Universities are offering "Influencer" courses

For the academic year 2019/2020, the the Department of Communication Sciences of the Milan-based e-campus university has launched the first course to become Influencer in Italy.

The stated aim of the course is:

"To train the professional figure of the influencer, a character that thanks to the trust of its public plays the role of "ambassador" of himself and of the brands who represents. [...] In this context it becomes essential to present yourself to the market with adequate academic training "

The fact that a university offers a course with the declared objective of forming influencers offers a further starting point for debate on the institutionalization of influencer marketing, the theme of nss first digital cover. Being an influencer is not anymore a social status symbol, but the youngsters are starting to look at it more like a real professional path, supported by triumphant data supports the sector (is expected to grow at 10 billion euros by 2020).
The debate can be shifted on how it is possible to build an influencer from scratch regardless of the content and the message, often coming to paradoxical cases such as the influencer with more than two and a half million followers who cannot sell 36 shirts.

And watching the e-campus influencer course does not seem to have a particularly original formula: it lasts 3 years, with basic courses in communication, psychology and sociology plus thematic workshops and internships. The university doesn't disclose the cost, but it could range between 2500 and 5000 euros for each year.
The curriculum looks more or less like a regular marketing course with semiotics and fashion classes, and the impression is that even private universities are somehow riding the wave and the charm that the smoky word influencers - whose definition is yet to be written - arouses among young people and in public opinion.

E-campus is not the only university offering an influencer course. In Milan and Rome the Accademia del Lusso will begin the "Fashion & Luxury Influencer" course, divided into three types: the first Standard introduces to the Influencer profession and the management of social networks, the second Advanced approach trend research, while the last Gold add modules of traditional and digital marketing, e-commerce and communication for the Fashion & Luxury sectors.

Accademia del Lusso specialization course lasts from 6 to 14 months with an average cost of 10000€ based on attendance, with the aim of training people capable of understanding the dynamics of consumption but also developing skills for image consulting to fashion brands.

In November 2019 the specialization course in Influencer Marketing will start at the IED this year, with a cost of € 950 and the mission to teach the skills to become influencers in the first person but also the means of understanding to plan projects related to the involvement of these FIGS.

At the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, a course focused on the profession of influencers within the faculty of economics was born last year. The programs of these universities are almost always aimed exclusively at fashion, which confirms what is the industry that, more than any other, uses these personalities, which thanks to training could enter in the future in sectors where they do not yet have application. In Italy, the trend is involving the telematic and private universities but could reach state universities with the contradiction that for now in Italy the figure of the influencer is not regulated.