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 Marc Jacobs and “TikTok Rizz Party”: Buckle up—this one comes with lore. Last month, DJ services company Island Entertainment uploaded a TikTok video of a group of teenage boys enthusiastically rapping along to Ye’s (Kanye West) song “Carnival” at a sweet sixteen. That video was followed up by several others featuring the group of boys. Commenters began referring to the birthday party in the video as the “TikTok Rizz Party”—a nod to a flier for an event of the same name that circulated social media last year. The videos of the boys partying clearly made their way onto the “For You” pages of Marc Jacobs’ social media team, as the brand tapped two members of the group—@Seby_261, often referred to as “Blue Tie” by commenters, and Michael Amato—to weave the brand into a new “TikTok Rizz Party.” The resulting video, which some commenters noted has the energy and production value of a school project, features the two boys walking up to the front door of a suburban home labeled with a TikTok Rizz Party sign and being told they need to be wearing Marc Jacobs clothing and accessories to enter. @marcjacobs A cinematic masterpiece by @Seby_261 and @Michael ♬ original sound - marcjacobs Joe & the Juice, Alix Earle and Paris Hilton: Earle and Hilton, arguably two of the biggest influencers on social media at the moment, are co-starring in coffee shop Joe & the Juice’s latest (and very pink) ad campaign to promote its first-ever breakfast sandwich. The ad, which the brand launched on Instagram and TikTok this morning, depicts the duo bonding over breakfast at a Joe & the Juice, with Hilton encouraging Earle to “get chic for breakfast” and “start slaying early, and soon, you’ll be sliving.” Experiential communications agency Potion, brand studio Kingsland and video and production agency LEROI teamed up with the brand to create the ad. @joeandthejuice IT’S THE HOT NEW TREND 😉💖 @ParisHilton @Alix Earle #chicforbreakfast #fyp #foryoupage ♬ original sound - JOE & THE JUICE See all of Ad Age’s 2024 Creativity Award winners here Chili’s, Scheana Shay and Katie Maloney: To highlight its new espresso martini menu item, Chili’s recruited Shay and Maloney, cast members of the current season of Bravo’s reality series “Vanderpump Rules.” Shay (who previously worked as a Chili’s waitress) and Maloney appear across a series of TikTok and Instagram posts promoting the restaurant chain’s tequila espresso martini with a mix of the reality TV genre spoofs and plays on popular social audio clips. The campaign comes from creative agency Mischief @ No Fixed Address. @chilisofficial Who better to introduce Chili’s New Espresso Martini than Scheana and Katie? It’s made with Tequila, just how Katie would like it. @Scheana ♬ original sound - Chili’s Grill & Bar Tushy and @Got2GoNYC: Calvin Klein’s viral campaign with actor Jeremy Allen White is still influencing social media campaigns months after its January release. The latest parody comes from bidet company Tushy and Teddy Siegel, the creator and activist behind TikTok account @Got2GoNYC, where she reviews public bathrooms around New York City. The Instagram collaboration borrows several elements from Calvin Klein’s photoshoot with White, including the brand’s white underwear and the rooftop setting with a backdrop of the New York skyline. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Got2Go (@got2gonyc) Social media screenshot X leans into TV: X, formerly Twitter, is bringing the social platform to TV with an upcoming app for smart TVs, CEO Linda Yaccarino announced last week. The move to TVs reflects the text-based platform’s ongoing efforts to expand into video content and mirrors a similar TV push from rival social platform YouTube. See also: Musk’s X to launch connected TV app in video push From the small screen to the big screen X is changing everything. Soon we’ll bring real-time, engaging content to your smart TVs with the X TV App. This will be your go-to companion for a high-quality, immersive entertainment experience on a larger screen. We’re still building it… pic.twitter.com/QhG6cVDpZ8— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) April 23, 2024 TikTok pledges to challenge U.S. ban: President Joe Biden may have signed legislation requiring TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell TikTok or be banned in the U.S. last week, but TikTok CEO Shou Chew vowed the social platform isn’t going down without a fight. Chew responded to the bill’s passing last week in a TikTok video, telling viewers, “Rest assured—we aren’t going anywhere. We are confident, and we will keep fighting for your rights in the courts.” @tiktok Response to TikTok Ban Bill ♬ original sound - TikTok Instagram shutters its “Flipside” feature: Just three months after Instagram started rolling out its Finsta-inspired “Flipside” feature, which enabled users to share posts to a private, designated group of followers, the platform is discontinuing the feature. Instagram announced the end of Flipside in an in-app notification (shared here by Lindsey Gamble, associate director of influencer innovation at Later Influence), informing users the feature will disappear on May 24. Creating businesses A creator brand collaboration: Chili’s isn’t the only brand that’s been promoting tequila-based espresso martinis. Last week, influencers Emma Chamberlain and Kendall Jenner united their brands—Chamberlain Coffee and 818 Tequila, respectively—for a limited-edition product collaboration. Chamberlain’s brand put out a new cold brew product inspired by the flavors of Jenner’s tequila, which consumers could purchase on its own or as part of a collection featuring an espresso martini glass and cocktail shaker. The collection sold out within 48 hours of their video posting to announce the collab. @chamberlaincoffee meet your new favorite espresso martini. limited-edition candied pecan cold brew singles drop today. shop now at link in bio 818 Tequila is a registered trademark of K & Soda Inc. 818 Tequila is not utilized as an ingredient in Chamberlain Coffee’s CANDIED PECAN SINGLE SERVE. Chamberlain’s Cold Brew Single Serves are nonalcoholic. Produced under license from 818 Spirits Inc© 2024 @emmachamberlain @kendalljenner ♬ original sound - Chamberlain Coffee TikTok of the week @rhegancoursey see y’all in 20 minutes for the grwm for bed 😚😚🤘🏼 ♬ original sound - rheg (°◡°♡) ☆*:+ Hundreds of influencers flocked to Stagecoach over the weekend, many of them sponsored by brands. But not every brand activation at the country music festival was a hit with creators. On Sunday, influencer Rhegan Coursey announced she would be leaving a Stagecoach afterparty hosted by Revolve just minutes after arriving because of signs pointing creators with over 1 million followers in one direction and those with smaller follower numbers in another. Several commenters pointed out that Revolve was partnering with streetwear brand @Pizzaslime—known for its crude, sarcastic humor—on the party and that the signs were likely a joke. Coursey shared a follow-up video a few hours afterward and said her influencer friends who had remained at the Revolve party after she left told her the signs “really [weren’t] a joke” and they were “treated like animals” during the party—but she didn’t elaborate on what that treatment involved. “It might be a joke for Pizzaslime, but [it] definitely wasn’t for the other brands,” she said in the video. Both Revolve and Pizzaslime posted TikTok videos yesterday in response to the controversy that pointed out the plethora of other unserious signs scattered around the afterparty, including a sign directing partygoers to the bathroom that read "peepee poopoo." Revolve also noted in the caption of its video that "all signs led to the same experience" despite splitting up creators by follower count at the beginning of the lines. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Threadspotting Post by @mattnavarra View on Threads Threads is continuing its efforts to court creators, according to the above screenshot from social media consultant Matt Navarra. The Meta platform is offering up to $5,000 to creators whose posts or replies on Threads generate 10,000 or more views, according to Navarra’s screenshot—though, the program is currently invite-only, according to Instagram’s Help Center. This comes after Threads announced last week that creators could earn up to $500 for sharing “positive” content on the platform for 10 days in a row, according to The Information. Follow us on social media X Bluesky Instagram LinkedIn YouTube

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

Featured Stories