Georgia Toffolo’s career as an ‘influencer’ – making thousands of pounds from a single picture or video on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok – is the stuff of fantasy for most people.
‘Toff’, 29, is the envy of many who long to throw in their mundane jobs for a life of easy glamour.
Now her boyfriend James Watt, the 42-year-old founder of the craft beer giant BrewDog, is claiming he can turn ordinary people into influencers too, if they sign up to plug products on his new venture, Social Tip.
But could anyone – even an ordinary person like me – really become the new Toff?
I’ve come to meet the couple to find out.
Georgia Toffolo, 29, with boyfriend James Watt, 42, founder of the craft beer giant BrewDog
They are roosting in a stupendous, Instagram-tastic London apartment, so high above the Thames the skyscrapers in the City look like miniature models. There is an ice bath – part of Watt’s morning routine, he says – on the balcony.
Not that I fancy a freezing dip of a morning, but maybe if I sign up for Social Tip I too could have my own multi-million pound penthouse.
I have to admit, Toff has a head start as an influencer. She’s posh, articulate, beautiful and well-connected: all valuable qualities in the hugely competitive sphere of social influence. The enviable apartment serves as a backdrop for many of her posts, which doesn’t hurt.
Having starred in reality TV hit Made in Chelsea, she was the winner of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2017.
Watt is claiming he can turn ordinary people into influencers if they sign up to plug products on his new venture Social Tip
She has penned an autobiography and four novels and has 1.8 million followers on Instagram. Her posts are sponsored by the likes of fast-fashion group Shein and L’Oreal.
In other words, she is one of a tiny elite band of ‘mega influencers’ who have more than a million social media fans.
Boyfriend Watt is a self-made tycoon, albeit a controversial one. So is his business nous combined with her first-hand experience a recipe for success with Social Tip?
Watt stepped down in May as chief executive of BrewDog, having co-founded the business and built it into one of the UK’s top beer brands, largely by dint of savvy branding. He remains on the board as a non-executive director and adviser.
He positioned BrewDog as a ‘punk’ label, in contrast with the big corporate brewers such as Heineken. That rebellious image began to fray, however, when claims of bullying against him were made by workers.
Still, he emerged with a large fortune estimated at £260million. And his new venture could, if all goes to plan, be a heady cocktail of his branding flair and her status as an uber-influencer.
Watt says he already had the idea for Social Tip when the pair were set up on a blind date a year ago, adding that he has learned from her about the hard work it takes to succeed.
As if to back up his point, Toff, who is smiley and bubbly, spends much of my visit beavering away with her colleagues at a talent agency she set up in 2020.
Breaking off briefly from her work, she says she thought Social Tip was a great idea the moment he mentioned it, adding she wants to contribute.
‘Because if anyone’s going to have a bird’s eye view of this type of business it’s literally me, I have a very unique perspective.’
For those uninitiated into the arcane world of the influencer, though, how will Social Tip actually work?
It is not yet up and running, but the idea is users download the app to their phone and create posts talking about companies and products. If this influences others to buy, then the businesses they plug will pay them a fee.
Social Tip has already linked up with Instagram and Twitter. A tie with Facebook is in the works. Watt says he has signed up around 170 companies including BrewDog, PureGym and bar chain Slug & Lettuce.
The companies will set requirements for what the posts need to include – for example a Wellington bootmaker might insist on photographs being taken of a customer wearing them in a field, the muddier the better.
It’s easy to see the potential appeal of Social Tip for the companies that sign up. They will receive reams of data about their customers and about the type of pictures and videos that appeal to potential purchasers.
Rewards for would-be influencers are harder to pin down.
Toff starred in reality TV hit Made in Chelsea, and was the winner of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2017
For a start, they are likely to earn very little. Payments are determined by a formula based on how many likes, views, and comments each post attracts.
Hopefuls signing up for Social Tip are very unlikely ever to be in Toff’s league, as the most they can make is 10 per cent of the price of the goods they promote.
Social Tip takes a separate cut, which is how it hopes to make money.
So if I posted about a brilliant meal that cost £110, then the maximum I could be paid is £11. It isn’t clear at this point how hard it is to make the maximum, because the criteria remain vague.
But I was left with the impression people would only get the top payout if their picture or video went viral.
Companies are also likely to impose a limit on the number of times ‘influencers’ on Social Tip can post about them each year. (Social Tip’s recommended number is four). That is also likely to act as a brake on money-making potential.
To be fair, Watt is not promising to turn the likes of you and me into the new Toff: he is presenting Social Tip as a platform for grass-roots influencers to talk to their own social circles.
He claims that when people who genuinely love a company’s products tell their friends, this has a bigger impact than mega-influencers like Toff. Authenticity, he says, is key.
Hold on though – is he saying Toff, his own girlfriend, is inauthentic? He seems to have come dangerously close.
‘When I talk about the decline of [mega] influencers all day I sort of say…. sorry babe, I’ll make dinner tonight,’ he says ruefully.
Watt says he already had the idea for Social Tip when he was set up on a blind date with Toff a year ago
Toff is not offended. Watt’s criticisms, she says, are aimed at other big league influencers who peddle all sorts of products indiscriminately, not her.
‘I’m proud of the fact that I’ve got quite good integrity with my public social media accounts, I’ve never worked with brands I don’t use.’ Watt does not consider his past woes at BrewDog as a barrier to success with Social Tip.
The entrepreneur, who has been diagnosed as autistic and has ADHD, has publicly apologised over allegations of a culture of bullying at BrewDog.
He has also faced accusations of inappropriate behaviour that made female colleagues uncomfortable. In response, he said he ‘truly apologised’ to anybody he made feel uncomfortable but denied any ‘inappropriate’ behaviour’.
‘A lot of issues were blown out of proportion. Were we perfect? No. Is there any employer in the UK that is perfect? No. I don’t think so.’
BrewDog now is worth an estimated £1.6billion. Watt says he is not trying to recreate its success.
The costs of setting up Social Tip have been small, by his standards – he has put in £1million of his own money and raised more via crowdfunding.
‘There’s only going to be one BrewDog.’
My verdict: The person most likely to make money from Social Tip is probably Watt himself.
As one half of a power couple with Toff, he stands to do nicely, as do the companies which sign up.
But the chances of you or me making millions as an influencer, whether through Social Tip or any other means, are remote.
My advice to wannabe Toffs out there is simple: don’t give up the day job.
