lSocial networks have completely changed advertising and celebrities and influencers have become a key figure for brands when selling their products or services. Likewise, social platforms have changed the way people connect with relevant public figures, making them more accessible.
In this sense, these personalities are a key factor for brands that want to impact and interact with increasingly diverse audiences. To better understand the magnitude of these associations, SponsorUnited, sponsorship data platform, wanted to analyze brand collaborations with the 100 most followed celebrities and influencers in the world in its study Top 100 Most-Followed Celebrities & Influencers Report 2023–24.
This report has been built based on more than 650 brands, 1,350 offers and 3,000 social publications of celebrities and influencers carried out between September 2, 2023 and September 2, 2024. In it, SponsorUnited offers an exhaustive analysis of the brands that have successfully taken advantage of the influence of these public figures.
Some of the celebrities included in the study They are: Dwayne Johnson, Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, Kendall Jenner or Kevin Hart. And, as for the influencersthe report names figures such as MrBeast, Khaby Lame, Charli D’Amelio, Kimberly Loaiza, Whindersson Nunes and Zach King.
It should be noted that, We are surprised that the footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has not been includedsince he is the most followed person on social networks currently. But, here you have us to remind you 😉.
Key data
- In the last 12 months, the 29% of the brands active in the digital ecosystem were newcomers. Of them, only 4% obtained multiple sponsorship deals, while the majority signed just one.
- Consumer products, food products and clothing and accessorieswere the top three sponsorship categories for new brands. Additionally, these three represent 38% of new brands in the space.
- The brands of cosmetics and skin care continue dominating the sponsorship landscape with more than 65 agreements. In second place is the category of non-sports clothing and footwear (more than 60 agreements). Completing the top 5 we find e-commerce (26 agreements), television and streaming networks (27 agreements), and the web/app category (sports) with 25 agreements.
- L’Oréal and Walmart they got the greater number of agreements sponsorship with celebrities and influencers (6 offers each)followed by Amazon Prime and Airbnb (5 offers each).
- The 100 celebrities and influencers in the study earned more than 825 million followers on social networks last year. 70% of the growth was thanks to influencers (because of YouTube) and 30% was due to traditional celebrities.
- Mr Beast (Jimmy Donaldson) He is the influencer with the most followers and gained 182 million followers in the last year.
- Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson He is noted as the celebrity with the most followers and earned almost 10 million. Although in this regard, we must once again highlight that, really, the most followed celebrity is Cristiano Ronaldo.
- The celebrities and influencers between 25 and 44 years old they get the best brand deals and represent 58% of total transactions. 48% of the agreements were made by women and 52% by men.
Differentiation between influencers and celebrities
First of all, the SponsorUnited study differentiates two large segments of public figures on social networks, according to public recognition. On the one hand, the native influencers, whose profession and income is thanks to social networks; and on the other, celebrities, who have a large number of followers and run advertising campaigns, but their fame comes from their offline professions (singing, acting or businessmen). Politicians have been excluded from the study.
Within the group of 50 celebrities most followed, the majority of them are actors and actresses. However, there are also other professions, such as general celebrities, chefs, television and radio presenters, models, sports commentators, and comedians.
For their part, the 50 influencers most followed belong to different categories, the main one being comedy and entertainment, followed by outdoor and life style; children, family and parenting; technology and science; fashion; food and cooking; business and finance; beauty; reality TV; and photography and visual art.
Evolution and results of each group
When it comes to follower growth, influencers have revealed a follower growth 2.5 times that of celebrities. This has been largely driven by men under 18 and 25 to 34 years old.
Celebrities and influencers offer different strengths to the brand, although the celebrities from the list they still obtain more and better advertising agreements, with an average of 8 brand agreements; and they have many more followerswith around 163 million of followers. Meanwhile, the influencers They have an average of 6 offers advertising and approximately 50 million followers.
On the other hand, the study data reveal that there is a big difference in engagement of the audience among men and women influencers and celebrities. For example, the Men get more engagement with fewer associations. Although, when they exceed six agreements, engagement drops significantly.
As for the influencers womenthese remain stable in their engagement, regardless of the volume of collaborations. This may be because, although they manage a less diverse range of brands, they are involved in a category with greater engagement and loyalty from consumers: cosmetics and skin care.
Likewise, this fact highlights the need for brands to strategically manage their collaborationsespecially with male celebrities and influencers, in order to avoid oversaturation that can cause the impact to be diluted and the effectiveness of the campaigns to be reduced.
Most active brands in the digital space
The brands with the highest number of sponsorship agreements with celebrities and influencers are Walmart (6) and L’Oréal (6). These are followed by: Amazon Prime (5), Airbnb (5), State Farm (4), Sony Pictures Entertainment (4), Shein (4), Samsung (4), Pepsi (4) and Hulu (4).
The report highlights the case of State Farm, an American insurance company, which has long included celebrities in its advertising, an act that few competitors in its sector do.
The L’Oreal’s most successful partnership It was with the model and influencer Kendall Jenner who with only four publications generated more than 13 million interactions, making the campaign occupy sixth place in overall engagement and have the third most attractive publication within the cosmetics and skin care category.
Most active categories in the digital ecosystem
While it is true that influencers have an increasingly greater impact within social networks, brands still prefer traditional celebrities to build brand and consumer trust. Seven of the top eight categories continue to invest in established stars.
The categories with the highest number of advertising agreements are: cosmetics and skin care (66 agreements), fashion and non-sports shoes (62 agreements), television and streaming networks (27 offers) and eCommerce (26 agreements).
For their part, the celebrities who have gotten the most deals They are: Gordon Ramsay, Raffi Ahmad, Ryan Reynolds, Larissa Manoela and Kevin Hart.
While in the case of the influencers with more deals, these are: Charli D’Amelio, Dude Perfect, Dixie D’Amelio, Khaby Lame and MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson).
YouTube: the social network of influencers
Although it is true that celebrities have a greater number of followers on social networks, influencers have been able to take advantage of the power of YouTube. And the thing is, only three of the celebrities in the study (Jimmy Fallon, Raffi Ahmad and Gordon Ramsay) have YouTube channels with more than 10 million subscribers, in clear contrast to the 30 influencers who have overcome that barrier.
Among the influencersthe most used social networks are TikTok (36%), YouTube (34%) and Instagram (20%). While the latter is the most used (61%) among celebrities, followed far behind by Facebook (18%) and X (13%). Only 3% of celebrities use YouTube.
Samsung’s winning strategy on YouTube
Samsung has proven that brands can build a meaningful connection with audiences by relying on famous YouTubers and integrating their products into influencers’ content, rather than just showing ads before the video.
In this way, the three largest content creators on YouTube use Samsung phones in their videos for different purposes. Khaby Lame spent a day with Sebastian Mack and handed out Samsung gifts; Perfect Dude used a Samsung Galaxy to take notes; and MrBeast He used the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra as the camera for his official vlog. These contents obtained millions of views and comments.
Photo: Flux