Thursday, September 4th

📊 Did you know?

70% of U.S. shoppers now make purchases based on creator recommendations.

(LTK Shopper Report, 2025)

🔥 Top 7 Creator Campaigns (Aug '25)

No creator stories today, just 7 top creator campaigns I loved, and the real lessons every marketer should steal.

Ready, let’s go?

1️⃣ Puppy Sphere x Sabrina Carpenter

This campaign is a lesson for all small businesses:
You can get a free post from a major celebrity or creator if you lead with value.

A tiny dog-lover brand cold-emailed Sabrina’s team:
“Can we build a puppy therapy lounge backstage on your tour?”

No agency. No budget. Just one great idea.

→ 18 days later: They’re in Toronto. Sabrina shares the moment → 4.7M likes.

📈 Her posts typically hit $600K+ in EMV. Puppy Sphere got it for free.

Why it worked:
✅ Perfect brand-fit
✅ Emotional & experiential
✅ No fluff — just good timing

💡 You don’t need a budget. You need a reason to show up.

2️⃣ Rare Beauty’s Scratch & Sniff Billboard

Selena Gomez’s brand made New York smell like its new perfume…literally.

They installed scented billboards with a QR code for samples.
📍 Scratch → Sniff
📍 Scan → Sample
📍 Post → Go viral

📈 Some TikToks passed 10M views in 48h
📈Thousands of UGC posts in a week

@anastasia_shtompel

Rare Beauty put up scratch and sniff billboards in New York (° And if you scan QR code and prove you're next to it - you get a perfume del... See more

Why it worked:
1️⃣ It surprised IRL and sparked curiosity
2️⃣ It turned sampling into a moment
3️⃣ It felt fun, not forced

💡 OOH still works, if it’s designed for social.

3️⃣ Naked Juice’s Pop-Up

Just before the US Open, Naked Juice launched “Coco’s Corner Store”, a pop-up event + smoothie collab with tennis star Coco Gauff.

@katiefeeneyy

@Coco Gauff is serving aces AND smoothies 🎾🍊🍍don’t miss the chance to stop by Coco’s Corner Store pop-up in NYC! #NakedPartner @Naked Smoothie

They didn’t stop there:
✅ Named her “Chief Smoothie Officer”
✅ Invited creators from sports, foodie, humor & micro niches
✅ Created a product + moment

📈 1M+ impressions across creators

Smart play:
✔️ Pre-event hype
✔️ Diverse creator mix
✔️ Real-world + digital blend

4️⃣ Gap x KATSEYE

The most viral ad of August. And maybe… of the year.

Gap partnered with global girl group KATSEYE and dropped a full-blown music video featuring choreographed denim dancing, Gen Z vibes, and no sales pitch in sight.

@misakianciano

Saw the @Gap x @KATSEYE promotion ad in Tokyo!😍 #katseye #betterindenim #gap #gapxkatseye #xybca

It wasn’t an ad. It was entertainment.

Why it worked:
→ By not selling directly, they sparked curiosity.
→ Viewers asked: “What jeans are those?”
→ The content sold the product, naturally.

📈 #1 trending search on TikTok
📈 20M views in just 3 days, more than Gap’s previous four ad releases combined
📈 400M views, 8 billion impressions across platforms in under two weeks

Now everyone’s trying to recreate the dance on TikTok! That’s how you make a viral campaign!

5️⃣ Chupa Chups x Léna Situations

Chupa Chups sponsored Léna Situations’ iconic August vlog series 

→ 9 episodes, 1.3M views each, and over 40M views total.

The brand didn’t force a product push. Instead, it appeared naturally:

📦 On tables, during trips, shared with friends - woven into her real life.

Why it worked:
✅ Subtle presence across multiple videos
✅ Felt authentic, not scripted
✅ Tapped into a Gen Z audience during peak engagement

💡 Organic > obvious. When the vibe fits, the brand lands.

6️⃣ Sweetgreen x Dan Drake (Goat Farmer)

Sweetgreen skipped the usual TikTok stars, and partnered with a real goat dairy farmer.

🐐 Dan Drake flew to NYC
🎥 His reaction to a Times Square billboard → 15M Reels views

It was part of their “Faces of the Farm” series, highlighting real food sources, not just influencers.

💡 Sometimes your best creators don’t have a following. They just have a story.

7️⃣ YouTuber x Airbnb + Kia

YouTuber Ryan Trahan and his wife visited 50 states in 50 days, powered by brand sponsors.

🏡 Airbnb stays + viewer voting
🚐 Kia van + $100K donation
🎯 Total raised for St. Jude: $11.5M

And yes, viewers shaped the show with sponsored challenges like “Follow a stranger’s directions.”

💡 When content is meaningful, branded integration feels… natural.

🎬 LinkedIn x CapCut now integrated, you can export edits directly to LinkedIn

📱 Instagram finally launches iPad app

🖼️ Instagram tests picture-in-picture Reels viewing

🔕 IG updates notification ranking to reduce spam alerts

📬 More DM filters & controls on Instagram

🔗 Instagram adds Reels linking for multi-part content

🎙️ TikTok adds voice notes + image DMs

🧠 Meta expands AI ad tools for holiday season