How they did it. Facing over 3.5 million unverified beauty hacks on social, Ogilvy had Vaseline embrace the conversation instead of fighting it. Real scientists tested viral community hacks in a lab. The ones that worked earned a Vaseline Verified blue checkmark and were turned into paid social ads, while myths were debunked. Over 450 influencers co-created the content, so the campaign won the Social and Creator Grand Prix plus a Gold Lion at the 2025 Cannes Lions and was named Ad Age Social Campaign of the Year.

How they did it. The original e.l.f. x Mikayla Lip Duo had sold out in 18 minutes, so Viral Nation had to manufacture hype for the anniversary restock without a wedding to tie it to. They named beauty influencer Mikayla Nogueira e.l.f.'s CEO for a Day and built humorous content around it, including a mock phone call where she made the case to bring the product back on behalf of the community. The launch leaned on trending sounds and culturally relevant moments to reach as far as possible.

How they did it. With acquisition costs surging, NeoReach ran a performance-based cost per action program for FanDuel instead of flat sponsorships. They kept it always on, partnering with YouTube comedians and gamers who fit a US male audience aged 18 to 45. Creators invited their viewers to play alongside them in season-long fantasy leagues using affiliate tracking links with revenue-share incentives. The campaign helped FanDuel close the year with over 1.8 billion dollars in collected entry fees.

How they did it. NVIDIA and NeoReach ran a multi-platform campaign across Twitch, YouTube, and Twitter. They picked just 11 tech and gaming creators who genuinely understood the products, including Austin Evans, RoosterTeeth, and TechQuickie. The push kicked off with a Twitch livestream hosted by gaming influencer Syndicate, with a giveaway that sent viewers to follow NVIDIA on Twitter to enter, using each platform for what it does best.

The mechanism, step by step

1. 1

   Build an athlete roster, not a media buy

   Gymshark curated an internal team of influencer athletes instead of spending big on ads.

2. 2

   Require genuine belief in the brand

   Athletes had to be real supporters, so the content read as authentic to their followers.

3. 3

   Commit to long-term partnerships

   Creators stayed on as ambassadors rather than one-off posts, building loyalty over time.

4. 4

   Spark community challenges

   The 66-day #Gymshark66 habit challenge pulled creators and fans into massive user content, over 200 million TikTok views.

• ✓Co-creation beats a script. Vaseline and e.l.f. won by handing creators the story rather than a set of talking points.
• ✓Performance models lower the cost to grow. FanDuel paid per action and got new users 10 times cheaper than its old network deals.
• ✓A small, well-chosen creator set can beat the goal. NVIDIA used only 11 experts and still passed every awareness target.
• ✓Long-term partnerships compound. Gymshark treated creators as athletes and built a 1.45 billion dollar brand with no outside investors.