Influencer Advisory™How does IM8 build a creator community with groups and events?
IM8's CEO says the brand was part of 100-plus events in 20 months. We found 17 of them, the groups IM8 runs for its creators and customers, and 27 other brands doing the same thing.
Founder · October 5, 2026 · 14 min read
IM8 is the supplement brand David Beckham co-founded. In under two years it built a community of creators and customers mostly by getting people into a room: its own launch nights and workouts, and other people's classes, clubs and summits.
Its CEO said on the Q2 2026 earnings call that IM8 had been part of 100-plus events in 20 months. We went looking for every one we could prove, read who hosted it and what IM8 brought, and checked how much attention each one got.
This is everything we found: the groups IM8 runs, the 17 events we could confirm, what press they got, and 27 other brands running the same play.
What IM8 says the events did
The CEO's own numbers
On the Q2 2026 call, IM8's CEO credited its events and its ambassadors with a lot of word of mouth, while the cost of each new customer went from $305 in Q1 to $301 in Q2 as spend doubled.
That is IM8's own claim about itself. No outside page measures it, and the call does not split out what events did from what everything else did.
On the same call, IM8's CFO, Brian Rosin, said its ambassador contracts came to $2.1 million in the quarter, 4% of revenue.
Who says so: the Q2 2026 earnings call, on Yahoo Finance.
The groups IM8 runs
IM8 runs several groups at once, each for a different kind of person. A creator who wants to sell joins one, a creator who only wants to make videos joins another, and a customer joins a third.
The ambassador program
Anyone with one public Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or Facebook account can join. They get 10% on every new customer order through their link or code, and their audience gets 10% off.
On top of the money, ambassadors get free product and merch, new flavours early, challenges with prizes, and invites to IM8 events, masterclasses and workshops. That last line is how the events and the program join up: the events are a perk of the program.
It is tracked on Social Snowball, with tiers at 1, 20, 75 and 300 orders. Questions go to a private IM8 Ambassador Discord, and rules for running paid ads started on 15 August 2026.
Who says so: IM8's ambassador page and its terms.
The founding 12 affiliates
IM8 picked its first 12 affiliates by hand. One of them says she did a 30-day social media challenge and went to her first few IM8 events in New York.
Another creator finished the 30 days and kept the vlogs going, and others tag their posts #IM8Challenge. A small first group, given a challenge and a room to meet in, is what got the posting started.
Who says so: a founding affiliate's own post on Instagram.
The welcome box
New ambassadors get a PR box of product, and in one case an IM8 sweater. They post the unboxing with their own code and tags like #IM8Ambassador and #IM8Community.
The box does two jobs. It thanks the person for joining, and it gives them their first thing to post on day one.
Who says so: an ambassador's unboxing post on Instagram.
The UGC creator program
This one is for creators who do not want to sell. They get free product and merch, read a content brief, and make 2 videos within 14 days, and they confirm IM8 may use the videos.
If the videos do well in a 30-day test, the creator can be invited into the IM8 Creator Directory for paid work later. IM8 gets a steady pile of videos to test as ads, and it only pays the creators whose videos already worked.
Who says so: IM8's UGC creator page.
The IM8 Strava club
Anyone on Strava can join. The club had 4,155 members on 12 September 2026, and it posts runs hosted by IM8's own athletes, like Ironman world champion Lucy Charles-Barclay, Kanoa Igarashi, and padel players Marta Ortega and Miguel Yanguas at the London Premier Padel P1.
Finishing a challenge earns a one-time $50 code off an IM8 order over $100. The club is where IM8's online challenges and its in-person runs both live.
Who says so: the IM8 Strava club and IM8's challenge award page.
Refer a friend
This is the customer version. A customer who sends a friend gets 25% back on their next order, and the friend gets 25% off their first. Rewards stay active for 12 months.
Who says so: IM8's referral page.
Famous ambassadors who own shares
David Beckham co-founded IM8. Since then, Aryna Sabalenka, Ollie Bearman, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jay Shetty and Lily Collins have signed as ambassadors and shareholders. IM8's CEO, on 20 August 2026: "every ambassador we bring in owns a piece of this company."
