WEEK OF 05/20/2024                                                                    By Anna Fatlowitz and Claudia Romero

This week in influencer news, TikTok introduces mandatory labels for AI-generated content and takes legal action against a U.S. law threatening its operations. Meanwhile, 'intellectual influencers' are gaining traction, offering knowledge-driven content. At the Met Gala, TikTok's sparse influencer presence contrasts with its traditional celebrity focus. Wall Street shows keen interest in influencers, with significant investments in figures like MrBeast. El Pollo Loco turns a social media loss for Chick-fil-A into its gain by embracing influencer partnerships. Additionally, TikTok and Universal Music Group resolve their royalty dispute with a new agreement, enhancing AI protections and promotional possibilities. Read more below.

TikTok will automatically label AI-generated content created on platforms like DALL·E 3: TikTok now labels AI-made content to keep things transparent. The platform is also cracking down on misleading AI, especially in election-related content. Read more

'Intellectual influencers' will soon be taking over your social-media feeds: Intellectual influencers are on the rise, as audiences seek authentic, knowledgeable content over flashy promotion. Read more

TikTok, ByteDance sue to block US law seeking sale or ban of app: TikTok and ByteDance are suing to block a new U.S. law that would force ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban. They argue it violates free speech protections and other constitutional rights. Read more

Where Were All the TikTok Influencers at the Met Gala?: Despite TikTok sponsoring the 2024 Met Gala, influencers were scarce. Anna Wintour's guest list favored traditional celebrities, with a few exceptions like Wisdom Kaye and Emma Chamberlain. Read more

From MrBeast to Logan Paul: Why Wall Street Is Infatuated With Influencers: Wall Street is investing heavily in influencers like MrBeast and Logan Paul, with $100 million deals to expand their brands beyond social media, driven by their massive, loyal followings. Read more

How Chick-fil-A’s social media loss became El Pollo Loco’s gain: After Chick-fil-A halted Miri the Siren's videos, El Pollo Loco embraced her, leveraging her influence to boost engagement and promote their menu creatively. Read more

Tequila For Your Coffee? Kendall Jenner And Emma Chamberlain’s Unexpected Collab Is Poised To Make The Grade: Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila and Emma Chamberlain’s Coffee collaborated on a tequila-based espresso martini, offering limited-edition products online and in select restaurants. Read more

TikTok and Universal Music Group Settle Royalty Dispute With New Licensing Agreement: TikTok and Universal Music Group settled their royalty dispute with a new licensing agreement, bringing UMG's music back to the platform and enhancing AI protections and promotional opportunities. Read more

Revolve Invented Influencer Marketing as We Know It. Now It’s Pulling Back: Revolve has scaled back its Coachella event to one day and significantly reduced its guest list, reflecting a shift in its influencer marketing strategy. Read more

Fizz And Fashion: Poppi’s Influencer Marketing Strategy Delivers A Stylish Sip: Poppi leverages branded sweatsuits for marketing, providing them to influencers at high-visibility events like Coachella to boost brand awareness and engagement. Read more

How platforms like Detoure are tackling the excess of influencer gifting culture: Detoure, a resale marketplace founded in 2021, allows influencers to sell excess gifted items, addressing waste in influencer culture and providing a supplementary income source. Read more

The $12 Pizza A 16 Million-Follower TikTok Star Co-Created With Pizza Hut: Pizza Hut and TikTok star Keith Lee launch a $12 pizza, part of a campaign that includes a $50,000 donation to local schools. Read more

Desperate for young audiences, fine arts organizations turn to a last resort: influencers: Fine arts organizations are reaching younger audiences by collaborating with influencers to showcase cultural events as accessible and appealing through social media. Read more

How Carrefour leveraged influencers to enhance brand engagement: Carrefour's influencer campaign, featuring 15 influencers, garnered 4.5 million views, enhancing brand awareness and increasing store visits. Read more

TikTok Reveals Key Ingredient for Brands To Tap Into Massive Bilingual Audience: TikTok's study highlights that bilingual ads connect well with its Hispanic audience and also enhance brand perception among English speakers. Read more

The top ways influencers get brand deals and how many they need a month, according to new data: Over half of influencers find brand deals through social media marketplaces, highlighting the significant role these play in the influencer marketing ecosystem. Read more

On social, it’s all about chocolate bark and bars! You can see this trend evolving into other trends like high-protein recipes and all things fruit.

