Cashed-up Instakids are in demand as brands catch onto their influence

STAGE mums once jostled to get their little tikes onto our TV screens, but now they’re after a different kind of fame. It’s surprisingly lucrative.

MOVE over, Suri Cruise, there’s a new breed of mini mogul in town.

Kids’ fashion has exploded on Instagram, and everyday babies and toddlers are the stars of the show.

While stage mums once jostled to get their little ones onto television screens, today’s parents are falling over themselves to secure a coveted brand ambassadorship — with some raking in hundreds of dollars for each post on Instagram.

And some are receiving more offers than they can handle from business owners eager for social media endorsement that experts say is worth more than any slick advertising campaign.

Brisbane bub Piper Sienna has been brand repping for most of her 18-month life, and with 17,000 Instagram followers she’s in such high demand that she not only receives piles of free designer clothing, but cold hard cash.

Although it’s nowhere near the level of PR queen Roxy Jacenko’s daughter Pixie — who charges up to $600 a post — Piper is now the centre of a commercial operation.

Piper Sienna has 17,000 followers on Instagram.

What began as a hobby for mum Kerry Seymour, has now blossomed into a business that allows her to stay at home and play with her daughter.

“It just sort of evolved,” the former marketing professional told news.com.au.

“On Instagram, everyone wants to be a brand rep, and the labels post competitions (where you can win the right to spruik their clothing on the social media website). We don’t do that, though — all of my work comes to me.”

Mrs Seymour said she preferred not to have the rates she charges published, but that kids with bigger followings were known to charge $250 a post.

“It’s a very touchy subject so it’s kept very secretive,” she said.

Aside from cash, the perks for these mums include free and discounted clothes and even holidays, with Mrs Seymour just home from a free blogging trip to Melbourne.

Baby Instagram stars inhabit a fraught space that treads a delicate line between commerciality and homegrown authenticity.

Sydney’s Millie-Belle Diamond, also known as MBD, is the same age as Piper but has 10 times as many Instagram followers — at 141,000, she’s more popular than Hillary Clinton.

Her wardrobe includes Burberry jackets, Fendi shoes, personalised diamond bracelets and a Louis Vuitton handbag, including gifts from designers and boutique owners wanting a plug on her feed.

But while she told her local newspaper that mini Mercedes-driving Millie-Belle was paid as much as $250 per post, mum Schye Fox changed her tune when Marie Claire came calling.

The plastic surgery practice manager told the magazine she did not accept cash — although, in language reminiscent of a celebrity discussing surgical enhancements, she added: “Maybe we’ll revisit it when she’s older.”

Asked for clarification, Mrs Fox said she had been “misrepresented” in the earlier story, but conceded that some money changed hands.

“I said you can earn up to those amounts, as some profiles were,” she told news.com.au.

“We do not earn, nor have I ever said we earn those amounts.”

Mrs Fox moved to distance Millie-Belle from the swathes of lesser-known Instakids — especially those who take on increasingly common brand ambassadorships for small independent labels, which often pay in clothing or vouchers.

“Our Instagram page is a fashion page where people follow Millie for fashion inspiration,” she said.

“We do not brand rep, nor are we brand ambassadors and the clothing Millie wears is either purchased by myself of gifted by friends, family or designers.”

Mrs Fox said she had never bought Instagram followers, a widespread practice that prompted the social media giant to wipe out fake followers from accounts across the globe last year.

“My account stayed the same,” she said.

Melbourne toddler @milliemummymelbourne, not to be confused with MBD, is a brand rep for several boutique kids’ labels.

At the other end of the scale, Melbourne two-year-old Millie has a relatively modest 5273 followers, and mum Natalie Esler says she fell into brand ambassadorship by accident.

Ms Esler, a journalist by trade, started blogging about her escapades while on maternity leave and posting photographs of Millie on Instagram.

Unlike stylised fashion shoots, she captured images of her bubbly, chubby-cheeked daughter “doing stuff that normal kids do”.

Designers responded by sending her piles of clothes and Millie, who has modelled for labels including Pure Baby, ended up with multiple ambassadorships.

“At once stage, we had about six or seven labels at the same time,” Ms Esler said.

Millie is not paid for her Instagram posts but is in high demand from boutique labels like Acorn Kids, Broken Tricycle and Oishi-m.

While some labels had strict requirements about the number of images she must post, Ms Esler said others “just send you the clothes and hope for the best”.

And it seemed to pay off. “I’ve had some brands come to me and say they’ve sold 40 of that particular item after I’ve posted a photo of Millie wearing it,” Ms Esler said.

“We mummy bloggers are quite influential.”

Buckets and Spades boosts its brand with the help of ambassadors like @minor_detales

Melbourne boutique owner Zlata Relin agreed, telling news.com.au “it definitely makes a difference”.

“It’s not just about selling the pieces — it’s about recognising my brand, because we do so many designers so it’s about getting people saying ‘oh yeah, Buckets and Spades will have that’.”

Marketing expert Dr Bruce Perrott, from the University of Technology Sydney, said that Instagram influencers had “great currency” because people connected with images they perceived to be authentic.

“The strongest endorsement you can have is word-of-mouth, especially with baby products,” he said.

“If a mother endorses it, that gives the brand much higher credibility than advertising.”

All in a day’s work: brand repping is a ball for @milliemummymelbourne.

While Instagram ambassadors did not tap into as many potential customers as a mass advertising campaign, he said, the impact was much stronger.

It’s a reality not lost on the big brands, which are so eager to jump on board that specialised “word-of-mouth marketing” agencies have sprung up, promising to connect them with an army of bloggers and Instagrammers.

Contagion Agency promises to “help your brand to reach thousands of highly engaged consumers in a credible online environment”, and counts Woolworths, Berlei, Moccona and several alcohol brands among its clients.

The emphasis on credibility and impartiality may explain the sensitive nature of the payment issue, and mums’ reluctance to be seen as “in it for the money”.

But there’s plenty of cash to go ‘round, with a recent Contagion survey establishing that marketers were more willing than ever to engage social media influencers, with 78 per cent spending $50,000 or more.

Contagion managing director Nick Law told Mumbrella he believed the “cash for comment” furore, which erupted last over Roxy Jacenko’s money-spinning venture with daughter Pixie Curtis, had died down.

Originally published as Cashed-up Instakids are in demand as brands catch onto their influence