Who says so: IM8's release on Lily Collins, 20 August 2026.
Pages of their own for partners
Some partners get their own page on IM8's site with a friends and family code. Michael Chernow, the restaurateur who founded Kreatures of Habit, has one, with the code MICHAEL10.
Who says so: Michael Chernow's page on IM8's site.
IM8 stocked in studios and bars
A Pilates studio in Geneva sells the IM8 variety pack, and Le Comptoir Avalon, a functional drinks bar in Paris, serves IM8 by the glass beside Blueprint and WelleCo. Each venue said so in its own Instagram post.
Who says so: the Geneva studio's post and Le Comptoir Avalon's post.
The events IM8 hosts itself
These are the events with IM8's name on the door. Most were built around a famous face or one of IM8's own athletes.
The US launch in New York, 14 January 2025
IM8 launched in the US with a meditation session led by Deepak Chopra, then an evening event where Tunde Oyeneyin talked with David Beckham, in front of press and IM8's science advisers.
Who says so: IM8's launch release.
IM8 Vibrante in Miami, April 2025
An evening of talks at the Faena Theater in Miami Beach, with David Beckham and a line-up of experts including Kendall Toole and Beckham's own trainer, Bobby Rich, for about 150 creators, experts and press.
This is the only IM8 event any outlet wrote about. Spotlight Hamptons said nearly 150 guests came.
Who says so: Spotlight Hamptons, 9 April 2025.
An outdoor workout class in Miami
Part of IM8's own ambassador events: people on mats on a lawn, a trainer leading the class, and a red Welcome to IM8 sign beside him.
The IM8 x Inter Miami CF Strava challenge, May to 27 June 2026
Move 120 minutes in the window and get a one-time $50 code off an IM8 order over $100. This is the biggest number on the whole list: 199,478 people took part.
Compare that with the club itself, which held 4,155 members in September. A challenge pulls in far more people than ever stay in the group.
Who says so: Strava's challenge page.
The Champion's Mile in London, 30 June 2026
An easy 5K through Victoria Park with an 8:00 AM start at St Marks Gate Car Park, hosted by Ironman world champion Lucy Charles-Barclay and Rose Harvey. Club members booked through IM8's Strava club.
Who says so: the IM8 Strava club.
A creator afternoon at Flyfish Club in New York, 26 August 2026
A creator afternoon and evening on sleep, supplements and longevity at Flyfish Club, a members' club, with a gift box to take home. One guest, @eva.lys, marked her post #ad and it got 8,385 likes.
Who says so: a guest's post on Instagram.
A tennis and wellness day in New York, late August 2026
A day of tennis and talks on performance and recovery. One guest's post, by @thelondongreer, got 1,973 likes.
Who says so: the guest's post on Instagram.
The Golden Ticket contest, entries closed 17 December 2025
IM8 was a co-founding partner of the Sabalenka v Kyrgios Battle of the Sexes match in Dubai. Fans posted a 30 to 60 second video picking Team Sabalenka or Team Kyrgios, judged on skill, for a VIP trip for two valued at over $25,000. No purchase was needed.
Who says so: IM8's Golden Ticket page.
The rooms IM8 borrows
Here IM8 brings one small thing, a smoothie, a drinks station, a gift bag or a panel, into a room somebody else already fills. This is the cheaper half of the play, and it is most of the list.
Power Sessions with PURE Group in Hong Kong, January and February 2026
Trial classes in yoga, Pilates, FUZE cardio and strength, and dance, at PURE Group's gyms. Every class came with an IM8 smoothie from PURE's own cafe, nood food.
It did not stop there. A FUZE coach's post in late August shows a strength class still finishing with the IM8 summer smoothie.
Who says so: PURE Yoga's post and the FUZE coach's post on Instagram.
A panel at the ELEVATE Wellness Summit in London, June 2026
A panel talk called The Biohacker's Diet, billed as powered by IM8, at Fulham Pier. IM8's ambassador Tina Lond-Caulk spoke, and IM8 went into the VIP gift bags.
The summit's own three posts naming IM8 got 1,803, 2,118 and 1,840 likes.
Who says so: the summit's own post on Instagram.
