Influencers Within Cuba, Trends and Technology

Social networks have a large impact on today’s society. They define trends, lifestyles, influence politics and are even capable of changing the course of presidential elections. Cuba arrived late to this phenomenon. It was not until 2013 that Cubans began having private access to the internet with the launch of the first navigation rooms,[1] and later in June 2015 with public areas of access through Wi-Fi networks.[2] Then, in December 2018, the island implemented internet access through mobile data networks, and the number of users increased to more than 7 million.[3]

Within this figure stand out people who, from a status of popularity, have taken to social networks as a platform to promote their personal brand. That’s how Cuban influencers emerged, a guild that is in full swing on the island.

Inside the island

To understand this phenomenon, we must first define what an “influencer” is globally. Influencers are people with communication skills capable of generating changes of thought and setting trends or styles within a public that follows and interacts with them.

The Cuban reality is not far from the rest of the world in general. With the rise of self-employment, small businesses have used influencer marketing to sell their brands on social networks. Examples such as Bajanda, a taxi application that operates in the city of Havana, and All In Jerseys, a sportswear store with a market focused on the island, are committed to collaborating with online influencers to carry out their advertising campaigns.

These brands market their publications through the profiles of popular influencers with the most followers who access social networks from Cuba, who in turn have the audience the brands are pursuing to sell their products and services.

The posts and content present the brand through clothing or actions related to the product in question, in a way that attracts potential customers in an indirect and natural way.

People who engage in this activity on social networks inside Cuba could be divided into two groups: those who had already reached certain popular status such as artists, athletes and models, and young people who, after the island opened to the internet, have taken advantage of this technology to assume the role of influencer thanks to their charisma and other traits related to physical beauty and fashion.

Among the most popular of the second group is the youtuber Pedrito el Paketero with almost two hundred thousand followers, followed by Frank Camallerys who has more than one hundred thousand followers on YouTube and has a presence on Twitter and Instagram. Others such as Anita con Swing, Dinastars, and Miloh from Cuba also amass thousands of followers and use YouTube and Instagram as their main platforms, as well as the microblogging social network Twitter, to maintain closer contact with their followers.

The content that they typically publish corresponds to video blogs (vlogs) mostly dedicated to reflecting the Cuban reality, as is the case of Anita con Swing, Pedrito el Paketero, and Camallerys who make their videos based on personal experiences and trips to places of interest within the island, providing their followers with opinions and recommendations on the sites they visit. On the other hand, Dinastars and Miloh make entertainment content, beauty tutorials, and viral challenges on YouTube, while filling Instagram with photographs and stories related to fashion and collaborations with Cuban brands.

There are other influencers on the island whose content is focused on more specific audience segments, such as Erich García Cruz, a youtuber and technology entrepreneur with his Bachecubano channel, and Daguito Valdés, presenter of a sports analysis channel named Yo Hablo Football. In these cases, they also collaborate with brands and businesses related to the content they share and the public that follows them.

The challenges and difficulties

The monetization of content, a form of payment usually used to receive profits for their activity on social networks, is perhaps the biggest problem that influencers face in Cuba. Due to the restrictions imposed by the Embargo and other US-imposed economic sanctions on the island, Cuban content creators are unable to obtain profits through the platforms in which they operate. Therefore, they must seek alternative collection sources such as representatives that can manage their accounts from abroad and collect their earnings on their behalf.

Another largely used alternative is direct publicity, in which they make use of a brand (or mention of it) in their publications and obtain direct payments. Although it is the fastest way to receive profits, it barely covers the production costs necessary to generate the content and this is because the characteristics of the Cuban market do not allow brands to maintain marketing budgets. Small businesses, especially new digital startups, are often forced to pay little or nothing for influencer marketing.

Future vision

With the arrival at the White House of Joe Biden, the new president of the United States, the hopes of a rapprochement between the two nations are in the sights of Cuban influencers. The resumption of the thaw started by the former administration of President Barack Obama and the Cuban government in December 2017 would benefit them significantly since companies that today see their business opportunities in Cuba affected could use the work of influencers to reach their market inside the island. In the same way, Cuban enterprises and future small and medium-sized companies could reach their followers abroad.

The future of this sector will also depend on how much more Cuba opens to the world and whether there is a change in policies that sanction it technologically and economically. Meanwhile, even when the difficulties are plentiful, more and more young people dare to start this career in social networks, some with more luck than others, but always displaying the capacity for adaptation and entrepreneurship that distinguishes them as Cubans.

Kmilo Noa is a writer and enthusiast about technology and social management. He resides in Holguín, Cuba. Find him on twitter @noakmilo

Illustration by Wimar Verdecia Fuentes. Find him on twitter @FuentesWimar

[1] Navigation rooms in Cuba ready for Internet access (Cubadebate, 2013)

[2] Wi-Fi in the environment (Juventud Rebelde, 2015)

[3] Global Digital Report 2020: Cuba for the first time above the world average of internet penetration (Cubadebate, 2020)