Podcasts take center stage this week as podcaster Bobbi Althoff signed a SeatGeek sponsorship and “Call Her Daddy” host Alex Cooper launched a new podcast network.
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 newsletter here.
Have tips or news to share about influencer marketing and the creator economy? Email Gillian Follett at [email protected].
SeatGeek and Bobbi Althoff: Bobbi Althoff’s “The Really Good Podcast” may only have five episodes so far, but its superstar guests—including Drake, Lil Yachty and Mark Cuban—have propelled Althoff and her podcast to virality in just over a month. SeatGeek must have taken notice as the ticketing platform was featured in an ad read during Althoff's interview with Cuban.
“I know you guys are all shocked to be hearing this—somebody sponsored my podcast, finally,” Althoff said in the ad read, which was filled with her characteristic snark and intentional awkwardness.
Dior and Emily Mariko: At the end of July, food and lifestyle influencer Emily Mariko—who went viral in 2021 for her salmon rice bowl recipe—made sure to show off the wedding gifts she received from Dior during videos leading up to and documenting her big day. In one video shared following the wedding, Mariko flaunted the Dior handbag and ring, complete with a close-up shot of the two products.
Dior’s wedding-centered partnership with Mariko follows e.l.f. Cosmetics’ June partnership with beauty influencer Mikayla Nogueira to launch a limited-edition “Marriage Material” lip kit. Nogueira teamed up with e.l.f. to design the lip kit after struggling to find a lipstick and lip liner combination she wanted to wear for her wedding, she told her followers in a June TikTok video. The cosmetics brand also sponsored a kissing booth and party favors at Nogueira’s wedding.
Julia Berolzheimer and Pottery Barn: Both Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids collaborated with lifestyle influencer and interior designer Julia Berolzheimer on new product collections tied to Berolzheimer’s floral-heavy vintage style. Though her Pottery Barn Kids partnership is new, Berolzheimer’s new collection with Pottery Barn is an extension of an ongoing collaboration with the brand that launched in 2022. In an Instagram post, Pottery Barn referred to its collection with Berolzheimer as a “fan-favorite” and revealed the influencer’s 2022 collaboration with the brand had previously sold out.
Baggu and Sandy Liang: Speaking of sold-out influencer collaborations, Gen Z-favorite accessory brand Baggu on Monday announced its partnership with fashion designer and Instagram creator Sandy Liang … only for the collection to sell out almost immediately. Consumers were quick to criticize Baggu’s handling of the product line’s drop, as many of the tote bags and purses included in the collection were already unavailable when buyers who had signed up for early access to the products received their early access codes. Baggu has since apologized for the collaboration selling out so quickly and plans to restock the collection later in the year.
TruSkin and Kylie Cantrall: Plant-based skincare brand TruSkin announced actress, singer and content creator Kylie Cantrall as its first-ever brand ambassador. By partnering with the 18-year-old influencer, TruSkin aims to “inspire and educate a whole new generation of skincare users,” said Chris Marschall, CEO of TruSkin parent company Wellbeam, in a press release about the partnership. Cantrall won’t just be the face of TruSkin as its brand ambassador—she’ll be helping to shape the brand’s social media initiatives and revamp its brand identity, as well as designing an upcoming holiday gift set, per the release.
Threads rolls out new updates: Instagram head Adam Mosseri on Wednesday took to Threads to outline another round of new features for the Meta-owned app. The platform update includes the ability for users to send Threads posts in their Instagram DMs; a new tab in the settings menu that allows users to view all of the posts they’ve previously liked; and the introduction of customized alt text on photos and videos, among other new features.
Mosseri’s latest list of Threads updates follows a post from Mark Zuckerberg in which the Meta CEO indicated search functionality and a web version of Threads will be completed “in the next few weeks.”
X delays revenue sharing payouts and unveils new brand safety measures: At the end of July, X, formerly known as Twitter, announced it would be expanding the platform’s ad revenue sharing program to all creators who met the program’s eligibility requirements. The product's lunch was delayed last week after the platform said that the number of people who signed up “exceeded our expectations.” Payouts started going out Monday.
X also this week highlighted the upcoming release of a new “Sensitivity Settings” tool, which aims to enhance advertisers’ control over the content that their ads appear alongside, according to an X blog post. Advertisers will be able to choose from three options for the types of content that can surround their ads, with the strictest, “conservative” setting preventing these ads from being placed among content featuring drugs, obscenity, sexual content or “excessive profanity,” among other controversial content. The “relaxed” setting will allow ads to show up alongside “some sensitive content,” such as profanity, in order to extend the reach of brands’ ads, while the “standard” setting falls somewhere in the middle.