A drinks station at Lore Bathing Club in New York, 29 August 2026
During its Summer of Sauna Series, the bathhouse ran an IM8 drinks station from 12pm to 3pm, beside sweetgreen and two other local brands.
Who says so: Lore Bathing Club's own post on Instagram.
A morning at NÔMADE Temple in Ibiza, late August 2026
A morning of yoga, sound healing and an ice bath, with an IM8 welcome pack of its daily nutrition. It was hosted by NÔMADE's head of community, Francesca Bianca Bonfanti, and Lula Millan.
Who says so: a guest's post on Instagram.
Wellness Rave in Barcelona, 14 June 2026
A wellness party at Sea Sea Club, with IM8 on the official brand partner list beside Les Mills, lululemon and Therabody. What IM8 did on the day is not on the page.
Who says so: Wellness Rave's site.
Gift bags at three talk evenings
IM8 product went into the guests' bags at three evenings, each run by someone else:
- Lipedema Summit Live Event, June 2026. One of 16 brands in the swag bags.
- Lessons in Longevity, Windsor, 28 July 2026. Hosted by Jo Dalton at the Fairmont Windsor Park hotel, with IM8's ambassador Tina Lond-Caulk as the speaker. The host's post got 120 likes and 53 comments.
- The Longevity Series, July 2026. A talk evening at Gravitas, beside Momentous, Phi Health Stack and Next Health.
Who says so: Lipedema Summit's post, Jo Dalton's post and The Longevity Series' post on Instagram.
How much attention the events got
Almost none of it was press
Of IM8's events, only one got written up by an outlet: Vibrante in Miami. The US launch got copies of IM8's own release on finance sites and David Beckham's own Facebook post. Everything else lives on Instagram and Strava.
That is not a failure. The point of these rooms is the posts the guests make, and the guests are creators. A press story is a bonus.
What the posts got
Counts on the day we collected each post:
- Flyfish Club. One guest post marked #ad got 8,385 likes. Another got 19.
- The tennis and wellness day. One guest post got 1,973 likes.
- ELEVATE Wellness Summit. The summit's three posts got 1,803, 2,118 and 1,840 likes.
- Lessons in Longevity. The host's post got 120 likes and 53 comments.
- Lore Bathing Club. The bathhouse's post got 90 likes.
- NÔMADE Temple. One guest post got 62 likes.
- The FUZE class. The coach's post got 46 likes.
The pattern is plain. The posts that got thousands of likes came from creators with an audience, not from the venue. A venue's own post reaches its members, and a creator's post reaches everyone who follows them.
What we could not confirm
Some IM8 events get repeated online that no page backs up. We left them off the list above:
- An IM8 x Tone House community workout in New York. Only Google's AI summary names it.
- A Kreatures of Habit running takeover with Michael Chernow. Not found. Chernow is a real IM8 partner, with his own page and code.
- An Ammortal and Flyfish Club wellness day. The Flyfish Club afternoon is real, but no page names Ammortal.
- IM8 x Wilson Tennis cans and tennis balls. Not found. The tennis day in New York is real, and its post names no partner.
- STRONG New York, 26 September 2026. A search result links IM8 to the fitness festival, but three articles about the festival never name IM8.
If you are copying this play, copy the events that are proven, not the ones an AI summary made up.
Other brands running the same play
IM8 is not the only one. We found 27 tie-ups between a wellness brand and a room someone else already fills.
Fitness studios
- Celsius at SoulCycle. 20 Celsius rides across New York, Chicago, Miami and Los Angeles on 29 August 2026, as SoulCycle's energy drink partner for a year, with creator Tinx at the first ride.
- LYMA at SoulCycle's The Barn. A Wellness Weekend in Bridgehampton, 26 to 28 June 2026, with a branded bar and gifts on the bikes for more than 1,500 riders, then a pop-up ride at SoulCycle HQ in London on 19 August.
- DIRTEA at SoulCycle Notting Hill. A launch event with mushroom drink samples before and after class, 5 October 2024.
- Lemme at solidcore. A studio takeover for its creatine gummy launch in 2026, with co-founder Kourtney Kardashian Barker quoted in WWD.
