5 of The Most Memorable Influencer Collaborations

Santa has officially put his feet up, the NYE hangovers are gone, (we hope), and unloved Bounty’s are left rattling around in Celebrations tins everywhere. And, whether we are ready or not, the festivities are over as we all head back to the office ready to conquer 2019.

Most businesses and brands will be coming back with new goals, targets and some New Year’s resolutions in tow. For some, this will be small steps, while for others it will be larger scale campaigns and projects such as investing in influencer marketing.

Fast becoming a priority on the ‘to-do list’ for businesses around the globe, influencer marketing is well worth the investment with 84% of marketers judging influencer marketing to be effective and $7.65 the average media value earning per $1 spent.

Whilst we can be sure that there will be plenty of exciting influencer and brand collaborations to come in 2019, we have taken a look back on five of the most memorable campaigns and collaborations from 2018.

1. Morphe Cosmetics and James Charles

Global cosmetic brand, Morphe, are certainly no newbies when it comes to the world of influencers. Over the years their products have been put under the microscope and been tried and tested by some of the biggest beauty names on YouTube.

Having become a brand synonymous for its vibrant eyeshadow colours, Morphe attracts the most daring of beauty bloggers. In mid-2018, the brand announced they would be joining forces with the global sensation that is James Charles, for a 34-makeup brush collection as well as a vibrant palette.

The 19-year-old makeup influencer has garnered 12,642,263 YouTube subscribers and 12.5m Instagram followers. Offering up a huge audience for Morphe to tap into, his palettes were launched in November, and in as little as 10 minutes the entire stock had sold out – something that reinforced the sheer power of this relationship.

2. Daniel Wellington

We couldn’t do this kind of blog without featuring Daniel Wellington now, could we?

You have probably seen Daniel Wellington watches and cuffs on the wrists of many famous names. Why? Because influencer marketing is the brand’s sole form of advertising activity and has been since they first started out in 2011. Daniel Wellington relies heavily on celebrities and influencers to draw in their customers, and now, as a result, the brand is expected to be worth around one billion pounds.

The brand’s initial strategy was simple – target multiple ‘small’, ‘micro-influencers’ rather than just one globally recognised name. That business model has paid off, and now, as the brand has seen great success their marketing team are in a position where they can continue to attract these small influencers while also introducing some larger names into the mix.

In 2018 the prominent names Daniel Wellington have worked with included; Zoella (10.3 million Instagram followers), Alfie Deyes (4.3 million Instagram followers) and of course, the Instagram queen, Kylie Jenner (123.2 million Instagram followers) to name just a few.

3. In the Style with Dani Dyer, Emily Shak, Laura Jade Stone and CC Clarke

We have all flicked through magazines and spotted our favourite celebs in some stunning garment and proceeded to scour the High Street for a dupe within our price range. So, while celebrity endorsements in within the fashion industry are nothing new, what is new is online retailers such as In The Style offering up some very affordable clothing collaborations.

Last summer, the brand really up their game when they snatched up 2018 Love Island winner, Dani Dyer. The reality-star-turned-influencer saw her Instagram subscribers rocket to 3.4 million and In The Style wanted a slice of the action.

Dani’s collection included a variety of styles for women of all sizes and went live on the retailer’s site in October. It was an instant hit and after just a few hours of the early access shopping being active, the website already racked up half a million hits. The record-breaking collaboration continued as 80,000 people had signed up to buy pieces prior to its launch with 5,000 units sold in just two hours.

In The Style has eight active celeb/influencer collaborations on their site at the moment with 2018 seeing their busiest year for collections yet as they teamed up with model and influencer, Emily Shak, Australian fashion blogger, Laura Jade Stone and beauty blogger CC Clarke.

4. Puma’s #DoYou campaign & SG X Puma collection

2018 was hailed the ‘year of the woman’ as more and more women were finding their voices and joining the fight for gender equality.

One brand which has been championing women with its celebrity and influencer led campaigns for several years is sportswear giants, Puma. Their on-going #DoYou campaign seeks to “champion individuality and the imperative need to defy inequality, expectations and standards” and “about living life your way.”

Over the years, their campaign has been backed by a number of strong women including model and campaign ambassador Cara Delevingne. In 2018 #DoYou continued, this time centring around six female athletes who demonstrate that women can make their own rules.

At the end of 2018, the brand announced a brand-new ambassador in the form of recently retired Victoria’s Secret Angel, Adriana Lima.

Puma certainly don’t scrimp when it comes to paying for the best of the best which they demonstrated back in 2017 when they went straight to the top recruiting THE most followed female celeb on Instagram (144 million followers) Selena Gomez, as their ambassador.

The relationship, which is worth some $30 million, only strengthened in 2018 when, in November, Selena unveiled her ‘Strong Girl' collection for Puma. The collection, called SG X Puma is inspired by legacies left by women and consists of modern pieces to make them feel confident.

When speaking about the collaboration Selena said: “Strength is something I try to own every day. I wanted to create a collection that makes women feel sexy, empowered and strong. I love every piece that I designed and hope it inspired others to find their inner strong girl.”

5. Benefit’s trip to the Maldives

Benefit Cosmetics started 2018 with a BANG, quite literally, as the luxury beauty brand launched their BADgal Bang mascara. To mark the launch, the brand jetted a number of high-profile US beauty bloggers off to the Maldives for an all expenses paid trip.

The specially curated group of female beauty bloggers included Samantha Maria and Jayde Pierce. The group were put up in a stunning villa, treated to special excursions and had the most Instagram-able feeds for the week they were out there.

Of course, it wasn’t just about soaking up the sun. While they were out there, the influencers promoted the brand’s new product and with a combined following of 2,608,400 on Instagram, each and every one of their posts gave Benefit massive exposure.

It may, however, have been remembered for other reasons including the negative press attention the trip received. Benefit came under scrutiny for spending in the region of a six-figure sum on the trip. But, that’s not really fazed the cosmetic brand as sales on their mascara continue to soar nearly one year on.

2018 has certainly set the benchmark high for new influencer campaigns and collaborations, but with the New Year now well underway, it’s only a matter of time until we see who the big brands are partnering with this year.

Influencer Matchmaker are experts in managing and delivering influencer-led campaigns, so if you are looking to keep your 2019 New Year’s resolution of a ‘new year, new campaign’ contact our team on 0203 9580 427 or via contact@influencermatchmaker.co.uk.