Chocolate bark / bars: cookie dough bark, another cookie dough bark, fruit and chocolate bark, Dubai chocolate bar (Feedfeed’s take), protein cookie dough bark, matcha + pb chocolate strawberry flowers

High-protein snacks: banana bread mug cake, pre-workout protein balls, protein cookie dough bark (also above in bark / bars)

All things fruit: pistachio raspberry tart, fruit and chocolate bark (also above in bark / bars), watermelon mojito mocktail, grapes and strawberry tanghulu, matcha + pb chocolate strawberry flowers (also above in bark / bars)

Here are recent partnerships we’ve seen that we’re loving!

@carolinagelen x Gonna Need Milk: We love how authentic this partnership is and how much creative freedom Carolina was given! The opener is really exciting and the video uses great lighting throughout.

@smelly.lunchbox x King’s Hawaiian: This opener is ooey gooey and doesn’t show product packaging right away! The recipe is also unique and fits perfectly into the creator’s video series.

@crazykoreancooking x Weber Grills: You can’t get more authentic than this partnership! The content felt completely natural for the creator and their family. The features of the grill were subtly, yet thoughtfully placed in the video.

Here are some of our favorite recent branded influencer campaigns The Feedfeed team has managed.

• Feedfeed x Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner - @chacekitchen

• Feedfeed x Cal Rice - @ricezhangg

• Feedfeed x Jade Leaf Matcha - @thedeeperlivingeats

• Feedfeed x Jade Leaf Matcha - @makingwithmadison

• Feedfeed x Red Gold - @momunderpressure

• Feedfeed x Cascadian Farm - @eating_with_sandy

• Feedfeed x LARABAR - @chloeburnock

Feedfeed is your daily source of inspiration for what to cook, bake, eat, and drink, reaching 55M food lovers each month. We are one of the world’s largest social media food & lifestyle publications fueled by a worldwide community of home cooks, foodies, and food industry pros, that tag their social media posts with #feedfeed. Each month, 50K+ posts per month are shared on our hashtag, serving as a real-time peak into culinary trends around the world. Our Team uses the hashtag to discover new food trends, emerging content creators, influencers, and the best content to feature on our channels. #feedfeed has helped us build lasting relationships and connect all the participants of the food world in a meaningful way.

Influencer Marketing Campaigns and Collaborations: Feedfeed creates start-to-finish custom influencer campaigns that align our brand partners with trusted influencers (nano influencers, micro influencers and macro influencers) that create trending content served up to highly engaged target audiences. Feedfeed makes it easy to work with influencers by handling influencer sourcing/vetting, conceptualizing, contracting, creative direction, and reporting for branded content campaigns, Influencer trips, events, seeding, and shopper marketing campaigns, as part of a strategic, comprehensive and cost effective influencer marketing strategy.  Task us with developing influencer collaborations that align with your strategic goals, big or small.

Original Content & Distribution: Feedfeed’s original content studio has been a pioneer and leader in social native organic and branded sponsored content for 10 years, continuing to spearhead new content trends, and formats on emerging existing and emerging social media platforms. We leverage in-house content creators and one of the largest networks of food & lifestyle creators, as well as a wide distribution network across all relevant social and digital marketing channels.

Experiential: Feedfeed conceptualizes and executes engaging IRL (in person) and virtual experiences (zoom and metaverse), including dinner parties, cocktail hours, workshops, panel talks and conference activations.

WANT TO WORK WITH US?

Reach out
partnerships@thefeedfeed.com