Related: Twitter promises brand safety to win back ad dollars
TikTok prepares to host a live music competition: TikTok is continuing to hone in on the platform’s close ties to music with an upcoming global singing competition that will take place entirely on TikTok Live. TikTok outlined the structure of the U.S. branch of the competition, called “Gimme the Mic,” in a Monday blog post. The contest is essentially a TikTok-ified version of popular singing competitions such as “American Idol” and “The Voice,” with TikTok picking the most popular creators from a pool of applicants to go head-to-head in a round of semi-finals, and the winners of that elimination round advancing to the contest’s finale. The winning performer will receive a trophy and up to 50,000 diamonds, TikTok’s in-app currency (the monetary value of those diamonds are unclear).
Related: How TikTok is helping brands tap into trending music
Gimme the Mic follows a slew of recent music-related initiatives from TikTok, including the platform’s expansion of its TikTok Music streaming service and its launch of the TikTok Elevate program to identify and uplift emerging artists.
Patreon partners with Spotify: Consumers who subscribe to a creator on Patreon can now listen to their subscriber-exclusive podcasts on Spotify. The two platforms announced Wednesday that users of both Patreon and Spotify can connect their accounts to access these paywalled podcasts directly on Spotify. The partnership reflects a “vision of a new future for internet creators” that breaks down walls separating different revenue streams for creators, Patreon’s chief product officer Julian Gutman said in a Spotify blog post about the new feature.
Alex Cooper launches new podcast network: Alex Cooper, host of popular podcast “Call Her Daddy” and co-founder of Gen Z media company Trending, is launching The Unwell Network. The podcast network has already struck deals with TikTok stars Alix Earle and Madeline Argy, who will work with Cooper and The Unwell Network to “develop a variety of multi-platform concepts and projects,” per a press release. Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast will become part of The Unwell Network, and a slate of new shows will join Cooper’s podcast on the network in September.
Jack Harlow strengthens his energy drink brand’s retail focus: Energy drinks and creators seem to go hand-in-hand these days. Rapper Jack Harlow, who rose to fame in 2020 after a handful of his songs went viral on TikTok, is the latest to join the energy drink craze after buying into beverage brand Phocus in April. Now, as co-owner and chief creative officer of Phocus, Harlow is leaning into the brand’s brick-and-mortar presence through a partnership with The Vitamin Shoppe that brings an exclusive new flavor to the wellness retailer.
Streamer Kai Cenat’s effort to expand in-person sparks a riot: Twitch streamer Kai Cenat’s attempt to connect with his millions of followers at an in-person giveaway event devolved into chaos last Friday as thousands of Cenat’s fans swarmed New York’s Union Square Park. After several people began destroying property and jumping onto cars, police took Cenat into custody and charged the streamer with inciting a riot and unlawful assembly. In a Wednesday Twitch stream, Cenat told viewers he plans to pull back from creating content ahead of his Aug. 16 court appearance.
MrBeast’s virtual burger company countersues: Virtual Dining Concepts, the company that runs Jimmy Donaldson’s virtual restaurant MrBeast Burger, is suing Donaldson in response to the creator’s own lawsuit against the company issued last week. The ghost kitchen operator alleges Donaldson breached his contract with the company and damaged the reputation of both MrBeast Burger and Virtual Dining Concepts with “disparaging comments” about the brand. In his own lawsuit, Donaldson alleged the company damaged the creator’s reputation by producing “low-quality” and sometimes “inedible” menu items.
This week’s top TikTok is technically a pair of videos from creators Nicky Reardon and Coco Mocoe, who together host the pop culture commentary podcast “Share Your Screen.” The two shared TikTok videos this week discussing their perspectives on how they envision the creator economy will transform in the near future, with Reardon’s video, above, being a response to Mocoe’s own thoughts. Mocoe’s TikTok hones in on how younger consumers will continue to look to creators in place of traditional celebrities due to being exposed more frequently to their content. Reardon discussed a widening gap between snappy, short-form content and long-form content that exceeds an hour in length, which he predicts will cause videos that fall between those two extremes to drop in popularity.
Threads has maintained an intimate feel in the month since the platform’s launch, which has opened the door to interactions between brands, celebrities and everyday consumers that would be unlikely on other social platforms. For example, this week, TJ Maxx chatted with “Queer Eye” star Antoni Porowski on Threads after commenting on one of the celebrity’s posts that was completely unrelated to the brand. Porowski replied to TJ Maxx’s comment with unprompted compliments for the retailer’s “novelty olive oil and creuset section.”
