Dr Sam: My man Dr Uche was firing shots all over social media this last few weeks. What ruffled his usually serene feathers? ‘Co-opting’ is the word of the day and I’m probably not the only one looking forward to hearing more about his allegations of innovatory plagiarism.
It looks like more ‘truth bombs’ are coming with one target being ‘KOL culture’.
I take a more pragmatic view. By the very nature of being involved in private medicine, all of us in Aesthetics are entrepreneurial in nature so we should understand some elements of capitalism. The current model has the manufacturers at the top who need to sell products. They do this by choosing a marketing strategy. For some, this strategy involves elevating charismatic practitioners to celebrity status and calling them KOLs. It’s a marketing tool and it works for them as long as the KOL doesn’t go full Kanye.
If ‘grassroots’ practitioners choose to reject ‘KOL culture’ in force, then savvy manufacturers will choose alternative marketing systems that appeal to them. Those companies which fill the gap may go on to dominate and maybe we’ll see a more ‘Conscious Capitalism’*
* (a term I’ve co-opted from John Mackey – founder of Whole Foods)
Twitter @aljafari
Insta @drsam.aesthetics
3 Responses
Love this take; we need to figure how to innovate whilst still running businesses as entrepreneurs, but without “selling out” for the big bucks.
I prefer KIS?? (“Key” Industry speakers/mouthpieces) and just highlights those willing to talk the talk. Don’t doubt they have skills, but so do the rest of us who will continue walking the walk…
Entirely agree Emma – the nomenclature is wrong