Influencer marketing in Italy has experienced a scandal-beleaguered start to 2024. Fraud allegations against fashion mogul Chiara Ferragni have caused the country’s watchdog to set stringent rules aimed at improving transparency in social media posts made by celebrities. The shakeup is unfolding in a particularly
, with 323 million euros tallied in 2023. At the end of 2023, the number of Instagram posts made by Italian influencers in collaboration with brands amounted to over 18 thousand.
Marketers wield influencers to unlock new customers
Italian companies have been allocating
increasing shares of their budget towards influencer marketing, driven by the objective of reaching new consumer segments. Authentic to the core strengths of the “Bel Paese,” food was the
leading sector for influencer marketing investments, followed by beauty and lifestyle. Marketers paid attention to a creator’s brand affinity when deciding whether to work with them. Companies also cited budget limits as the leading hindrance
preventing the realization of influencer marketing campaigns. YouTube was the platform that paid celebrity influencers the most, followed by Instagram.
Ferragni empire shaking amid fraud allegations
Regarding the sheer
number of followers, comedian Khabane “Khaby” Lame was the undisputed Italian influencer monarch, boasting more than 81 million fans on Instagram alone. The 24-year-old is also the most followed TikTok user globally, with more than 161 million followers as of December 2023. Lame also became the
highest-paid Italian influencer on Instagram in 2023, taking the crown away from fashion influencer Chiara Ferragni. In early 2024, Ferragni received a fine of 1.08 million U.S. dollars for "incorrect commercial practices." Italy’s anti-trust authority accused her and confectionery brand Balocco of duping consumers into believing they were aiding a Turin children’s hospital by purchasing a pandoro Christmas cake promoted by the influencer. Instead, Balocco had given 50 thousand euros to the hospital before the campaign, while Ferragni earned one million euros from the promotion. The 36-year-old blamed a “communication error” for the scandal and pledged to donate her campaign earnings to the hospital. She has since lost 200 thousand followers, while also being discarded by brands including Coca-Cola and Oreo.
Trust in influencers may be strong… but shady dealings spark new rules
Italians have become increasingly
receptive to the role of influencers in their purchasing choices, with almost half of them having bought creator-promoted products or services, while more than six out of 10 appreciated sponsored content. This appreciation also mirrored the fact that only one out of 10 Instagram users said they didn’t
trust the influencers they followed. The recent vicissitudes concerning Ferragni appear not to have decreased Italians’ trust in influencers. What they have ignited, however, is the Italian communications authority AGCOM’s expansion of its regulation of influencers with more than one million followers. The new ruling sees AGCOM positioning influencer activities under the same body that supervises TV and other audiovisual media.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no
liability for the information given being complete or correct.
Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date
data than referenced in the text.
