For several weeks, the first influencer “school” has been offering its courses online. A formula that seems to seduce, but what is it really? Between the dream of a golden life and the scam, the line seems fine.
Dancing models, flowing champagne, yachts, heavenly beaches… Put together, who could imagine that this is a promotional clip for a… school? But not just any : Ambaza, the first school for influencers. “Becoming an influencer is no longer an unattainable dream. Ambaza is the first school of French influencers. The goal for each student is toget 20,000 Instagram followers and generate more than 5000 euros per month. The training costs 1200 euros, but it will be fully funded for the first 15 candidates“, announced the explanatory video on July 11. If some were convinced, the controversy has escalated on social networks.
Indeed, some are crying scam and do not hesitate to shoot down this new concept. Attacked, the founders of the school of influencers tried to defend themselves and deny all charges regarding a potential scam.
Why Ambaza is at the heart of the controversy?
The scandal first started from an observation: the website of the “first school of French influencers” is strange. It is noted that professors will give courses, but no name is mentioned“We collaborate with different companies, with professors in digital marketing, influence marketing, quality. But we don’t want to name them to avoid them being singled out during this controversy.“, explained Nicolas Brzustowski and Rémy Halgrain to the Figaro Student. In addition, the training has “only two months“defend the employees.
In addition to a strange site, another point caught the attention of Internet users and journalists: the two men do not have Instagram accounts, (the height for influencer professionals) and their Facebook account has only 3 subscribers and no publications. To which they replied: “We don’t have an Instagram account. We wanted the accounts to be managed seriously. We preferred to arrive with real content. We wanted to do things in order.“.
A school that promises 5000 euros per month… Without a diploma
The training offered by Nicolas Brzustowski and Rémy Halgrain does not guarantee any diploma, since “influencer is not recognized as a profession“. However, Rémy Halgrain wanted to be reassuring with our colleagues: “In France, the equivalent would be a digital marketing certification” and to add that there is no need to mention this training on his CV, “since the goal for people to take this training is to become independent”.
In a press release sent to aufeminin, the school explains that the medium of influence is booming and becoming “a very important economic sector”. “According to the Influencer Marketing Hub, the influencer marketing market is expected to reach $15 billion this year. Nano-influencers dominate the influencer marketing market on Instagram and TikTok, according to research by HypeAudito“, details the press release. Today, there are 500,000 influencersjust on Instagram… Something to make the new generation dream.
Suspicions and student testimonies
Since the start of the controversy, the two founders have struggled to understand where the shoe pinches: “There’s been a lot of defamation. People have spoken fairly crudely even though we have a good satisfaction rate“Only, when you go to the Ambaza site, the testimonies of rave and hopeful students have disappeared. For all these reasons, vigilance is still required regarding this school.
As a social journalist, I work on all subjects related to feminism, news items and the fight against discrimination. Equally affected by the crises that follow…