How Siren Blasters’ creator campaign shows the strengths and weaknesses of influencer marketing

“I was kind of underwhelmed with what was going on in the blaster space, and had a very strong belief that we could do much better, at better prices and better quality than what was being offered to consumers around the world,” said Frank Landi, the president of Siren Blasters parent company NSI International, which also owns other toy brands such as the laser tag brand Laser X.

Siren’s line of foam dart blasters was designed by longtime hobbyist and engineer Adam “Banned Blasters” Gelder. It shoots faster and farther than any other off-the-shelf line of blasters, though hobby-designed 3D printed blasters have been capable of similar performance for years.

Cutting both ways

In their reviews of Siren products, foam blaster influencers such as YouTuber WalcomS7 have commended the brand for making high-powered foam flinging more accessible to regular consumers. This praise has convinced some hobbyists to open their wallets. Although Landi declined to share specific sales figures, he told Digiday that Siren had been forced to close its presale window weeks early “when we saw that we were going to get far more orders than we were prepared to be able to fulfill.” 

But Siren’s in-depth influencer marketing campaign has also alienated some observers. In addition to paying prominent foam-flinging influencers to review its products, the company edited the creators’ content to create targeted programmatic video ads for platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

For some hobbyists, Siren’s programmatic ads, in particular, have put an uncomfortable spotlight on the paid relationships between the brand and its reviewers. Although paid reviews have been commonplace among foam-flinging YouTubers for years, many of their fans have remained unaware of these oft-undisclosed agreements. Seeing their favorite creators show up inside an official Siren ad, however, has made it impossible for hobbyists to ignore the potential conflict of interest.

“From the discussions I have seen, it’s hurting them,” said Matt “KT” Payne, the producer of the popular community podcast and news show Foam News Collective. “There’s two ends of the spectrum: the younger contingent of the hobby, who tend to be a little more reactionary, and the older, more experienced part of the hobby. I’m seeing people across the spectrum having concerns about it, and I think it has to do with a bit of a paradigm shift in the way our hobby relates to creators.”

Siren is confident in its approach to influencer marketing, which has included both dedicated foam flinging YouTubers and more family-oriented lifestyle creators. Since core hobbyists still represent a relatively small slice of the overall market for foam dart blasters, Siren’s programmatic advertising campaign allows the brand to reach a much wider audience.

“I don’t think any of them said anything that they wouldn’t have said anyway, but you can’t really ask people to cut something or do something without paying them; it’s just not fair,” Landi said. “And if you’re using it for paid media, you’ve just got to pay.”

Blasting forward

In spite of potential pushback from some corners, Siren Blasters is continuing its push into the foam dart market, emboldened by the success of this year’s presale. Siren products are already available online via Target and Walmart, as well as on physical shelves at Tractor Supply Company stores, with plans to expand into more brick-and-mortar locations in 2025, per Landi. 

Siren is already working on its next product launch. Landi told Digiday that the company plans to release a line of lower-powered blasters intended for children, which “will have similar performance increases over their competitors.” Whether it sticks with its current campaign or tweaks its approach to influencer marketing, Siren plans to be a regular presence within the hobby for years to come.

“We’re not in the baby boom anymore. People have one kid, if that; they don’t have four. So it kind of becomes an issue for the toy industry that their sales are going in the toilet because there’s no kids, and there’s no one to sell to,” said Christopher Miller, a veteran blaster designer who has worked for several major manufacturers, including Hasbro and Crosman. “The place to make money, and to target things now, is the kid-adult, someone with money to afford. You need to offer a 14-and-up product that’s a toy, but not really a toy — and has enough performance to make people go, ‘wow, that’s cool.’”