The best influencer marketing examples have one thing in common: they give creators and well-known personalities a real role, rather than just a script to read. The ten campaigns below – five well-documented international cases and five Swedish campaigns run by Collabri – show the patterns that matter heading into 2027: creators turned into partners and storefronts, celebrities who play with their own image, launches built for both organic and paid reach, and long-term ambassadorships that grow sales over time.

For each example we describe what the brand did, the published result and the lesson for your own campaigns. International results come from the brands, their agencies or credible trade media, and are listed under Sources.

Which international influencer campaigns should brands learn from?

1. Vaseline Verified: what happens when a brand verifies creators’ hacks?

Vaseline noticed that people were sharing millions of posts – mainly on TikTok, but also on Instagram – using its petroleum jelly in unexpected ways. Instead of ignoring the trend, the brand had its scientists test the viral hacks and gave the ones that worked the title “Vaseline Verified”, while unsafe hacks were called out. According to Kate Godbout, head of the Vaseline brand for North America, the campaign delivered a 43 percent uplift in sales and more than 136 million views. It won the Social & Creator Grand Prix at Cannes Lions 2025.

Lesson: listen to what creators already say about your product, and build the campaign around it.

2. Michael CeraVe: can a celebrity prank sell skincare?

CeraVe and Ogilvy PR New York turned the similarity between the brand name and actor Michael Cera into a weeks-long online mystery, with Cera seemingly claiming to be the brand’s founder – before a Super Bowl spot made the point that CeraVe is developed with dermatologists, not by Michael Cera. According to Contagious, the campaign earned 32 billion impressions and a 25 percent increase in sales, and it took the Social & Influencer Grand Prix at Cannes Lions 2024.

Lesson: a celebrity who is willing to play with their own image creates conversation that paid media alone cannot buy.

3. Dunkin’ and Charli D’Amelio: what happens when a creator gets her own product?

In 2020, Dunkin’ put TikTok star Charli D’Amelio’s regular order on the menu as “The Charli”. According to Dunkin’, as reported by Tubefilter, launch day brought a 57 percent increase in daily app downloads and a 20 percent lift in cold brew sales, followed by a 45 percent surge the day after, and the chain sold hundreds of thousands of the drinks in the first five days.

Lesson: co-created products give creators a genuine reason to talk about the brand – and give fans a reason to buy.

4. e.l.f. Cosmetics: can a brand create the song everyone uses?

e.l.f. was the first brand to commission original music for a TikTok hashtag challenge with “Eyes. Lips. Face.” in 2019. According to e.l.f., the #EyesLipsFace challenge passed 4 billion views on TikTok, and people created over 2.8 million videos, with celebrities joining in.

Lesson: give creators a format they can make their own, and the community will do the distribution.

5. McDonald’s and Travis Scott: how far can a celebrity order go?

In September 2020, McDonald’s launched the Travis Scott Meal, the rapper’s own order. McDonald’s reported that its marketing investments and promotional activity drove low double-digit comparable sales growth in the US in September, and CNBC attributed the quarter’s US sales rise to the Travis Scott promotion.

Lesson: an authentic, simple link between a personality and the product scales across restaurants, social media and culture.

Which Swedish campaigns show the same patterns?

6. Coca-Cola Loves Tacos: why use duos instead of one face?

For Coca-Cola Loves Tacos, Collabri paired well-known Swedish duos – Pernilla Wahlgren and Sofia Wistam, Carolina Gynning and Carina Berg, and Mia Skäringer and Sanna Persson. The chemistry between the pairs made the content feel like a natural part of everyday life, and the activation reached more than 4.5 million views and 6,300 interactions.

Lesson: relationships between personalities make content more entertaining – and reach several audiences at once.

7. Fazer Domino: how do you launch with creators and paid media together?

For the Swedish launch of Fazer Domino, Collabri combined creators on TikTok and Instagram with a paid strategy from day one. The campaign reached more than 3.5 million views and 14,000 interactions.

Lesson: plan paid amplification and usage rights into the creator agreements from the start, so the best content can be scaled.

8. Ellos at Tough Viking: why put celebrities in a real challenge?

Ellos brought Carolina Gynning and Carina Berg to the obstacle race Tough Viking. Showing two well-known personalities taking on a real physical challenge in the brand’s clothes gave the content energy and credibility, and it reached more than 756,000 views.

Lesson: real experiences beat studio set-ups – the product is shown in use, not just shown.

9. Amazon “Summer Hero”: can a campaign honour a local hero?

For Amazon’s “Summer Hero”, Collabri worked with Marko “Markoolio” Lehtosalo to honour Jocke Sundqvist in Nacka. Putting a local hero at the centre gave the campaign warmth and a story people wanted to share, with a recognisable face to carry it.

Lesson: celebrities can lend their reach to other people’s stories – which often builds more goodwill than talking about the brand itself.

10. Bagliora and Carolina Gynning: what does a long-term ambassadorship deliver?

Bagliora chose an ambassadorship with Carolina Gynning rather than one-off posts. The partnership coincided with the brand’s strongest year in both sales and engagement.

Lesson: a recurring face builds familiarity and trust that single campaigns rarely achieve.

What do the best influencer marketing examples have in common?

• A real role for the talent – as co-creator, product partner, storyteller or self-ironic star.

• An insight from real behaviour: hacks people already share, an order a star already drinks, a song people want to use.

