Axios Event: Paris Hilton, Marianna Hewitt on how authenticity builds brands

CANNES, France – Authenticity and credibility are vital when it comes to building a business built on influencers, Paris Hilton and Marianna Hewitt said at an Axios event at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Why it matters: Hilton and Hewitt have built their brand and business empires as influencers.

Axios' Sara Fischer and Kerry Flynn spoke with Hilton, 11:11 Media CEO, and Hewitt, Summer Fridays co-founder, at the June 18 event, sponsored by Criteo.

What they're saying: Authenticity goes a long way with fans and consumers.

• "I think everyone loves that I've always stayed true to myself," said Hilton. "People first got to know me through 'The Simple Life' and the character I was playing, which was a lot of fun. And now, after I released my documentary, 'This Is Paris,' on YouTube, that's the first time where they really peeled back the layers and showed that there was much more to me than this character. And now people are connecting with me in an even deeper way."
• "I think influencers really give so much credibility to a product and so you're looking for recommendations from somewhere maybe different than back in the day. … Now I trust a girl that I follow online more," Hewitt said.
• "It really takes a long time to build something that people hopefully around the globe really resonate with," she added.

Yes, but: With great power comes great responsibility.

• "I still work as an influencer, but I get to be really selective now about – OK, if it's a brand I want to work with, if there's really great alignment," said Hewitt.

Worthy of your time: Hilton continues to use her influence for good with her ongoing work to protect children.

• "I've now changed 15 state laws and passed a federal bill to protect children," she said.
• Hilton said releasing her YouTube documentary "just really showed me the power in being vulnerable and being real and talking about things that were difficult."

Content from the sponsored segment:

In a View From the Top conversation, Criteo CMO Brendan McCarthy said AI and search engines bring different user experiences to consumers.

• "You're not going to then start deciding, I'm only going to ask this question to a GPT, and I'm going to only ask this question to search," said McCarthy. "The point is, you've got to have a more of a commerce experience across all the different platforms. And the key to that is getting the right data in there."