On June 11, 2020 we released a series of commitments to build a better, more equitable Fohr.
We’re committed as leaders in the influencer industry to be at the forefront of how these programs are structured and working towards larger changes to Fohr and the industry at large.
Many of our commitments had a June 30 deadline, and as such we are providing a public update to our community on the status of our progress in those respective areas. The next update will be published September 30th, marking the end of Q3 2020. We invite you to read further about the next steps we are taking as a company.
Commitments
Fohr will immediately remove the countdown clock and % filled from the offer pages of our Campaign and Self-Serve tools to remove the feeling of inability to negotiate. Fohr will rethink and re-train the team on on-boarding and negotiation practices and institute any changes by June 30th.
Status
Fohr has removed the countdowns on all campaign offers for % filled and acceptance time. Fohr has updated our outreach process to ensure all approached individuals have clear context around response timeliness and there is no risk of a campaign filling before the communicated deadline. Fohr is continuing to explore potential modifications to our process in an effort to make the experience straightforward for our potential influencer partners.
Commitment
Fohr will institute optional end of campaign surveys on sentiment and experience with working with Fohr including payout data.
Status
Complete. All contracted influencers will receive an optional survey upon completion of every campaign moving forward. Fohr will use end of campaign surveys to solicit and consolidate regular direct feedback from our influencer partners to continue to improve our campaign management.
Commitment
Fohr will re-look at our calculation method for offers and institute any adjustments by June 30th.
Status
Fohr has completed a review of pre-sale payout projections and campaign offer calculations. The ten factors that can impact payout CPM are usage rights, exclusivity, product value / desirability, category sensitivity, expertise / demand, content production requirements, volume of deliverables, brand priorities, prior performance and speed/timeline. More information on these can be found on our Town Hall recording.
As the result of our review, Fohr has instituted additional calculation criteria for our baseline offers. Fohr will continue to adjust offer calculations on a campaign by campaign basis and as the market continues to develop. In addition, Fohr made a commitment in May to move away from one-post campaigns to ensure offers are strategically and economically appealing for both brands and influencers.
The factors listed prevent us and companies like us from achieving complete market rate standardization. We recognize there is absolutely room for potential bias when reviewing and recommending talent. However, regular internal reviews and committed transparency to our clients and community will hold us accountable to ensuring race is never a factor when determining pricing. We hope to see similar transparency from others in the industry.
Commitments
Fohr to complete a full audit on payout CPMs broken down by race and supplied to all current Campaign clients. A quarterly payout report will be made available to all Fohr influencers. Internal reporting and review of race breakdown and payout CPMs for all campaigns moving forward.
Status
Fohr has supplied all active campaign clients with a full breakdown of payouts and participants by race. Fohr has committed to sharing this information with all campaign clients moving forward on a quarterly basis. We will publish the next payout report to Fohr influencers on our blog, in tandem with our next client reporting on September 30th, marking the end of Q3 2020.
Commitment
There will be transparency at the offer stage for influencers on the minimum percentage of self-identified non White participants and additional diversity breakdown information.
Status
Fohr has introduced contracted diversity and inclusion minimums into client campaign contracts for all campaigns moving forward. This will allow the Fohr team to be transparent at the offer stage regarding the minimum percentage of non-White participants and any additional applicable diversity and inclusion information. Fohr’s default recommendation will be 20% People of Color / 30% Black influencers. In the event these minimums are increased or decreased, that information will be available to influencers at the time of being presented an offer.
Commitment
Minimum 20% of all submitted influencer lists on managed campaigns will be people we have never worked with before.
Status
Our community is growing at a rate of approximately 2,500-3,000 influencers per month, and our campaign management team is currently ten people. Our team has often recommended individuals who have been high performing, and proven as strong partners on previous campaigns, which we recognize introduces potential bias. We have built internal systems to ensure that with each list we submit to a client, we are pulling in minimum 20% new influencers we have never worked with before.
Commitment
Fohr to institute upfront and transparent diversity minimums to all managed campaign clients. This will include minimum percentages of diverse participants and will be incorporated into the contracts. Fohr to commit to submitting 20% POC and 30% Black; meaning 50% BIPOC.
