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Well folks, we’ve done it: we’ve reached the end of 2023. Or at least the end of this newsletter’s coverage of 2023, because I’m certainly not sending out any emails on the sure-to-be-email-friendly dates of December 25 or Jan 1. You know I get paid per open, right?
(Note that I do not actually get paid per open. But looking at the numbers we’ve been posting recently, maybe I should…)
Anyway, sometimes the timing of the holidays just ends up like that, and alas, you won’t be hearing from me again until January 8th, 2024. How will you manage? How will I manage? And why does writing ‘2024’ look so weird? That can’t be a real date.
Answering all those questions is 2024 Alex’s problem. For now, let’s focus on looking back at 2023—and what a glorious year it was!
Disclaimer: “glorious” refers only to the context of influencer marketing content, not geopolitical affairs, the economy, or society at large. You can find other newsletters to tell you about how those domains were a little less than glorious in 2023. And honestly, some of the influencer marketing content was kind of wack, too. But hey, new year new me, trying to be positive—glorious it is! Let’s go to the highlight reel!
The Top Brands of All Time (of the Year)
More than any previous year, 2023’s major pop cultural touchstones drew from the creator economy, emphasizing the degree to which influencer marketing has permeated all aspects of modern life. And if that sounds depressing, try to remember that these creators ultimately pay my salary—and if you’re reading this, probably yours, too.
For the purposes of this recap, we’re going to go month by month, picking out the key influencer marketing story and what it indicated about the brand, industry, or creators involved. Hopefully we’ll cover a little something for everyone! If you like what you see, and appreciate your brand or industry’s conclusion, send an email to alex.rawitz@creatoriq.com. If you don’t, address your complaint to fakename.notgonnareadit@creatoriq.com.
Alright, without further ado, let’s take a trip down memory lane.
January
When I first started writing about the creator economy, back in 2016 when it wasn’t even called that yet, brands were just beginning to partner with creators on broader campaigns and splashy initiatives. One of the forerunners of this emerging symbiosis* was the much-ballyhooed** Influencer Trip, in which a rag-tag team of creators was sent to an exotic locale to tout products, get spa treatments, and presumably learn some valuable life lessons through the power of friendship.
*I bet you don’t read another newsletter that starts sentences with “one of the forerunners of this emerging symbiosis,” now do you?
**Or one that uses words like ‘much-ballyhooed.’ Come on now.
The Influencer Trip quickly emerged as a staple influencer marketing strategy for multiple beauty brands, but if you ask anybody, they’ll identify one brand in particular as a master of the genre: Tarte.
The #TrippinWithTarte series was one of the beauty industry’s signature influencer marketing campaigns, sure to spark EMV and conversation on social whenever and wherever it was deployed. Tarte’s trips were so iconic that back in the day they even provided the spiritual inspiration for one of Tribe Dynamics’ quarterly, which managed to generate only slightly less controversy than some of Tarte’s official trips.
But some funny things happened on the way to the present. One, consumers started to prefer unbranded, unproblematic, unlavish creator content, to the point that ‘authentic’ is now the word of the year. Two, there was a whole global pandemic that you might have heard something about, which sort of threw a damper on flying groups of strangers to various destinations. Still, you can only keep a good trip down for so long, and in January 2023, #TrippinWithTarte came roaring back via a splashy journey to Dubai. After such a long hiatus, would the old tradition win over a new, more politically minded, TikTok-savvy audience?
Well, the jury is still out on that. But you know what it did do? The same thing it’s always done: juice up Tarte’s EMV. Let’s go to the graphs!
Tarte peaked early this year, with its $29.6M EMV haul in January representing a highwater mark for 2023 as a whole. While the brand came close in April, when its Turks and Caicos #TrippinWithTarte getaway helped inspire $25.1M EMV, kicking off the year with the return of an iconic beauty series proved valuable for Tarte.
No matter the current discourse on Influencer Trips, one thing is clear: they still have the power to drive EMV for beauty brands. And if that’s not the whole point of sending a group of creators to Dubai, then what is?
February
From the world of beauty to the world of sports! Sorry if this strikes a large portion of this newsletter’s readership as a downgrade. Let’s sweeten the deal a little bit: what if I also sprinkle some beauty in there?
February saw unmatched success for two very different franchises across two very different verticals: the Kansas City Chiefs and Fenty Beauty. As much as I’m sure Patrick Mahomes would appreciate the long-lasting strength of the Hella Thicc Volumizing Mascara when he cries to the refs, the reasons for these franchises’ mutual success is much simpler: the Super Bowl, of course!
In a sense, both the Chiefs and Fenty Beauty won the biggest game in American sports. In a more literal sense, only the Chiefs won, but if you follow beauty gurus on social media, they might have a different idea.
Let’s go first to the Chief’s Impressions throughout 2023—in other words, how many times each month that content about the Chiefs was viewed by digital consumers. Turns out, winning the Super Bowl is a great way to attract attention.
Yep, that’s the Chiefs casually crossing the 1.0B mark in February. And that, presumably, was the last time anyone talked about the Chiefs in the year 2023. I mean, they won the Super Bowl—what could be bigger than that?
