Welcome back to Creator Insights! Glad you stuck around and hope you are hungry because this issue is all about food. 🍔 🍟
Over the last few weeks, we have seen a number of creators launch food-related campaigns, whether via a paid partnership or products of their own. What seems to be their item of choice? Chicken sandwiches.
Why? A lot of it has to with the massive buzz of Popeyes chicken sandwich launch in 2019 (someone tried to sell one on Ebay for $7,000) and the continued success of the Chick-fil-A brand. Secretly as a marketer, I want to believe it was all those ‘Eat Mor Chikin’ ads we have seen over the last 8 to 10 years. Whatever the reason, the chicken sando market is HOT, and a number of big names are jumping on board:
McDonald’s (announced this week they are launching new chicken sandwiches in February)
Jack in the Box (teamed up w/ multiple creators to launch two new chicken sandwhiches last month)
Wendy’s (launched new chicken sandwich in Nov.)
Mr. Beast Burgers (300+ location launch last month)
Shake Shack (mainly a west coast expansion, first Bay Area location opened in Nov.)
How does this relate to the creator industry? Almost every launch was powered by creators/influencers. As mentioned, Jack in the Box teamed with multiple creators to launch their sandwiches last month and even pushed a number of the videos onto TV as commercials.
Mr. Beast made headlines last month with his launch of Mr. Beast Burgers (and chicken sandwiches) in over 300 locations nationwide (for reference, In-N-Burger has just 350 locations). Powered by his 50+ million fans, the Beast Burgers app skyrocketed to #1 in the iOS App Store in under 8 hours.
Using creators to push new food products is not a new trend (remember the #Guacdance from Chipotle?) but with the global pandemic, we have seen a number of brands increase their influencer spend on food/drink related products. Especially ones that can be delivered via food delivery apps.
As we turn the calendar to 2021, keep an eye out for more food + creator collaborations.
Who is spending in January?
January is traditionally a slow month in terms of influencer brand spend. Why? Because most brands spend the majority of their budgets during the Q4 holiday season. Especially this year as we saw a record number of campaigns launch in November (203k posts) and December (204k posts) on Instagram.
That doesn’t mean spending reduces to $0 though, brands in the health and fitness space love to capitalize on those New Year’s resolutions. Companies like Gymshark, Weight Watchers, Fabletics and Quest Nutrition are normally big spenders in Q1.
So which brands are already running campaigns? Here is a look at the top ones on Instagram from the last two weeks:
@flattummyco - 33 posts w/ 33 influencers
@michelobultra - 29 posts w/ 14 influencers
@ww - 21 posts w/ 21 influencers
@bose - 20 posts w/ 16 influencers
@invisalign - 18 posts w/ 8 influencers
@kissproducts
@fabletics
@matys
@gortonsseafood
@gatorade
@budlight
@shoplctv
@gymshark
@walmart
@alenproductsusa
As you can see, the current top 15 follow the health and fitness trend for Q1 but some newcomers are popping up like Michelob and Bud Light. This could have a lot to do with the pandemic and the majority of the US still being in some type of shelter in place.
Our team will be keeping a close eye on this and will provide another update on which brands will be looking for influencers later in the week.
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Creator Indsutry News
Best places to find IG #hashtags (link)
Quibi is in talks with Roku to sell its original shows (still think should have launched a show with the D'Amelios, nice move Hulu) (link)
Cristiano Ronaldo hits 250m fans on Instagram (link)
Our friend Hugo Amsellem does an incredible job of mapping out the current creator economy (link)
What’s next?
In the next issue of FamePick’s Creator Insights, we will be diving into the top sponsored posts of 2020 and we’ll expand on which brands are looking for creators to hire for Q1 campaigns.
What do you want to hear about? Let us know!