Gone are the times when manufacturers seduced us via paper catalogues or big posters on the street! Now, they need to undertake a consumer-first mindset and win us over utilizing the instruments and codecs we truly like. Whether or not via product placements with our favorite influencers, by producing their very own films, or by creating immersive experiences at festivals, manufacturers are preventing it out to see who takes house the Palme d’Or for greatest thought.
“I’m a Barbie woman” Mattel’s masterstroke
With Greta Gerwig’s movie, Mattel didn’t accept a emblem or a close-up shot of a pink field: the model produced, wrote, styled, and marketed its universe with surgical precision. All the things within the movie is branding, and all that branding turns into gasoline for content material: from the viral Barbie Selfie Generator and the “This Barbie is…” development, to the Airbnb Dreamhouse and fashion-beauty collabs shared by hundreds of thousands.
The outcome?
Over 1.5 million user-generated posts and a world phenomenon carried by followers, accomplice manufacturers, and TikTok. The movie crushed the numbers: $356M in 5 days, $775M in lower than two weeks.
However past the numbers, it’s the strategy that fascinates: immersive, omnichannel, embodied storytelling the place Barbie turns into an influencer, a personality, and a cultural object of want. Barbie is not only a doll, this movie turned her right into a feminist determine. Mattel managed to reinvent its picture past the hot-pink cliché !
Underneath the Coachella solar, Sol de Janeiro took festival-goers on a visit
At Coachella 2025, Sol de Janeiro didn’t simply hand out samples: the model constructed a sensory temple in the midst of the desert. In an area referred to as Casa Cheirosa, actually “aromatic home”, guests had been immersed in six zones impressed by Brazil, designed like scent portals, reinvented fragrance cubicles made for Instagram. Inside, the model’s signature scent Cheirosa 62, guided experiences, sunny playlists, and infinite selfies.
The outcomes?
Over 12,000 festival-goers engaged, 11,000 mini-products given away, and viral movies naming it the “best-smelling spot” in any respect of Coachella.
Nevertheless it wasn’t simply concerning the setup. The model nailed what others typically miss: turning bodily expertise into natural content material. Selfies turned curated moments, Reels appeared choreographed, and each TikTok became a lived, shared, and plausible advert. Sol de Janeiro created a visible and emotional stage, each video shot there was a mini-commercial. Surroundings, sunshine, and free goodies: that’s how the model seduced and capitalised on an area like Coachella !
+=+ The profitable technique of Kiehl’s and Caudalie with Léna Conditions
Léna Conditions doesn’t have to say she’s working with a model — she lives with it. In Might 2025, she roamed the streets of Paris in a yellow NYC-style cab handy out Kiehl’s kits with Marcus (her loyal sidekick and greatest good friend) using shotgun, a GoPro in hand and sunshine pouring over the dashboard. Nothing felt compelled, nothing was introduced as a “sponsored publish”. Only a filmed day, just a few laughs, and a neighborhood immediately recognising the acquainted codes of her August vlogs. The feedback poured in, excited and heartfelt.
What appeared spontaneous was in reality constructed on belief: the sort of affect that’s embodied and nearly invisible. On the similar time, Léna appeared in Paris metro advertisements for Caudalie and their Vinoperfect serum, a marketing campaign mixing conventional posters with Reels and TikTok. This sort of affect isn’t confined anymore, it’s all over the place !
It’s not a advice; it’s an extension of the particular person. The model turns into greater than a product: it’s a story filter via the influencer’s life. And if Léna is our heroine, then Kiehl’s and Caudalie are the lovable supporting roles. Affect isn’t a relay, it’s a starring position !
Right this moment, manufacturers don’t slip between content material, they turn out to be the content material.
They make us stay tales, generally extra enjoyable than the movie itself. We like, we movie, we share, with out even realising we’re extending a marketing campaign. Possibly advertising and marketing is only a actually, actually good efficiency !