Another great way to attract attention is by performing at the Super Bowl Halftime Show while pregnant, preferably wearing an iconic red jumpsuit. Did Rihanna’s act propel Fenty Beauty to unmatched heights in February 2023? Would I be asking that question if it didn’t?
As 2024 approaches, will the Chiefs or Fenty Beauty be able to return to their February 2023 levels? For Fenty Beauty, it would require another ultra-viral moment from Rihanna, which can probably be achieved anytime she does anything. For the Chiefs, it would require a competent wide receiver corps. I am not a fortune teller, but for now, advantage goes to Fenty Beauty.
March
From beauty to sports to…more sports. Sorry folks. But you can see what month this is. To not talk about sports in March would be…craziness.
Countless brands from across a wide range of verticals got in on March Madness, which always represents an advertising bonanza. But maybe no brand saw a greater boost from the tournament than Nike.
Nike and Jordan Brand sponsor a majority of college athletic programs, so it's no surprise that Nike beat out its apparel competitors during the weeks-long program. To celebrate March Madness, Nike launched its "NCAA Tourney Gear" collection, featuring a range of college-branded apparel for fans to support their favorite teams. The result? One of the highest single-month impressions total for any brand this year.
Nike garnered 1.3B Impressions in March—more than the Chiefs saw for winning the Super Bowl. So I guess March Madness is sort of like the Super Bowl of sporting events.
Given all the other massive campaigns and star athletes that Nike works with throughout the year, it came as a surprise, at least to this newsletter writer, that March Madness still presents such a lopsided opportunity for the iconic athletic apparel brand. To think that Nike sees so much momentum in March is…insanity.
April
Alright already, say all the hypothetical newsletter readers who don’t care much for sports. Can we talk about something else?
But of course. How about one of the world’s top fashion retailers making a splash at the world’s most famous music festival? There’s not a court or a ball or a pair of Nikes in sight.
Yes, I’m talking about Revolve Fest Coachella 2023, which brought together some of the hottest creators in beauty and fashion. Their mission? Taking pictures of themselves standing in the desert in various outfits. And boy did they deliver.
Revolve closed the year at No. 2 in our EMV rankings of fashion retailers, falling short of No. 1-ranking Amazon Fashion. But in April? Different story.
That’s a pretty lone, stark peak right there. It’s pretty much the K2 of fashion retailer influencer marketing metrics graphs. (I’m, like, really good at analogies.)
Clearly, Revolve has mastered the art of the one-month activation. However, the retailer’s execution of its splashy Coachella strategy wasn’t perfect, because my invitation must have gotten lost in the mail. That was before I started writing this newsletter, though—I’m sure in 2024 the mail system will work much better.
May
So we’ve got Beauty, Sports, and Fashion, but what have our friends in Food & Beverage been getting up to all this time?
Here’s a little influencer marketing industry secret: May is a bit of a slow month, content-wise. Caught between Fashion Weeks and Coachella and the ramp-up for summer, and with nary a sports championship in sight, it’s often a period in which brands take a breather.
But you know what May does have? An excuse to drink tequila.
In searching for brands to profile for May, my weary eyes did not deceive me: that really was Cinco de Mayo driving year-high impressions figures for Patrón, Casamigos, and Jose Cuervo—aka Los Tres Mosqueteros de las Malas Decisiones. Behold the graph:
I’d love to map this against the performance of lime and salt brands, but unfortunately we don’t have that data on hand…yet.
And if you’re curious what makes Patrón spike again in November, check out our latest TTT.
Related: The Hottest Alcohol Brand You’ve Never Heard Of
June
Now we’re really getting into the swing of things. In June, the sun was out, the beach was beckoning, and a lovable plus-size icon propelled his franchise to new heights.
No, I’m not talking about Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets, though our data confirms that this was indeed the case:
I’m talking about a brand campaign that faithful readers of this newsletter will surely recall: in June, McDonald’s introduced a range of menu items themed around everyone’s favorite ‘large, purple, rotund being of indeterminate species,’ Grimace. (And yes, I am once again linking to the official McDonald’s wiki, because I’m still glad it exists. Shoutout to our friends at Fandom!)
Thanks to the Summer of Grimace 2023, McDonald’s enjoyed a Nuggets-esque surge in June, claiming the top spot in Food & Beverage and setting a range of personal bests for the year.
Thanks to the exploits of that purple, rotund being, McDonald’s joined Nike and the Kansas City Chiefs in our “1B+ Impressions in a Single Month” club.
This is an impressive accomplishment, achieved by just a handful of brands each year, and it should by no means be diminished by snarky jokesters like me. But our brand for July sure does make that achievement look like a pile of crap.
July
Did you hear about this whole Barbie movie? I didn’t see it, but apparently it was a big deal. Now could you imagine how much a brand would stand to make if a movie with that kind of cultural and economic footprint was made about that brand? It’d be crazy. But why would they make a movie about a brand?