- Nutrafol at Pvolve. A branded class for Menopause Awareness Month, every year.
- Liquid I.V. at Barry's. Hydration samples in the studio, every summer.
- TRUBAR at Orangetheory. A Season of Strength summer challenge and an exclusive protein bar.
- LMNT and Cymbiotika at Our Studio. A repeating yoga and wellness pop-up at FloLo Holistic in New York.
Run clubs
- Whoop at Diplo's Run Club. 5K runs with a Diplo set after, with Whoop at the New York and Miami stops. Billboard reported the run club has sold 100,000 tickets across 10 events, a number for the whole club, not for Whoop.
- Puresport with Represent 247. A run club of 500+ runners in London to launch a joint clothing range, the last stop of a UK tour that drew over 1,000 people across 4 days.
- Hyperice with Atlanta Run Club and Do Not Disturb. A weekly run with recovery gear, since August 2025.
- Humantra at Feels in Dubai. A weekly 5K run and coffee.
- Cadence with sweetgreen. A shakeout run and a carb-load wrap in Culver City before the LA Marathon, every year.
- Alani Nu, Vuori and Glowbar at Slow Girl Run Club. Samples at run club meetups in Philadelphia and other chapters.
Races, expos and city events
- AG1 in Asia. A launch built on the Standard Chartered Marathon, run club events and a fitness expo in Singapore and Hong Kong. Its own agency says it handed out 10,000 samples and got 110K impressions, more than double its target.
- Myprotein at HYROX. The official nutrition partner since January 2024, with a stand at the races.
- Athletic Brewing at Boulderthon. After-party sponsor, with a free can for every runner.
- Whoop at the Dubai Fitness Challenge. Wearable sponsor of the month-long city challenge. Whoop's release says the challenge drew over 2.73 million people in 2024, a number for the whole city event.
- Optimum Nutrition at Under Armour Turf Games. Nutrition partner at the hybrid fitness races.
- Vital Proteins at The Well in Toronto. A collagen sampling pop-up, 24 to 27 April 2025.
- Transparent Labs at The Vitamin Shoppe in New York. A store takeover with samples and a trainer meet-and-greet, 10 June 2026.
Standing partnerships, not events
- Nuun at Orangetheory. The preferred hydration partner since January 2024.
- Ascent Protein at Orangetheory. The first official protein powder partner.
- Thorne at solidcore. A Thorne shop for members, part of solidcore's Core Collective, since April 2026.
- Hyperice at F45 Training. Recovery gear in the studios worldwide, since May 2025.
Sources: The Industry Beauty, Fitt Insider, WWD, Glossy, Liquid I.V., Orangetheory and TRUBAR, Our Studio, Whoop, Sustain Health, Footwear Magazine, Humantra, LA Marathon, Modern Retail, Mongoose, Myprotein, Boulderthon, Whoop on Dubai, Turf Games, The Well, NYC for Free, Nuun, Ascent Protein, solidcore, F45.
What a brand can copy from IM8
Start with a small group and give it a challenge
IM8 began with 12 hand-picked affiliates and a 30-day posting challenge. A small first group with one clear thing to do posts more than a big list with nothing to do.
Make the events a perk of the program
IM8's ambassador page lists invites to events, masterclasses and workshops right next to the 10% commission, so joining the program is also the way into the room.
Borrow rooms before you build them
Most of IM8's list is a smoothie in a gym class, a drinks station at a sauna, or product in a gift bag at someone else's evening. Each one costs one small thing, and the room is already full. Celsius, LYMA, Whoop and AG1 run the same play.
Invite creators, not just members
The venue's own posts got 46 to 120 likes. The creator guests got 1,973 and 8,385. If the point is posts, put people with an audience in the room.
Run one big online challenge
The Strava challenge pulled in 199,478 people against a club of 4,155. An online challenge with a small reward reaches far more people than any single room can hold.
Where we come in
We find the clubs, studios and creators in your category, check who already works with which brand, and run the events and the creator program for you. If you want to know which rooms your competitors are already in, that is the first thing we look at in a free audit.
For the full method, read the full playbook for building a creator community. For ten other brands' event results, read what brands got from 10 influencer events.