The creator economy is booming, but brands face a major challenge: standing out in a "sea of sameness." New Kantar data shows only 45% of beauty creator content is truly effective. That means over half fails to drive impact, believes Dan Fanshawe, Kantar's Senior Client Director.

The creator economy is booming, projected to double by 2028. However, this surge in content presents a significant challenge for brands: how to stand out amidst the overwhelming deluge of content? This challenge, aptly named the "sea of sameness," is a choppy stretch of water brands must navigate to achieve meaningful growth, or else risk getting lost.

Fresh insights from Kantar, powered by LINK AI, reveal a striking trend within the beauty industry – one of the most advanced categories to embrace creators. Only about 45% of creator content in this sector confidently delivers on being both noticed and effective at selling the product. This means a staggering 55% of creator content is, at best, average and likely not yielding the desired results.

Despite this prevailing "sea of sameness," significant opportunities await brands that embrace their difference and "get it right." Kantar's effectiveness research demonstrates that this approach can lead to exponential brand outcomes, particularly in creating differentiation. In fact, it can outperform traditional digital ads in several areas, including relevance, memorability (saliency), and brand consideration. New research from TikTok, to be unveiled at MAD//Fest, highlights the unique ability of creators to deliver rational brand credentials through genuine relational connections, such as relatability, authenticity, and community building.

One brand intimately familiar with the "sea of sameness" and actively tackling it is L’Oréal, a global cosmetics giant and leading advertiser. L'Oréal invests heavily across its diverse brand portfolio and recognizes the urgent need to cut through the noise.

In our MAD//Fest session, earlier this month L’Oréal advocated for a "better together" approach, urging brands to seamlessly connect their creator and broader marketing campaign strategies for optimal gains. A full-funnel strategy, integrating creator content with wider marketing initiatives, consistently leads to higher awareness and purchase intent. Furthermore, confident and bold branding is crucial, as only 27% of content currently achieves this, according to Kantar’s latest research in this area.

During the presentation, Kantar unveiled new insights into the incremental growth potential of social commerce and TikTok Shop and showcased how L’Oréal is successfully unleashing high-quality content at scale, unlocking its full potential.

L’Oréal continues to lead the way in driving growth through its TikTok creator strategy across its diverse portfolio. Want to discover how they "get it right" when it comes to creator content? Download Kantar’s latest report to uncover to uncover practical strategies brands can embrace to feed their strategy for growth via TikTok and creators.