Part of being good at the whole word thing is understanding when pictures do a better job of conveying the message. So here’s another graph:
Yes, that’s Barbie joining the 1B+ Impressions club in April and May, founding the 2B+ and 4B+ clubs in June and August, respectively, and peaking at a preposterous 13.0B Impressions in July. That’s like winning the Super Bowl 13 times. Somewhere, Tom Brady just woke up in a cold sweat.
You already know the EMV stats were crazy, too:
Barbie collected $616.6M EMV in July, narrowly outpacing the $597.1M EMV that it (she?) accumulated throughout the rest of the year.
In my seven years analyzing this space, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a phenomenon quite like this. I guess I better watch the movie, huh?
Also, poor Grimace—such a short time in the spotlight.
August
Speaking of phenomena, remember those two weeks when America cared about soccer?
When Argentinian superstar and athletic hobbit Lionel Messi came to Inter Miami CF, the world watched with bated breath as the formerly last-place team rattled off an impressive string of victories, led by Messi’s signature late-game heroics. Then I guess he got hurt or something, or their point differential wasn’t good enough, or maybe the season ended? I don’t know, I wasn’t following all that closely—it’s soccer, after all. But boy, those two weeks sure were cool.
You know who was especially excited about all that Messi Magic? AppleTV+, which offers an exclusive MLS Season Pass. See if you can identify the point at which viewers started tuning in:
For those glorious summer months, Apple TV+ reigned supreme. The service surged close to Netflix, and boasted a wider customer base than ever before. However, like most brands profiled in this newsletter, Apple TV+’s share of the cultural zeitgeist was short lived. But with another season kicking off soon, and Inter Miami’s quest for glory beginning anew, look for these numbers to rebound, or do whatever the soccer equivalent of a rebound is.
September
I regret to inform you that nothing much happened in September. Seriously—I looked around, and much like May, the month seemed to be a transitional lull, a break between the cultural tentpoles of summer and the ramp-up to the holiday season. But hey, we haven’t profiled a skincare brand yet. Does anything stand out amongst September’s top skincare brands by EMV?
Alright, we see you, CeraVe. But does the almighty line graph bear out that September was your best month of the year?
It’s a closer call than with other brands profiled in this newsletter, but at $11.2M EMV in September versus $11.1M EMV in July, my hopes were saved. But what did CeraVe get up to in September to spark this growth?
Why, it hosted the CeraVe Acne Academy, of course! The event brought together brand partners and leading dermatologists to promote acne solutions and debunk misinformation about skincare routines. Maybe it got a bit lost in the shuffle between Barbie and Messi and Grimace, but this was an important event, okay? It certainly would have mattered a lot more to my high school self than anything else in this newsletter.
October
Just as we’ve now shown love to our skincare family, we haven’t forgotten about our friends in the world of high fashion. October brought the conclusion of the starriest Paris Fashion Weeks in memory, and one brand in particular stole the show.
Mugler presented its Spring Summer 2024 collection in style, coming away with perhaps the most talked-about show of the buzzy event. Crafted by Mugler Creative Director Casey Cadwallader, the collection was inspired by marine life, leading to designs reminiscent of sea creatures. Further buoyed by an appearance from Paris Hilton—it being Paris Fashion Week, after all—Mugler set a 2023 record for Engagement:
Getting Paris Hilton and Angela Bassett to walk in your show will do that. Unfortunately, as with Revolve’s Coachella activation, my invitation to the show must have been lost in the mail. Oh well, there’s always next year.
November
It’s been a while since we talked about any major sports championship. Thankfully, the Texas Rangers won the World Series on November 1, thus giving me something to talk about for the month.
This might be the starkest contrast and steadiest rise for any brand in this newsletter. Nobody was hyping the Texas Rangers as a World Series threat during the offseason, or even for much of the season. But then they went out and did the thing, which very generously made for an aesthetically pleasing graph:
Finally, the up-and-to-the-right goodness I’ve always craved!
Note that, going by Impressions alone, one World Series is equal to 1/4 of a Super Bowl. It’s also equal to 1/52 of a Barbie movie, which has got to be kind of rough if you’re a baseball fan.
December
Oh boy, folks. Are you tired? I’m sure tired.
Hopefully you’ve learned a bit about 2023’s standout brands across a range of industries. How about one more virtual round of applause for our top brands?
- Tarte
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Fenty Beauty
- Nike
- Revolve
- Pátron
- Casamigos
- Jose Cuervo
- Denver Nuggets
- McDonald’s
- Barbie
- Apple TV+
- CeraVe
- Mugler
- Texas Rangers
You might have noticed that in all the graphs in this newsletter, there was no December. That’s because I’m writing these words, and you’re most likely reading them, in that same December. The month isn’t over yet, but I have at least one winner for you—not just for December, but for this year as a whole: this newsletter. And by extension, you, the reader. Give yourself a round of applause, too!
It’s been a true pleasure writing this newsletter in the tail-end of 2023, and I’m grateful for all the positive feedback and suggestions I’ve received. I can’t wait to bring you an even better newsletter in 2024.
Have a wonderful holiday season, and I’ll meet you back here in January.
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