Trends defining a new era of creator collaboration for FMCG brands
Reports
In the competitive FMCG market, it’s more important than ever for brands to align themselves with the right creators, telling the right stories, in order to create lasting impressions amongst consumers with fast-changing tastes and preferences.
We Are Social has launched a special FMCG edition of ‘Next Gen Influence’, a report examining trends impacting the creator landscape, and what these mean for brands.
In this blog, we’ll outline the key trends from our report whilst highlighting some FMCG-friendly creators that are embodying them. To read the full trends, as well as all the featured creators and the brand implications, download your free copy now.
The Right to Reinvention
Social loves a ‘journey’, but in today’s creator economy, this focus on the journey has complicated our idea of authenticity. Authenticity used to require consistency, but today – with child influencers growing up, and mainstays ageing out – audiences are used to watching people change. In this context, creators are planning their evolutions to draw in new viewers.
Mei Pang, a make-up artist and tattoo enthusiast, has built her social following around her unique tutorials, as she explores new modes of self-expression that redefine beauty standards. But she’s also won the love of audiences for being open about her journey of sobriety.
Aspirational content is the bread and butter of influence. But today – with most people striving for stability, not luxury – aspiration is having to change shape to stay realistic. Now, creators peddling ‘the good life’ are having to reappraise what that life looks like to make it feel relevant for real people. This means lifestyle content that’s less about glamour and luxury, and more about calm and stability.
Old Time Hawkey, shares his vision of a slowed-down, rustic lifestyle in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, surrounded by nature and his two dogs. His content conveys a passion for the outdoors, cooking and old-school movies – a refreshing alternative perspective to urban-dominated social.
In recent years we’ve seen creators engage in acts of altruism to demonstrate their ethical credentials – a trend embodied by Mr. Beast’s loud charitable endeavours. But in this context, there’s increasing concern that philanthropy is being used for the purpose of online clout. As audiences become sceptical of moral posturing, creators are swapping work that claims values for work that actively disrupts or challenges the status quo.
Ghetto Gastro are a culinary collective blending food, art and activism to celebrate Black culture and challenge social narratives. Through social media, they have become leaders in the culinary world as well as in social change, using food as a medium to address issues like racial justice, economic empowerment, and identity. They emphasise the importance of partnering with brands who are truly invested in their cause.
On today’s social channels, a new wave of culturally impactful creativity is at play, driven forward by creators who’ve mastered ‘very online’ modes of communicating. These approaches – from making work inspired by fanfic to repackaging vulnerability as entertainment – are pushing the creative bar higher for everyone, but especially for brands, who have to be as entertaining as their human counterparts, but without the human charm or licence for imperfection offered to real people.
Partnering with credible figures from within online fandoms allows brands to play a more meaningful role than simply name dropping or piggybacking on their popularity. Emma Rigby for example is a makeup artist from the hit Netflix series Bridgerton, who shares tutorials to help fans imitate the looks of their favourite characters.
The ‘dead internet theory’ is one of many laments of how bots, trend cycles, and garbage content have thrust online creativity into crisis. For today’s creators – who find themselves wading through a sea of content that’s loud and fast-moving, but often lacking in creative merit – it’s difficult to stand out. As the next generation of creators navigate this space, they’re leaning into the unusual and extreme, trying to break the internet’s unspoken rules to make an impact.
To combat this sea of sameness, creators like Nathan Cintron are forging their own path of obscure creativity, creating foodie reviews inspired by classic 90’s hip-hop and R&B.
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