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 Dick’s Sporting Goods and IShowSpeed: The latest ad from Dick’s includes a slew of celebrity athletes, including NFL and NBA greats Tom Brady and Kevin Durant. But those two are only supporting characters to the true star of Dick’s commercial: IShowSpeed. The streamer and YouTuber, whose real name is Darren Watkins Jr., faces off against Brady, Durant, Olympic gymnast Sunisa “Suni” Lee and soon-to-be NFLer Travis Hunter in the 60-second spot. In addition to posting the ad on social media and digital channels, Dick’s is running the ad across broadcast channels and streaming services such as Amazon Prime and Netflix as part of its March Madness marketing. @dickssportinggoods Every shoe for every athlete. All at DICK'S. @ishowspeed @sunisalee_ @tombrady ♬ original sound - DICKS Sporting Goods Liquid Death and Kylie Kelce: Sticking with sports-adjacent creator partnerships, Liquid Death tapped Kylie Kelce—an influencer, podcaster and wife of former NFL star Jason Kelce—for its latest ad playing on the resemblance its cans bear to cans of beer or other alcoholic drinks. In the ad, Kylie Kelce, who is pregnant, knocks back multiple cans of Liquid Death at a bar with a group of other expectant mothers. She also hawks a (now sold-out) limited-edition keg of Liquid Death as a drinking song with the lyrics “Kegs for pregs, you’re drinking for two” plays in the background. @liquiddeath Drink for two with Kegs For Pregs from @Kylie Kelce x #LiquidDeath! These 5-liter kegs are ultra limited edition and filled with our chuggable still Mountain Water sourced from some of the finest mountain ranges in North America. #pregnant #momhumor ♬ original sound - Liquid Death Van Leeuwen and Leah Kateb: Last week, Van Leeuwen unveiled a new limited-edition ice cream flavor in collaboration with influencer and former “Love Island USA” contestant Leah Kateb. And to promote the flavor, Kateb served up scoops of her “Rose & Gold” ice cream to a throng of fans at a Los Angeles pop-up on Thursday. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Van Leeuwen Ice Cream (@vanleeuwenicecream) Ore-Ida and Richie Saunders: Saunders isn’t just a star basketball player at Brigham Young University—he’s also the great-grandson of Ore-Ida founder and tater tot inventor F. Nephi Grigg. The frozen foods maker leveraged Saunders’ connection to the brand by inking a name, image and likeness deal with the so-called “Tater Tot Heir” last week and announcing it would give out free tater tots after each game BYU wins in the March Madness tournament. Read more about March Madness NIL deals View this post on Instagram A post shared by Richie Saunders (@rsaunders15) Lenovo and Intel and TommyInnit, EYstreem and Leenda Dong: Lenovo teamed up with YouTubers TommyInnit and EYstreem, best known for their “Minecraft” videos and livestreams, on a new campaign spanning both the digital realm of “Minecraft” and a real-life historic castle in the U.K. The technology brand’s “Quest for the Impossible” campaign pitted the two creators against each other as they competed—both in the game and in the real world—to be crowned king, while gaming creator and comedian Leenda Dong hosted the contest. The campaign, which promoted Lenovo’s Legion 7i gaming laptop, was an effort from social and creator content company Portal A. Clover and Tabitha Brown: Creator, entrepreneur and TV personality Tabitha Brown is the star of Clover’s first-ever TV commercial, which made its broadcast debut last week. The point-of-sale platform cast Brown (who is also Clover’s “chief empowerment officer”) as “Lady Luck,” a magical figure who attempts to help a struggling small business owner before discovering his business uses Clover, and thus doesn’t need to rely on luck to succeed. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tabitha Brown (@iamtabithabrown) Social media screenshot Meta pilots AI-generated comments: Meta’s latest AI experiment on Instagram leverages generative AI to suggest possible comments for users to leave on posts. A Meta spokesperson confirmed last week that the company is testing the feature, called “Write with Meta AI,” and noted that it had previously piloted AI-generated comments on Facebook in 2024. View on Threads Threads rolls out creator-focused features: Speaking of Meta, the company also announced several updates for its text-based platform, Threads, last week. The new features include the ability for creators to personalize their Threads profile with a list of up to 10 topics they often post about and/or communities they belong to on the platform; a tool that suggests relevant trending topics to users when they’re drafting a post; and several upgrades to existing Threads features. TikTok of the week @theordinary we heard NYC needed eggs 🥚 @MSCHF #theordinary ♬ angel dust - akira2k Plenty of brands have hosted pop-up events in New York in recent years—and it’s an especially common marketing tactic among beauty and skincare brands, in particular. None of those past activations, however, have involved said beauty brands selling eggs instead of their products. On Saturday, The Ordinary announced it would be selling cartons of 12 “ordinarily-priced eggs” at two of its New York storefronts for $3.37 per carton, writing, “We heard NYC needed eggs” in the caption of the video about its sale. The stunt, in partnership with Brooklyn-based art collective MSCHF, is a response to the rising cost of eggs across the U.S. and a nod to The Ordinary’s brand platform of offering skincare products at an accessible price point. 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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