Welch’s ongoing partnership with Big Justice and the Rizzler, Kay Jewelers’ Mariah Carey sponsorship and the launch of the Black Influencer Weekend conference 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.
Have tips or news to share about influencer marketing and the creator economy? Email Gillian Follett at [email protected].
Kay Jewelers and Mariah Carey: Each year, when the clock rolls over from Halloween to Nov. 1, Carey rings in the unofficial start of the holiday season with an extravagant video set to her song “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” It’s become something of an annual ritual in internet culture, with netizens eagerly waiting to see how Carey will outdo the previous year’s video. This year, Carey broke with tradition by incorporating a brand partner, Kay Jewelers, into her holiday season announcement video for the first time. The video, which has garnered nearly 95 million views across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube since Friday, includes several close-up shots of Carey wearing Kay jewelry.
Charlotte Tilbury and Amelia Dimoldenberg, Leah Halton, Kameron Saunders and more: Carey wasn’t the only one getting into the holiday spirit last week. Beauty brand Charlotte Tilbury teased its upcoming “beauty show” holiday campaign featuring a star-studded lineup of influencers and celebrities such as models Kate Moss and Jourdan Dunn; Kameron Saunders, one of the backup dancers on Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour”; and content creators including Amelia Dimoldenberg and Leah Halton. Dimoldenberg will also host the beauty show.
Gap and Hana Effron, Liamani, Paige Fish and more: Gap, too, unveiled a creator-led holiday campaign. The video at the center of the holiday marketing push, which Gap posted last Friday, stars several young musical artists—including 19-year-old singer Hana Effron, 18-year-old singer-songwriter Paige Fish and 16-year-old singer and actress Liamani—gathered around a couch and singing Janet Jackson’s “Together Again.” Gap’s holiday collection also includes the fleece hoodie it designed with creator Julia Huynh and released last month.
Welch’s, A.J. and Big Justice and The Rizzler: Many people were introduced to father-son duo A.J. and Big Justice (also known on TikTok as “the Costco Guys”) and fellow TikTok star “the Rizzler” when the trio appeared on “The Tonight Show” last week. Welch’s, however, has been working with the group for more than a month, inviting the three TikTokers to tour one of its factories in late September after the Rizzler ranked Welch’s fruit snacks as one of his top five snacks. The collaboration continued earlier this week with a sponsored video of them reviewing Welch’s yogurt fruit snacks on the “boom” meter that A.J. and Big Justice originally developed to rate items sold at Costco.
Macy’s and Charli D’Amelio: A few influencers are joining the lineup of performers in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this year. D’Amelio, who rose to TikTok fame in 2020 with a slew of dance videos, will perform alongside ballet dancers Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia, Macy’s announced. Ariana Madix, who garnered a large online following (and a plethora of brand deals) after appearing on “Vanderpump Rules” and getting caught up in a viral scandal involving her ex-boyfriend Tom Sandoval, is also set to perform during the parade.
Shop Cats and Smalls: “Shop Cats,” a new TikTok series from production company Mad Realities where host Michelladonna visits New York bodegas to meet their feline residents, scored its first sponsorship last week. At the end of the video, Donna offers bodega cats Gigi and Spicy two chicken meals provided by Smalls.
Threads offers a user base update: Threads currently has 275 million monthly active users and is drawing an average of 1 million new users daily, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced last week. It’s a marked increase from the 175 million monthly users he reported Threads had amassed in July.
Snap rolls out subscription gift cards: Snapchat users can now add a Snapchat+ subscription to their holiday wishlists, as the platform launched gift cards that cover the $29.99 cost of an annual Snapchat+ subscription in Target stores and online at Walmart and Amazon. The number of Snapchat+ subscribers has more than doubled from a year earlier, Snap announced last week, surpassing 12 million—which likely contributed to the company’s 15% year-over-year revenue growth.
Instagram cleans up DM inboxes: Many of the best brand-creator collaborations start with a DM—and now, Instagram creators can more easily locate those brand messages with new filter options the platform introduced last week. Creators have previously called their Instagram inboxes “overwhelming” and difficult to navigate, according to Instagram head Adam Mosseri in a video announcing the new DM filters.
Black Girl Digital launches a creator conference: Creator marketing agency Black Girl Digital hosted its inaugural Black Influencer Weekend conference. Black creators and marketers gathered just outside of Atlanta last weekend to discuss how they’re navigating brand partnerships and pursuing other business endeavors. Sponsors included YouTube, Snapchat, Kate Spade, Walt Disney World and Patrón Tequila.
Luxury grocery store Erewhon has already partnered with influencers and celebrities from Hailey Beiber to Sabrina Carpenter on its viral smoothies. Now, TikTok users are speculating that its next collaboration will be with Nara Smith, who stars in her own social media cooking videos, after one user shared a TikTok video of Smith speaking with store employees behind an Erewhon smoothie counter. “Saving $100 now for this smoothie,” reads the top comment on the video a nod to the steep price tag (typically at least $20) on Erewhon smoothies.
Though marketers and social media managers have repeatedly attempted to dispel the enduring belief among consumers that interns run social media accounts for major brands, comments calling for brands to “give the marketing intern a raise!” persist today.
