Your Weekly Creator Marketing Update🚀

27.06.2025

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🎤How influencer marketing lost its edge

📌 TL;DR

Influencer marketing is facing growing scepticism and declining effectiveness due to saturation, consumer fatigue, and eroding trust. Once seen as a way to reach ad-averse audiences with authentic endorsements, the tactic now often feels like traditional advertising in disguise. Scandals, overexposure, and performance doubts are fuelling a backlash—yet the channel still holds value when used thoughtfully.

🔍 MY THOUGHTS

“Oversaturation, consumer fatigue, and declining trust are challenging the future of influencer-driven advertising.”
➡️With scale comes noise. We've frequently discussed the idea that endlessly throwing budget at the top 10% of content creators (and therefore audiences) is not a sustainable strategy (if we can even call it that) and will erode trust. The idea that rented audiences will automatically trust whatever you throw at them is quickly losing momentum.

“Influencer marketing still holds power, and value for brands. But its influence is often overstated, and we’re now seeing diminishing returns.”
➡️ Spot on. When content creators are treated as tactical media buys focusing on short-term results, you’ll find yourself in a race to the bottom chasing more efficient metrics until the investment into content creators simply stops making sense, and loses its value entirely.

“This almost reflexive, negative response is called ‘influencer fatigue,’ fueled by the overwhelming wave of promotional content on social media—and a growing annoyance with influencers themselves.”
➡️ If audiences are skipping your ad as fast as they used to mute TV commercials, it’s time to rethink the format. This is exactly why creators need more creative control, and why brands must shift from pure promotion to value-driven collaboration.

💡 Bottom line:

This article in no way shape or form suggests that influencer marketing has lost its edge, instead I would argue that it makes a case for lazy strategy losing its edge.

My thought has always been that the future lies in long-term strategy, layered influence (earned, owned, paid), and creator-led storytelling.

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🥤Olipop turns fans into influencers for pennies with PR boxes on Amazon

📌 TL;DR

Olipop is running a summer campaign that flips the traditional influencer playbook by targeting everyday consumers instead of just creators. The "Time Travel Travel Agency" transforms an Austin motel into decade-themed suites, while 5,000 VIP boxes are sold on Amazon for just 5 cents each—giving regular people the "influencer unboxing experience." The strategy appears designed to generate authentic social buzz while subtly addressing competitor Poppi's recent PR misstep of sending expensive vending machines only to popular creators.

🔍 MY THOUGHTS

"A focus on everyday consumers sees Olipop turning the traditional influencer model on its head... in a way that could help it form more authentic connections while boosting social media chatter."
➡️The biggest question I have here is that if activating all layers of influence is not considered part of the influencer model - then what is?

"[Referring to their previous activation that included sending vending machines to content creators] Some critics argued that the brand could have given the pricey machines to people more in need, such as nurses, hospital workers and teachers." ➡️Olipop clearly (to some extent, at least) learned from the misstep. Widening the net and running on an inclusive versus exclusive influencer approach will most likely fight off some of the previous negative sentiment, and shows they are proactive.

💡 Bottom line:

This approach isn't revolutionary, it's foundational. What they're doing isn't disrupting influencer marketing, instead they are showcasing that a true influencer marketing strategy encompasses all layers of influence.

By opening their activation to everyone, they are acknowledging a basic influencer marketing truth: influence exists across the pyramid.

I’m a big fan of providing anyone the opportunity to discover & experience a brand on a personal level versus exclusively through the lens of a content creator - and using democratised influencer mechanics that could turn anyone into a genuine fan based on a positive experience is something I would greatly encourage.

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🏭Industry Headlines

📖‘Not just transactional’: Dove on the value of treating influencers as ‘strategic partners’

“They’re [creators] definitely a critical part of everything that we do and I wouldn’t even say just from an amplification of a campaign perspective,” says Dove PR and social influencer director, Sarah Potter.

📖Influencers Step Onto Center Stage at Cannes

Big brands are increasingly courting social media stars, who descended on a major annual festival in France to pitch themselves to advertisers.

📖Greece Leverages Influencers to Boost UK Tourism Amid Growing Demand

Greece is experiencing a surge in travel interest from the UK, with Crete, Rhodes, and Halkidiki leading the charge in online searches and bookings. As the peak summer season approaches, the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) is strategically leveraging British influencers to highlight authentic, sustainable travel experiences and position Greece as a top destination in an increasingly competitive market.

📖Crafting an influencer campaign that goes beyond social channels

“How do we make sure that (influencer campaigns) are high-touch, holistic, driven by data and insights and not operating in a silo?” Mittag said. “We see a lot (of clients) operating influencer in one channel and not thinking about how it feeds into other channels.”