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 Coca-Cola and Kristen Hollingshaus: Hollingshaus’ “midday Diet Coke breaks” are a staple of her social content, to the point where she recently added a countertop soda fountain to her kitchen to have the drink on tap. And last week, Coca-Cola recognized her Diet Coke devotion with a massive PR package stuffed with custom Diet Coke merch and packets of True Lemon and True Lime drink mixes, which Hollingshaus often stirs into her lunchtime soda. The brand also framed her recipe for the perfect midday Diet Coke, “which in my mind tells me Diet Coke approves of this Diet Coke recipe,” Hollingshaus said in a video. @hauskris even @Diet Coke knows this is the proper way to consume #dietcokebreak #dietcoke #dietcokebreaks #soda #sodatiktok #truelemonpartner #asmr #viral #sodashop ♬ original sound - Kristen Marc Jacobs and Sylvaniandrama: Marc Jacobs continued its streak of Gen Z-oriented creator collabs over the weekend, teaming up with Thea von Engelbrechten, the creator behind the popular Sylvaniandrama TikTok account, to produce a Mother’s Day-themed dark comedy. The soap-operatic storyline in the video—which racked up over a million views and 250,000 likes in less than 24 hours—features shoplifting, murder and a miniature Marc Jacobs tote bag. Check out our roundup of Mother’s Day campaigns @marcjacobs Happy mom’s day @Sylvaniandrama ♬ original sound - Christina Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Swehl and Molly Baz: Speaking of Mother’s Day, Swehl—a brand that sells breastfeeding-related products—partnered with culinary content creator Molly Baz on a recipe for “Big Titty Cookies” packed with nutrients meant to increase milk production for breastfeeding moms. The campaign also included a Times Square billboard featuring Baz holding two of the cookies in front of her breasts with the tagline, “Just add milk,” but Clear Channel Outdoor, the out-of-home company that owns the billboard, quickly took the ad down after determining it was too “inappropriate,” according to a joint Instagram post from Baz and Swehl. Baz included several photos of Times Square billboards for lingerie and underwear brands in her post and wote, “take one look at the landscape of other billboards in times square and i think you’ll see the irony. bring on the lingerie so long as it satiates the male gaze.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by MOLLY BAZ (@mollybaz) Disney’s Black creator summit: Last week, Disney invited 80 Black content creators to Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disneyland for its “Power of Joy Creator Summit.” The event included panel discussions with Black executives across Disney, Hulu, ESPN and ABC, a class with a Disney animator, and several other exclusive opportunities. Many of the creators in attendance shared videos and photos from the summit, including Gabriella Whiting, Khleo Thomas, Kyra Henry and Francesca Murray. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Francesca • One Girl One World (@onegrloneworld) Social media screenshot TikTok adding a collab feature: Typically, it’s Instagram that’s adding TikTok-like features to its platform; but this time around, TikTok is the one duplicating an Instagram tool with its new collaboration feature. The feature, first spotted by newsletter editor Radu Oncescu on a TikTok post from actor Will Smith, appears to function similarly to Instagram’s “Collab posts” and allows a single post to appear across multiple accounts. That can be useful when one of those accounts has a smaller following than its co-authors—as in Will Smith’s case, who used the collab feature to launch a TikTok account for his Westbrook Racing boat-racing team. 📲TikTok is testing a “Collaboration”-like feature. pic.twitter.com/m2v4QP5rMV— Radu Oncescu (@oncescuradu) May 10, 2024 YouTube continues pushing its TV growth: A growing portion of YouTube creators are generating the majority of their viewership through TVs rather than phones, tablets or other devices, according to a new op-ed from YouTube CEO Neal Mohan. In the op-ed for Hollywood Reporter, Mohan wrote, “The number of top creators with a majority of their watch time coming from TV has increased more than 400 percent in the last three years.” His piece comes ahead of YouTube’s Brandcast event on Wednesday, where the platform will likely use that stat to woo TV ad buyers. It’s time a creator won an Emmy. 🏆 Creators like @MrBeast @seanseaevans @rhettmc @linkneal & @MichelleKhare are defining a new era of entertainment and pushing culture forward. In @THR, I share why they deserve @TelevisionAcad recognition... https://t.co/Eh4qF4a0k6— Neal Mohan (@nealmohan) May 13, 2024 See also: Which media companies will win the TV upfront, according to buyers Get upfront updates sent directly to your inbox here TikTok of the week @girlbosstown #stitch with @GirlBossTown *secret project* coming soon @Beis Travel @Shay Mitchell ♬ original sound - GirlBossTown Creator and brand consultant Robyn DelMonte, aka Girlbosstown, often posts TikTok videos pitching potential marketing ideas to brands or giving her “GBT stamp of approval” to ad campaigns she enjoys. Normally, her proposals are merely hypothetical—but last week, DelMonte revealed a video she made about luggage brand Béis had turned into a brand partnership. She stitched the TikTok she had originally made pitching a campaign to Béis with a video featuring her and Béis Founder (and influencer) Shay Mitchell, in which Mitchell attempts to replicate the sound DelMonte makes when giving a campaign her “stamp of approval.” Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Threadspotting Post by @usmnt View on Threads Both the U.S. men’s and women’s national soccer teams are teasing a return to Threads ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games, meaning the platform will likely play a role in their social strategies around the event. Until now, neither account had posted on Threads since July 2023. 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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