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. Have tips or news to share about influencer marketing and the creator economy? Email Gillian Follett at gillian.follett@adage.com. New deals Gawx Art and Shein: YouTuber and artist Gawx Art (who hasn’t revealed his real name online) has come under fire for partnering with fast-fashion giant Shein in the wake of the brand’s controversial influencer trip to one of its factories in China. Gawx announced he’s designing a clothing collection for Shein, launching on Aug. 21, as part of the brand’s Shein X designer incubator program, and shared a portion of his design process on YouTube. But many of the artist’s fans have condemned his decision to work with Shein, which has been accused of abusive labor practices. (Shein has denied these claims.) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Gawx Art (@gawx_art) Olivia Dunne and Leaf Trading Cards: Louisiana State University gymnast Olivia “Livvy” Dunne, who has risen to one of the highest-paid college athletes thanks to her massive social media following, inked her latest brand deal with Leaf Trading Cards this week. The partnership will include a limited-edition set of trading cards featuring images of Dunne’s gymnastics performances. Dunne, who has been paid over $500,000 for a single sponsored post, she said on the “Full Send” podcast, has 4.3 million followers on Instagram. She works with brands including Vuori, American Eagle and Motorola. Earlier this month, Dunne launched “The Livvy Fund” to help female athletes at LSU secure NIL deals. Very proud to have such an amazing relationship with Livvy. We can’t wait to bring lots of cool stuff! https://t.co/zXcIqADbOB— Brian Gray (@leafceo) August 15, 2023 Bella Poarch and Hugo Boss: German fashion brand Hugo Boss is centering its upcoming fall and winter campaign on influencers, with TikTok superstar Bella Poarch at the forefront. The brand also partnered with Poarch earlier this year to promote its spring and summer clothing collection, and in 2022 collaborated with the most-followed TikTok creator, Khaby Lame (161.8 million followers). Following the launch of its fall and winter campaign, Hugo Boss will also team up with Poarch to create a “special capsule collection,” according to a press release. Also read: Khaby Lame reigns as the most-followed TikTok star @bellapoarch My style, my expression🥰♥️@HUGO #HUGOYourWay ♬ original sound - Bella Poarch Social media screenshot YouTube promotes music discovery: YouTube's music app, much like its video platform (and seemingly every other social platform) is embracing short-form content. The platform on Tuesday introduced a “Samples” tab, which operates like the vertical-themed YouTube Shorts and TikTok, to help users discover new songs and artists. Spotify released a similar short-form video feed called “Clips” back in March. Kick pilots a program to pay creators: Livestreaming platform Kick is challenging rival Twitch by launching a “Creator Incentive Program.” On Monday, Kick shared a post on X, formerly Twitter, with a list of over 30 creators who comprise the platform’s “first class” of the program. And, on Wednesday, the platform took to TikTok to share a video clip from streamer Adin Ross briefly describing the program, with Ross explaining that verified Twitch creators can “come to Kick and get paid a salary” through the Creator Incentive Program. Kick has yet to elaborate on what the program will involve or how creators are paid. @kick.com The Kick Creator Incentive Program | #kickstreaming #adinross ♬ original sound - julia Instagram expands its post collaboration feature: Instagram’s “Collab” feature, launched in 2021, has previously allowed two users to co-author posts that are published to both creators’ accounts. Now, Instagram is updating the tool to allow up to three users to collaborate on the same post or Reel, the platform announced last week. Creators and brands often utilize the Collab feature to share sponsored content across both accounts, and this update could allow brands to now work with multiple creators—and simultaneously reach both of those creators’ audiences—in a single post. Ad Age Media Summit Hear from industry leaders during October event in NYC Register here Creating businesses Addison Rae returns to pop music: TikTok star-turned-singer Addison Rae Easterling, better known as Addison Rae, revealed Monday in an X post that she’s releasing new music this Friday. Easterling previously ventured into music with her single “Obsessed” in 2021 and has teased a “lost album” of unreleased songs as far back as last August. dug up a few of the leaks from the lost album 💗AR 8.18 pic.twitter.com/ZcWNzlYCHo— Addison Rae (@whoisaddison) August 14, 2023 Content creators show support for the SAG-AFTRA strike: Nearly 130 content creators with over 90 million followers between them have launched an initiative called “Labor Over Likes” in a show of support for the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. The initiative, created in collaboration with activist organization Gen-Z for Change, urges influencers to commit to not partnering with any struck media companies or promote their movies, TV shows or other content during the strike. SAG-AFTRA has previously issued guidelines for influencers and threatened to ban them from joining the union if they cross the digital picket line to work with struck companies. TikTok of the week @kateschilll day in my life 👩🏻💻#freepeople #influencermarketing #influencer #marketing #dayinthelife #dayattheoffice #dayinmylifevlog #dailyvlog ♬ original sound - Kate People can't get enough of a good “day in the life” TikTok. This one follows Kathryn Schill, senior influencer marketing associate at Free People, and offers a glimpse into the brand’s influencer gifting process. Threadspotting Fans have long begged Crocs to re-release its shoes modeled after the character Lightning McQueen from Disney’s “Cars.” And, on Tuesday, Crocs used Threads to generate hype for the hotly-anticipated re-launch of the shoes with a simple image of the lightning design emblazoned across Lightning McQueen. The comments were quickly flooded with users (and other brands) excitedly writing “ka-chow!”—the character’s catchphrase.

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

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