• A plan for scale: paid media, PR, events or retail that takes the best content further.

• Clear commercial follow-through: shoppable content, a product on the menu or a measurable sales goal.

What changes in influencer marketing campaigns toward 2027?

• Creators become storefronts. Influencer Marketing Hub reports that TikTok Shop accounts for 66.17 percent of platform selections among brands using social commerce, so expect more campaigns where creator content and checkout sit side by side.

• Creator content moves into paid media. According to CreatorIQ, creator content now makes up 44 percent of brands’ paid media creative on average. Campaigns will increasingly be planned for both organic and paid distribution from the start.

• Celebrities and creators in the same plan. CeraVe and Coca-Cola Loves Tacos show that recognisable faces create the spark, while creators add volume and depth.

• Longer partnerships. The Bagliora ambassadorship and Dunkin’s co-created product point the same way: fewer one-off posts, more recurring faces and shared products.

• Stricter transparency. In an EU-wide sweep, only one in five influencers systematically disclosed commercial content, and AI-generated content must be disclosed under the EU AI Act, with the final requirements in force on 2 February 2027. The best campaigns of 2027 will be clearly labelled.

Key takeaways

• The strongest examples give creators and celebrities a real role, not just a script.

• Build on real behaviour and insights from social media.

• Combine recognisable faces with creators, and plan paid amplification from the start.

• Long-term ambassadorships and co-created products often outperform one-off posts.

• Prepare for 2027: creator commerce, creator content in paid media and stricter disclosure rules.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good example of influencer marketing?

Vaseline Verified is one of the strongest recent examples: the brand tested creators’ viral hacks, verified the ones that worked and celebrated them, delivering a 43 percent sales uplift according to the brand.

What makes an influencer campaign successful?

A clear goal, talent that genuinely fits the brand, creative freedom, a plan for paid amplification and a way to measure results. The examples above all combine a strong idea with a real role for the people involved.

Do celebrity campaigns work on social media?

Yes, when the celebrity meets the platform on its terms. Michael CeraVe and Coca-Cola Loves Tacos show that self-irony, chemistry and everyday situations perform far better than a celebrity reading a script.

How do you measure an influencer campaign?

Pick KPIs that match the goal: reach and brand lift for awareness, engagement and saves for consideration, and tracked links, promo codes or sales data for conversion. Compare organic and paid results separately.

Want to create the next campaign worth talking about – with Sweden’s best-known personalities, creators and paid media in one plan? Contact Collabri at info@collabri.se. You can also browse our talents and client projects.

Read also

• Case: Amazon’s Summer Hero – Markoolio Surprises a Local Hero

• Celebrity Endorsement Examples That Worked – and Why

• Case: How Gynning & Berg Took On Tough Viking for Ellos

• Celebrity Endorsements or Creator Collaborations? How to Choose

• What Is Influencer Marketing? A Complete Guide for 2027

Sources

• Marketing Dive – Inside Vaseline’s social-first, innovation-led marketing playbook (2025): https://www.marketingdive.com/news/inside-vaselines-social-first-innovation-led-marketing-playbook/805872/

• Contagious – Cannes Lions 2025: Social & Creator winners (2025): https://www.contagious.com/en/article/news-and-views/cannes-lions-2025-social-and-creator-winners

• Contagious – Cannes Lions 2024: Social & Influencer winners (2024): https://www.contagious.com/en/article/news-and-views/cannes-lions-2024-social-influencer-winners

• Ogilvy – Ogilvy Wins Grand Prix for CeraVe’s ‘Michael CeraVe’ and JCDecaux’s ‘Meet Marina Prieto’ (2024): https://www.ogilvy.com/ideas/ogilvy-wins-grand-prix-ceraves-michael-cerave-jcdecauxs-meet-marina-prieto

• Tubefilter – Charli D’Amelio Sells Hundreds Of Thousands Of Signature Dunkin’ Drinks, Triggers 57% Spike In App Downloads (2020): https://www.tubefilter.com/2020/09/23/charli-damelio-dunkin-donuts-sales-app-downloads/

• e.l.f. Beauty – iLL Wayno Releases New Video “Eyes. Lips. Face. (e.l.f.)” Feat. Holla FyeSixWun in Partnership With e.l.f. Cosmetics (2019): https://investor.elfbeauty.com/stock-and-financial/press-releases/landing-news/2019/12-16-2019-073719314

• McDonald’s Corporation – Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1: Third quarter 2020 sales update (2020): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/63908/000006390820000066/exhibit991-10082020.htm

• CNBC – McDonald’s U.S. quarterly same-store sales rise 4.6%, fueled by Travis Scott promotion (2020): https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/08/mcdonalds-us-q3-2020-same-store-sales-rise-4point6percent.html

• Influencer Marketing Hub – Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report 2026 (2026): https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketing-benchmark-report/

• CreatorIQ – Creator Content Now Powers 44% of Paid Media Creative (2026): https://www.creatoriq.com/press/releases/creator-powered-funnel-report-2026

• Law Society Gazette Ireland – Influencers face probes after EU-wide sweep (2024): https://www.lawsociety.ie/gazette/top-stories/2024/february/influencers-face-probes-after-eu-wide-sweep

• Paul, Weiss – EU Finalises Transparency Rules for AI-Generated Content (2026): https://www.paulweiss.com/insights/client-memos/eu-finalises-transparency-rules-for-ai-generated-content

This article was written with the help of AI and reviewed by Collabri.