taken next? Where you would like it to go? 

In response to this, all that Mark had to say was is;

"My answer to every question would be "it depends" I'm afraid. The idea of the influencer and the brand could apply to so many cases that I don't think it's possible to meaningfully talk about this at the level of generality you've been asked to. Obviously, there are some brands for whom some influencers have proved useful but there are undoubtedly many this is not the case for. I worry the language of brands and influencers is something digital marketers have made up to make what they do seem more complex than it is. But in the process it also manages to be simplistic, ignoring the many differences within any group of influencers and within any group of brands. "

Unfortunately, this response really disappointed me as it did not lead me further into any conclusive answer coming from an intellectual such as himself.