⚡ Axios AM: Influencer explosion

Photos: Mound switcheroo | Sunday, September 26, 2021

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Bank of America   Axios AM By Mike Allen ·Sep 26, 2021 🥞 Happy Sunday. Smart Brevity™ count: 986 words ... < 4 minutes. Edited by Fadel Allassan. 🇩🇪 Germans are voting today in a too-close-to-call, era-changing national election to set the future course of Europe's largest economy. (Reuters)     1 big thing: Hill votes will make global waves House Budget Chair John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) listens in his office as Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) speaks yesterday during a virtual markup. Photo: Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images This epic week for President Biden on Capitol Hill is even bigger than his domestic agenda, Axios' Jonathan Swan and Hans Nichols report: Biden has anchored his entire strategy for foreign affairs on the notion that "America is back." What that means in practice is that Biden needs to prove democracy works to rally America's liberal allies against rising authoritarians, Jonathan Swan points out. A collapse of any or all of his four urgent legislative priorities — infrastructure, reconciliation, government funding and the debt ceiling — would deal a severe blow to the underlying theory of Biden's presidency. He's already shaky: His approval rating is under water, the Afghanistan withdrawal was a debacle, the border is overwhelmed, and he's made no progress in dealing with China. The bottom line: He needs this badly. Graphic: CNN State of play: House leaders promised all week that they'll hold a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure package tomorrow or Tuesday. But with progressives still promising to vote against it, they plainly don't have the votes. 🥊 Speaker Pelosi said Thursday at her weekly news conference: "I think we're in a very good place. I've always been very calm about this, because ... it always happens the same way — all this bluster and this and that, and who's there and who's there."     2. Influencer explosion Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios   The number of would-be online influencers has exploded during COVID. Why it matters: Almost anyone can be an influencer — and brands are throwing billions at content creators, Axios' Hope King reports. Takumi, an influencer marketing agency, received twice as many applications from people looking for representation in 2020 than in 2019. This year to date, it's grown another 150-200%, Takumi group CEO Mary Keane-Dawson said. State of play: The pandemic expedited the shift to e-commerce and digital marketing. That's helped to lead businesses big and small to invest in more influencer relationships. Advertisers "don't want to use the same influencer again and again," Keane-Dawson said, which keeps new opportunities flowing. They're in luck: Signal Fire, a venture capital firm that invests in many creator-led businesses, estimates that more than 50 million people globally consider themselves online creators. The catch: The vast majority (85%) of short-shelf-life consumer goods businesses have seen a negative hit to their brand as a result of an influencer association, according to a June 2020 study from financial consultancy Kroll. Share this story.     3. 💉 Vax spike expected President Biden speaks at the White House on Aug. 23. Photo: Ken Cedeno/Pool via Reuters   A spike in demand for COVID vaccines is expected following last week's federal recommendation on booster shots —the first significant jump in months, AP reports. With more than 40 million doses available, health authorities are confident there'll be enough for both qualified older Americans seeking booster shots, and the young children for whom initial vaccines are expected to be approved in the not-too-distant future. State of play: More than 70 million Americans remain unvaccinated despite the enticement of lottery prizes, free food or gifts and pleas from exhausted health care workers.     A message from Bank of America Countdown to 2050: The path to a healthier world     The UN revealed "net-zero" must be achieved by 2050 to avoid the worst effects of climate change. The background: Bank of America has deployed more than $200 billion to meet that goal, with an expanded goal to mobilize $1 trillion by 2030. Get more details.     4. One week: Before and after Photo: Julio Cortez/AP This photo pair — taken last Tuesday (top) and yesterday — shows International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas, when 12,000+ migrants were waiting for processing, and after the makeshift camp was cleared out. Below: Drone views from Sunday and Friday. Photos: Adrees Latif/Reuters     5. Amtrak's Montana tragedy Photo: Kimberly Fossen via AP Three people were killed yesterday, and other passengers and crew were injured, when Amtrak's westbound Empire Builder, traveling from Chicago to Seattle/Portland, derailed near Joplin, Mont. Amtrak says 141 passengers and 16 crew members were onboard. The train had two locomotives and 10 cars, eight of which derailed. Photo: Kimberly Fossen via AP Get the latest.     6. Quote du jour Photo: NBC News   Chuck Todd — interviewing Bob Woodward and Robert Costa about their new bestseller, "Peril," on "Meet the Press" — asked the authors about "Trumpian versus Nixonian." Costa: "As Bob and I have talked about, when Nixon gets on the helicopter in '74, he goes away to California and he stays there. Not the same dynamic this time with President Trump."     7. 🗞️ N.Y. Times courts "lower class" A source with knowledge of The New York Times' ambitious new team charged with "developing innovative ways of deepening our audience's trust in our mission and in the credibility of our journalism," tells Vanity Fair's Joe Pompeo that part of the idea is ... "to broaden the Times' readership and make sure that the Times is innovating. Broader means all kinds of readers, including politically. But we need more young readers, we need more readers of color, more who are middle class or lower class, and so on." 💡 Pro tip: If you want to sell digital subscriptions to a new swath of Americans, don't call them "lower class." The official description: "This cross-functional initiative will help the company's leadership establish a vision for how The Times's report can continue to evolve to convey our values." "That includes highlighting our independent, original reporting from around the world, the deep expertise of our journalists and the measures that we take to ensure accuracy."     8. 🎙️ 1 smile to go: Switcheroo Photo: John Fisher/Getty Images Bob Uecker, 87, celebrated 50 years as radio voice of the Milwaukee Brewers yesterday by going to the mound of American Family Field in Milwaukee for the ceremonial first pitch. Then "Mr. Baseball" revealed a pitching machine. How many politicians wish they could pull that off? Photo: John Fisher/Getty Images Uecker joked that whenever he eventually retires, he wants to go out with a farewell bobblehead, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports: It's going to be a box. The top will open. I will get up and do my: "Get up, get up, get out of here." Then I go back down, close the cover and that's it. That's the way I want to go. I told [principal owner] Mark [Attanasio], they can bring me back every five years, take me around the warning track and then take me back to the same spot.     A message from Bank of America In pursuit of a healthier world     "A single company can contribute to a net-zero world, but when an entire industry comes together, capitalism has the power to effect global change," says Bank of America Vice Chairman Anne Finucane. See how Bank of America is answering the call to action.   📬 Invite your friends to sign up for Axios AM and Axios PM. Like this email style and format? Learn more about Axios HQ. It'll help you deliver employee communications more effectively.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Suite 1300, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. 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