|
 In just a few months, daughter Danielle, now 14, has garnered
8.8 million Instagram followers. She has racked up brand
sponsorships and become regular fodder for the tabloids with
provocative poses and viral videos, despite her self-confessed
penchant for stealing cars and using foul language in an accent
she said she picked up "from the streets."
She even has a catchphrase, "Cash me ousside, how bow dah?"
(Catch me outside, how about that?) that she regularly includes
in social media posts after she challenged the audience to fight
her while on Dr. Phil's show.
Danielle Bregoli's infamy, including her catchphrase, has drawn
endorsements from brands that experts say are likely paying her
thousands of dollars to post about their products, a personal
line of emojis and a deal for a reality TV show.
A representative for Bregoli declined requests for an interview.
Attempts to reach her mother by phone were unsuccessful.
"Danielle is the first of her kind in that she rode this
singular TV experience and the catchphrase and profiles and
memes that ensued have built a revenue-generating business,"
said Jonathan Davids, chief executive officer at influencer
marketing platform Influicity.
Yet, viral stars who become magnets for brands looking to
quickly increase eyeballs may find that it is hard to find
financial longevity in being a villain on social media, said
Davids and other experts.
So far, Bregoli's fan base has only grown after a slew of
misdeeds, including an undated home video of Bregoli and her
mother in a physical altercation, which started circulating last
month and has now caught the attention of her hometown police in
Boynton Beach, Florida.
Bregoli has endorsed products such as clothing company
FashionNova, teeth grills and weightloss drink FitTea. Brands
could be paying her up to $50,000, said Rishabh Sharma, CEO of
Poletus, which provides marketing tools to brands and
influencers.
Los Angeles-based clothing brand PizzaSlime, helmed by creative
directors Nick Santiago and Matthew Hwang, partnered with
Bregoli to create a line of merchandise that featured her
catchphrase.
"We just thought she was funny," Hwang said of Bregoli.
[to top of second column] |
Most of PizzaSlime's nine Bregoli items, including t-shirts,
blankets and totes bearing her face, are sold out online. Hwang said
it was unlikely they would work with Bregoli again.
"We like to work with interesting ideas and people, and once we work
together, we move onto the next thing," he said.
THE LONGEVITY OF CONTROVERSY
Bregoli is not the only star to cash in on being a rebel but if she
hopes to achieve long-term social media success, she has to evolve
beyond the controversy, said Sharma.
Corinne Olympios, 24, a contestant who divided opinion on the recent
season of ABC reality show "The Bachelor" for tactics that included
going topless, walked away from the show with more than 720,000
Instagram fans.
The Miami native is moving on from "The Bachelor" with a clothing
line launched this month and plans to write a book, create a beauty
line and star in her own reality show.
"I'm just trying to really build my brand right now," she told
Reuters.
For Bregoli to outpace her 15 minutes of viral fame, she would have
to embark on a coming-of-age journey and perhaps transition from a
rebel without a cause to a rebel with a cause, Sharma said.
One such cause could be to speak out against cyber bullying, Sharma
said. Last month, Bregoli posted an image of the barrage of negative
comments and insults she received on Instagram, captioning it,
"Everyone want to point the finger at me."
"Danielle can still retain the rebel side, but instead of rebelling
against her mother, she can rebel against some of the social
injustice being done," Sharma said.
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
