A cafe has been ordered to pay out an Instagram influencer after an agreement over paid posts ‘turned sour’.
Chloe Roberts struck up a deal with Legacy Camberwell in Melbourne to get paid $300 per promotional post on her Instagram page which boasts more than 125,000 followers.
The $300 sum for simply snapping a photo of her dining at Legacy and posting it is relatively small to the $1200 Ms Roberts can sometimes rake in for paid content.
The fitness ‘ambassador’s Instagram shows off an enviable lifestyle of beach photos, skimpy bikinis, fine dining, festivals, holidays and workout posts.
But the agreement between the influencer and cafe owner Con ‘Costa’ Katsogiannis broke down after she deleted several of her promotional posts for the cafe, much to his dismay.
Chloe Roberts struck up a deal with Legacy Camberwell in Melbourne to get paid $300 per promotional post on her Instagram page which boasts over 125,000 followers – but the agreement has since turned sour
The agreement between the influencer and Legacy’s owner Con ‘Costa’ Katsogiannis broke down after Ms Roberts deleted several of her promotional posts for the cafe, much to his dismay
The case came before The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal on Monday, who sided with Ms Roberts over the ‘prematurely’ deleted posts.
But the matter has shone a light on the peculiar and at times tight-lipped world of influencer branding.
Ms Roberts – who retained creative control of her Instagram page – told Mr Katsogiannis she archived old posts, which made them invisible but could be retrieved and re-posted.
Ms Roberts – who retained creative control of her Instagram page – told Mr Katsogiannis she archived old posts, which made them invisible but could be retrieved and re-posted
The 19-year-old argued doing so was in the interest of both parties as ’90 per cent of the views of an image occur in the first week’.
Deleting and archiving old content is a tactic Ms Roberts and many others with a high following use avoid clogging up their Instagram feeds.
The social media guru said Instagram accounts with too many old photos become ‘unattractive for followers’.
The case came before The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal on Monday, who sided with Ms Roberts over the ‘prematurely’ deleted posts
But Mr Katsogiannis didn’t believe the reasoning, saying the posts should remain ‘until the client expressly agrees that the image be archived’.
After several ‘fruitless’ meetings Ms Roberts maintained she was owed $2100.
On Monday, VCAT deputy president Mr Ian Lulham said he found Ms Robert’s claim that ‘new images are viewed more than old images’ was justifiable.
He said that ‘in a general sense’, Mr Katsogiannis did not not lose value when the old posts were archived.
But he could not determine if the influencer was entitled to delete posts at any time.
He ordered Mr Katsogiannis to pay Ms Roberts two-thirds of the sum she sought – or $1400 – as well as her filing fees of $276.
Legacy, which boasts more than 32,000 followers, already has a cult following among the ‘influencer’ community.
VCAT deputy president Mr Ian Lulham ordered Mr Katsogiannis to pay Ms Roberts two-thirds of the sum she sought – or $1400 – as well as her filing fees of $276
The matter comes less than two weeks after top Australian chef Matt Moran and restaurateurs Maurice Terzini and Justin Hemmes vowed to cut off ‘B-listers’ who try to use their status to eat for free.
Last month, former My Kitchen Rules contestant Andy Vignati was blasted by Adelaide chef Duncan Welgemoed, after she asked to dine at his award-winning restaurant Africola in exchange for Instagram posts.
Celebrity chef Matt Moran said that he too is often bombarded with similar requests for free food in exchange for promotional posts
Matt Moran shared Welgemoed’s sentiments, saying he too has been approached by reality stars and C-grade celebrities with similar offers.
‘It has gotten worse in the last couple of years. Because you have more of these ‘reality TV’ celebrities everywhere. Shows like MKR, the Bachelor … shows like that,’ he told The Daily Telegraph.
Maurice Terzini, owner of famed Bondi hotspot Icebergs, has also banned freebies, insisting even the most A-list of stars must pay up.
‘We have some of the most powerful celebrities in the world on a daily basis so we would be giving away more than we could afford if we did,’ Terzini said.
‘Restaurants in Australia are hard enough to make good margins so dinner for free does not sit well.’
However some of Australia’s ex reality stars disagree, claiming the ban is bad for business.
Former Married at First Sight star, Nick Furphy, told Daily Mail Australia on Monday that influencers are the way of the future.
Former Married at First Sight star, Nick Furphy ,claims that influencers are the way of the future when it comes to business branding and exposure
The 32-year-old reality star regularly posts promotional content for Legacy to his 55,000 Instagram followers.
‘Banning certain people like me only limits the amount of people that a cafe appeals to.’
Season 4 MAFS star Nick said he can reach thousands of people with a single post – which ultimately helps drive business.