Dunkin's Super Bowl collab with Druski, Ulta's New Orleans activation hosted by Chanen Johnson and Poppi’s influencer-led Super Bowl ad are some of this week’s creator economy headlines.
Welcome to Ad Age’s influencer marketing news roundup. Each week, we’ll be highlighting the latest developments at the intersection between brands and the creator economy, including new partnerships between brands and creators, notable new features across social media platforms and the growth of creator-led businesses. Sign up for our influencer marketing newsletter here.
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Dunkin’ and Druski: Dunkin’ cast Drew “Druski” Desbordes, a comedian, actor and content creator, in its Super Bowl commercial alongside Ben and Casey Affleck, Jeremy Strong and others. While Druski’s role in Dunkin’s in-game spot was fairly minor, he’s the focus of a follow-up video Dunkin’ shared across social media yesterday that revolves around the comedian mimicking Affleck’s Boston accent while donning his “DunKings” tracksuit jacket.
Perplexity and AJ Dillon, Dale Moss, Xandra Pohl, Hallie Batchelder and more: AI search engine Perplexity nearly aired a Super Bowl ad this year, its chief business officer, Dmitry Shevelenko, told Ad Age reporter Asa Hiken. Instead, the AI startup zeroed in on social media for its Big Game marketing campaign. Perplexity partnered with roughly 20 influencers and current and former athletes—including influencers Xandra Pohl and Hallie Batchelder, Green Bay Packers running back AJ Dillon and former NFL wide receiver Dale Moss—on social content shot in a Perplexity-branded Cybertruck.
T-Mobile and the “T-Mobile Starlink Launch Crew”: Like Dunkin’, T-Mobile expanded its Super Bowl spot beyond TV screens with made-for-social content featuring creators. After airing its commercial promoting its new satellite-powered service in partnership with Starlink (a subsidiary of Elon Musk’s company SpaceX), T-Mobile shared a handful of social videos starring the company’s “Starlink Launch Crew,” which includes tech creator Ian Bellinger, homesteader Emmie Sperandeo and travel creators Dean Michael Bell and Quin Gable.
The group, led by YouTuber and former NASA engineer Mark Rober, will be capturing content as they put T-Mobile’s new Starlink satellite service to the test in remote areas.
Ulta Beauty and Chanen and Juwan Johnson: Ulta is one of a slew of brands that took their Super Bowl influencer collaborations offline this year by activating on the ground in New Orleans. The beauty retailer partnered with media company Gallery Media Group and potato chip brand Zapp’s on a pop-up event called “For The W” that celebrated WAGs (the wives and girlfriends of pro athletes) and other women in the sports world. One such WAG—Chanen Johnson, wife of New Orleans Saints tight end Juwan Johnson—hosted the event, which counted dozens of influencers among its attendees.
Ulta also partnered with SZA, who joined Kendrick Lamar onstage for part of the halftime show, and her makeup artist Deanna Paley to turn SZA’s pre-show makeup routine into social content.
Verizon and Tinieke “Tini” Younger, Kristin Juszczyk, Miles Franklin and more: Verizon also brought influencers and creators to the Super Bowl this year rather than solely collaborating with them on social media. The telecom company hosted a four-day experiential activation called the “House of Verizon” that highlighted several creators, including chef and creator Tini Younger, designer and entrepreneur Kristin Juszczyk and Rhuigi Villaseñor, founder and designer of the luxury streetwear brand Rhude. Rappers Doechii, T-Pain and Jermaine Dupri also teamed up with Verizon to perform at the space on Saturday night.
Beyond the “House of Verizon” itself, the company recruited several tech creators—including Jenna Ezarik and Miles Franklin—to give their viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the Verizon tech powering the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, where the Super Bowl took place.
Abercrombie & Fitch and Allison Kuch, Taylor Rooks, Kit Keenan, Fred Warner and more: Abercrombie similarly hosted influencers, athletes and other celebrities at its “Abercrombie House” in New Orleans ahead of the Super Bowl, including Allison Kuch (wife of former NFL defensive end Isaac Rochell); sports journalist and broadcaster Taylor Rooks; influencer Kit Keenan; and Fred Warner, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Frederico Warner, among dozens of others.
YouTube and Snapchat bring creators to the Super Bowl: Both YouTube and Snapchat also flew groups of creators to New Orleans to capture Super Bowl content on the ground. Snapchat kicked off a creator program in partnership with the NFL last week, announcing Katie Austin, Ross Smith, Jack Mancuso, and Treasure Wilson as some of the program’s inaugural creators. YouTube, which has been partnering with the NFL on creator initiatives for several years, brought Monet McMichael, Carter Kench and husband and wife Desmond and Kristy Scott to the Big Game, along with several other creators.
Influencers Alix Earle, Jake Shane and Robert Rausch played leading roles in Poppi’s second Super Bowl commercial, marking the first time a Big Game ad featured influencer talent without also having Hollywood celebrities star alongside them. Each of the three influencers posted extensively about appearing in their first Super Bowl ad with a combination of Poppi-sponsored posts teasing the commercial ahead of the Big Game and organic content (like Earle’s video above) of them excitedly watching the ad premiere on Sunday night.
Despite all the advances in the influencer marketing industry, many brands and creators still don’t see eye-to-eye on pay rates for sponsored content. Wellness and travel creator Amanda Nelson used the Super Bowl to kick off a conversation on Threads about some of the brands that shelled out $7 million for 30 seconds of screentime during the game pushing back against creators’ rates.
