Creator and influencer trends brand marketers need to know about right now

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. Have tips or news to share about influencer marketing and the creator economy? Email Gillian Follett at gillian.follett@adage.com. New deals Gopuff, Truly and Poppi and Alix Earle: TikTok It girl Alix Earle’s “Alice in Wonderland”-themed Halloween party in Los Angeles was one of the most viral events of the weekend, thanks to its long list of celebrity and influencer guests—including actress and Béis founder Shay Mitchell; singer-songwriter Ava Max; record label exec Carter Gregory; and influencer Anastasia Karanikolaou—and Earle’s own elaborate Cheshire Cat costume. Several brands capitalized on the bash, including hard seltzer brand Truly; Poppi, a gut health soda brand that has collaborated extensively with Earle; and food delivery company Gopuff, which teamed up with the TikTok star to launch a limited-edition chocolate bar with Cheshire Cat packaging. Earle and Gopuff showed off a massive 400-pound version of the chocolate bar on social media, and dozens of the normal-sized treats hung from decorative trees scattered around the party, Earle told People magazine. @alixearle Party props 👀👏🏻 go get your mini one on @Gopuff use ALIX50 for 50% off your first order #gopuffpartner ♬ original sound - Alix Earle Chanel, Victoria’s Secret and Addison Rae: On the subject of TikTok It girls, Addison Rae, who’s currently in her pop princess era, released the music video for her latest single, “Aquamarine,” on Friday. Rae thanked Chanel, Victoria’s Secret and the Peninsula Hotel, the luxury Paris hotel that served as the backdrop for the music video, in the caption of the YouTube video. Chanel is featured in multiple shots of Rae spritzing the brand’s perfume on her chest while looking at herself in the mirror. The role Victoria’s Secret played in the music video is less clear, though Rae yesterday posted a sponsored TikTok video of her performing choreography from the “Aquamarine” video while wearing a bra and leggings from Pink, Victoria’s Secret’s sibling brand aimed at teens and college-aged women. @addisonre Kissed by CHANEL Nº5, it’s a love affair 🩵 #chanelpartner @chanel.beauty #welovecoco ♬ Aquamarine - Addison Rae Pepsi and Law Roach: Pepsi has been teasing a collaboration with celebrity stylist Law Roach for almost a week. Today, the beverage giant revealed the partnership revolves around a limited-edition fashion collection inspired by Pepsi Wild Cherry. Roach, in a press release, called the capsule collection “an opportunity to merge two worlds [he] know[s] so well—fashion and pop culture.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by pepsi (@pepsi) Lenovo and Gawx Art, Vexx and more: Lenovo kicked off its “Creator Odyssey” campaign, which follows one of its laptops as it changes hands between several content creators over the next month. Mexican creator Gawx Art launched the push on Friday with a teaser for a short film he created using the laptop; the next creator in the chain, Belgian artist Vexx, will soon follow with his piece of art inspired by Gawx Art’s film. Once the project reaches the final creator in the chain, Australian graphic designer Elliot Ulm, Lenovo will release a brand film documenting the laptop’s global journey and the creators’ work. Lenovo teamed up with digital content company Portal A on the marketing effort. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Gawx Art (@gawx_art) Susan G. Komen and Jess Kinsey, Kamry Monet and more: For Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October, Susan G. Komen launched an influencer campaign aimed at young adults across TikTok and Instagram. The breast cancer foundation and creator marketing agency Open Influence had several creators talk with their online audiences about their connection to the disease and share information about breast cancer screenings, genetic testing and other resources available to young women. Susan G. Komen and digital marketing agency Goodway Group will continue to put paid support behind the influencers’ content through the end of the year. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kamry Vance (@kamry.monet) Social media screenshot Instagram rounds up trailblazing creators: Instagram released its annual “Creators of Tomorrow” list, curated in partnership with Teen Vogue, last week. The social platform divided the 25 emerging content creators into five groups, including “vibe curators,” or those who “take [viewers] on a journey and spark emotion,” and “AI accelerators,” who readily incorporate generative AI into their social content. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Instagram’s @Creators (@creators) TikTok pushes live shopping ahead of the holidays: TikTok is urging both brands and creators to embrace livestream shopping on the platform this holiday season with a slew of initiatives focused on live shopping, as well as TikTok Shop more broadly. At an event in New York last week, TikTok Shop executives including Nico le Bourgeois, head of U.S. operations, and Kelsie Johnston, head of beauty and personal care, discussed a new app for TikTok Shop affiliate creators, upcoming events connecting creators and TikTok Shop merchants and other efforts. Snapchat rolls out new features: Snapchat last week shared a blog post detailing several new and updated features on the platform, including the ability to add a Snapchat widget to iPhone lock screens for quick access to the app’s camera. Agency updates NowThis introduces a Gen Z advisory board: Media network NowThis yesterday unveiled a new advisory board composed of six Gen Z professionals ranging from marketers to activists as the company looks to focus its social media content more squarely on Gen Z. NowThis and its recently appointed editor-in-chief, Michael Vito Valentino, will regularly consult with the advisory board on everything from brief social media trends to larger issues impacting Gen Z, according to a press release. NextGen Marketing Summit Join us for a crash course on Gen Z, DTC marketing and the creator economy Register today TikTok of the week @dunkin look behind you ♬ original sound - Dunkin' Dunkin’ is taking a page out of Nutter Butter’s surreal TikTok strategy playbook for a series of social posts centered on its Halloween donut designed to resemble a spider. The brand made its spider donut the star of several bizarre and mildly suggestive videos across TikTok and Instagram over the past week, including one with an ominous voiceover saying “They say you eat 20 spiders in your sleep. Time to get even.” Dunkin’ even slapped the spider donut on a crewneck sweatshirt—which quickly sold out. Read more: How brands are celebrating Halloween Threadspotting Post by @dove View on Threads TikTok’s “in the clurb, we all fam” trend is still going strong on Threads, where Dove shared a tongue-in-cheek spin on the format. Follow us on social media X Bluesky Instagram LinkedIn YouTube

Creator and influencer trends brand marketers need to know about right now

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