---
id: "quote-statues-in-museums"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ Connectedness: From Metrics to Mutuality"]
tags: ["engagement", "metrics"]
related: ["concept-connectedness", "entity-sugarbearhair"]
speaker: "Agency executive"
speakers: ["Agency executive"]
quote: "There's a real danger in treating influencers as statues to be admired—statues end up in museums."
sources: ["attention"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-attention"
originDay: 4
articleStem: "hbr-foci-65-influencer-marketing-trust"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/12/how-to-do-influencer-marketing-that-customers-actually-trust"
sourceTitle: "How to Do Influencer Marketing That Customers Actually Trust"
---
# Influencers as Statues

> "There's a real danger in treating influencers as statues to be admired—statues end up in museums."
> — *Agency executive*

Highlights the danger of treating influencers purely as **broadcast mechanisms / billboards** rather than community builders. Directly reinforces [[concept-connectedness|Connectedness]] (mutuality over metrics) and diagnoses failures like [[entity-sugarbearhair|SugarBearHair]] × [[entity-kylie-jenner|Kylie Jenner]].