Status
Before the start of a campaign Fohr will align with the client on diversity and inclusion minimums. Fohr has instituted a default minimum of 30% Black and 20% POC. In the event these minimums are increased or decreased based on campaign nuances, that information will be available to influencers at the time of being presented an offer. These commitments will guide the influencer suggestions and onboarding and all participating influencers in the campaign will be able to see the breakdown commitments before, during or after a campaign they are working on with Fohr for all campaigns moving forward.
Commitment
Fohr will modify the Bulletin terms of service by June 30th to include more strict parameters around who the offers are going out to. We will limit each Bulletin to a smaller group of individuals.
Status
Bulletin is one of approx. 15 tools available in Fohr self-serve subscriptions. The goal of Bulletin was to create an opt-in section of the site to give influencers the option of raising their hand for any brands or opportunities that they found interesting, or to identify influencers based on criteria that may not be available on their profile (for example, a brand once used Bulletin to identify people who were former Girl Scouts). Some Bulletins are for paid opportunities, some for information gathering, and some are for gifting opportunities, these can originate from Fohr our hundreds of subscription clients. Fohr has made both product and internal practice changes to Bulletin to ensure a more tailored and transparent process for influencers on the platform. These changes include:
Fohr has also published language on the main Bulletin Dashboard to clearly outline the tool's functions, expectations and context on the casual nature of the tool.
Commitments
Public policy published on Fohr’s website by June 30th. The policy will outline what Fohr deems to be unacceptable behavior. Influencers who are brought to our attention who violate this policy will be permanently removed from the platform and not be able to receive offers from the Fohr team or subscribing clients.
Status
Complete and available at the bottom of the about page here. Fohr has implemented a policy to investigate and potentially remove influencers on the platform who are exhibiting what we deem to be unacceptable behavior. These influencers will no longer be discoverable to our self-serve clients and we will not work with them on our managed campaigns.
Commitment
We will ensure Black employees have a career path at Fohr for internal promotion, regular growth driven reviews, training opportunities, and direct open-door access to the leadership and executive teams.
Status
Fohr has always promoted from within where possible and our employees have bi-weekly one-on-ones with their direct managers and annual performance reviews. In addition, we have hired a third party HR consultant who will be a resource for any employee who has a concern they want investigated independently from outside the business.
Commitment
Advisory board of Black industry professionals engaged in paid contracts. Final board members locked by June 30.
Status
Today we announced a board of four Black industry professionals who will be meeting with the Fohr executive team once a month. James, our CEO, will be presenting to the board a number of things each month including but not limited to: monthly race payout and CPM breakdowns, updates on our current and future commitments, pipeline diversity for our open positions. In addition, the board will act as collaborators and advisors as we explore the many ways to make Fohr and the influencer industry more fair and equitable. This is a paid position for the board members.
Commitment
Lifting our Covid-19 hiring freeze to bring on a Senior Community Manager in a leadership position by August 30. Full job posting on Fohr site by June 30th.
Status
As of today this job post is live and we are accepting applications. We had committed to hire by August 30th, which remains our goal. We are working quickly to hire, but want to make sure we find the right person for this important role to ensure its long term success. If we do not meet our August 30th goal we will be transparent in our end of Q3 update. This will be the first new position we hire for in 2020.
Commitment
Fohr will partner with third party organizations to ensure we have a diverse pipeline of potential candidates.
Status
We recognize that Fohr isn’t as diverse and inclusive as it should or could be and ensuring a diverse applicant pipeline is integral to improving that. We have requested proposals from recruitment firms that specialize in diversity and inclusion.
Commitment
Fohr made the commitment to our employees in early June that they will receive supplemental mandatory training from a consulting Professor who is a specialist in race and relations in America over the course of multiple weeks.
Status
Through interactive training and workshops that are relevant and engaging, our diversity training, led by Dr. John Daves will enable employees to understand how concepts such as cultural competency, unconscious bias, civility and workplace sensitivity apply in real world situations within our industry. Dr. Daves will be meeting with the Fohr team as a whole, as well as in smaller team groups to deliver targeted training. Our first session commences on Tuesday July 7th and will continue through to July 24th.
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