英语流利说20190107

Dog influencers are so popular, they need their own talent agency

It's almost noon, and Loni Edwards's client is drooling on the carpet in the lobby.

Edwards is the founder and CEO of The Dog Agency, a New York City-based management agency that caters exclusively to "pet influencers." The popularity of pet accounts on social media has exploded in the last few years--particularly on Instagram, where #dogsofinstagram has more than 124 million posts and the most popular dog account, Jiff the Pomeranian, has more than twice as many followers as Hillary Clinton. Edward's 160 clients also include a few cats and monkeys, though her primary focus is still canines. She advises their "humans" on growth strategies and brand management, and books for paid posts, ad campaigns, and in-person appearances around the country.

"There was no central hub pulling together this new pet influencer space, " she says. "Brands were sending direct messages to hundreds of pets and hearing back from a fraction of them. These humans a lot of times have full-time jobs, they're not checking their dog's email regularly. So there was difinitely a need to kind of pull everything together."

Today, Edwards's portfolio includes both suoerstar influencers-like @tunameltsmyheart, a chihuahua-dachshund mix with 2 million followers-and up-and comers, like Chase, whose account @simetimescarl has a still-impressive 85,000-followers reach. Her clients have worked with plenty of pet supply companies on product placements and ads, but also book gigs with human brands like Dyson, the Ritz Carlton, and Ralph Lauren.

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Key words

drool, v.流口水；垂涎

lobby, n.大厅，前厅

explode, v.激增

canine, n.犬，狗

hub, n.中心

a fraction of, 一小部分

portfolio, 产品服务，产品组合

up-and comer, 有前途的人，后起之秀