Cetaphil Makes a Creator the Face of Its Newest Product Line 🧴

TODAY’S EDITION

• Creator Katie Fang becomes the face of Cetaphil’s latest skincare line — why this partnership is a perfect fit

• Instagram rolls out a new tool to quickly turn your posts into Reels

• TikTok’s Manage Topics feature allows users to fine-tune their For You feed experience

• YouTube is developing AI-detection tools to help creators manage and protect their content

• LinkedIn adds support for draft messages and a dedicated filter

• Snapchat is testing new ad placements and a simplified app experience

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DEEP DIVE

Why Cetaphil Chose Beauty & Skincare Creator Katie Fang as the Face of Its Latest Product Line

Katie Fang, a beauty and skincare creator with over 5 million TikTok followers and an additional half-million on Instagram, is the face of Cetaphil’s newest product line, Gentle Exfoliating.

This collection, targeting the Gen Zalpha demographic—a blend of Gen Z and Alpha consumers —marks a significant first for Cetaphil. The collection is noted as the brand’s largest in terms of potential reach, investment, and sales.

As part of the campaign, which includes TV, digital, and in-store components, Fang will create and share social content and host a pop-up event in New York. She will also be joined by 250 social media influencers and dermatologists like Dr. Neera Nathan, Dr. Jenny Liu, and Dr. Daniel Sugai to promote the line.

There are numerous insights and takeaways from this partnership—I dive into the key ones below.

Creator-Driven Campaigns Over Celebrity Endorsements

Fang offers more than just a large following—her audience’s genuine interest in skincare makes her collaboration feel authentic. This contrasts sharply with traditional celebrity endorsements, where influence often comes from unrelated fields like movies or sports, making such endorsements seem disconnected and less genuine.

Fang’s brand revolves entirely around skincare, meaning her audience is more likely to engage positively with this partnership. Unlike celebrities with broader but less focused followings, Fang’s audience aligns closely with Cetaphil’s product offering and target demographic.

Built-In Audience and Distribution for Targeted Impact

Cetaphil’s focus on the 18-26 age group makes Fang an ideal choice due to her established audience and distribution channels. Her content, centered around skincare, is a key interest for Gen Zalpha. Fang is a trusted source for skincare recommendations across platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

By partnering with Fang, Cetaphil engages directly with this demographic in familiar spaces through a trusted voice. Even if some consumers don’t connect directly with Fang, the campaign includes hundreds of other influencers, providing diverse perspectives that align with Cetaphil’s positioning.

The Role of Dermatologists in Boosting Credibility

The inclusion of dermatologists further strengthens the campaign. Their formal credentials add credibility and reinforce Cetaphil’s science-backed approach to skincare. Dermatologists who also act as creators provide both professional authority and relatable, accessible social content.

This dual approach resonates with consumers who seek both traditional validation—such as licenses and certifications—and personal recommendations, particularly in fields like skincare, health and wellness, and finance.

The Earned Media Advantage

Creator partnerships often generate significant media attention. Independent voices in the creator and marketing space—like myself—frequently cover these collaborations, but they also attract larger, traditional media outlets. When a brand like Cetaphil places a creator at the center of a campaign, it disrupts the status quo and garners widespread attention.

As creators assume new roles, challenge established brands, or gain access to exclusive spaces — such as high-profile events or prestigious settings, they attract coverage from journalists, analysts, other creators, and everyday people. The earned media from creator involvement can drive substantial incremental reach.

Creators as a Distinct Consumer Segment

One of my key predictions for this year was that companies, beyond just creator start-ups, would start recognizing the 300 million-plus creators as a distinct consumer segment.

Cetaphil’s move, while not explicitly targeting creators, aligns with this trend. By featuring Katie Fang as the centerpiece, Cetaphil not only appeals to its target audience but also engages the creator community. With 57% of Gen Z—part of the product line’s target audience—aspiring to be influencers, this strategy is particularly timely. Fang’s prominence may also inspire other creators to share content about Cetaphil and endorse the product line organically.

The Future of Creator-Brand Partnerships

Every few months, new examples emerge of how brands deepen their relationships with creators. Sponsored content is now just the baseline; leading brands creatively embed creators into roles, initiatives, and experiences traditionally reserved for others. While these partnerships won’t always succeed—just as with any marketing initiative—their potential for impact is significant when they do.

The evolving role of creators in brand marketing is one of the most exciting trends today. To truly harness the power of creators, think beyond #AD and #sponsored content.

If you’re looking to bring creators deeper into your business and drive your marketing goals, I have limited availability for a few more consulting and advising clients/projects for the rest of Q3 and Q4. Visit here for examples of how I can help, or reach out to me here.

NEWS, TRENDS & INSIGHTS

Instagram

Instagram officially rolled out comments for Stories after being spotted last week. Users can leave comments on Stories for mutual followers, but anyone who can view the Stories of a public account will be able to see the comments, which are displayed at the bottom of the Story. Comments can be turned off or deleted at any time.

Why It Matters: Adding comments to Stories provides users an additional way to engage with this ephemeral content format. For creators and brands, it offers a new metric to assess the performance and engagement of their Stories, especially when collaborating. As users spend more time in Stories and direct messages, Instagram continues to expand and enhance these features.

Instagram now lets users turn Carousel posts into Reels. Accessible via the three dots at the top right of a post, this feature automatically syncs the photos and videos in the Carousel with recommended audio and sequencing. Users can make edits as needed before publishing.

Why It Matters: This new option simplifies the process of repurposing Carousel posts into Reels, eliminating the need for third-party apps. It’s beneficial for photo-centric creators and brands, allowing them to transform existing static content into engaging Reels with increased discovery potential.

ICYMI: Last week, I did a round-up of a handful of new Instagram features that creators and brands should know about.

TikTok

TikTok has rolled out a Profile Search tool. Users can now tap a search icon at the top right of profiles and enter keywords, topics, or hashtags to search for content within a profile. This includes their own posts, reposts, liked posts, and saved Favorites.

Why It Matters: Instead of scrolling through profiles—a time-consuming task—or saving post URLs in spreadsheets or note-taking apps, users can now quickly locate specific posts by entering relevant terms into the search bar. This is helpful for creators to find past sponsored videos to include as examples for brand pitches or for social media managers looking to resurface posts they’ve saved as inspiration.

TikTok launched a Manage Topics feature. U.S. users can now customize their For You feed by using a slider to adjust preferences across various topics, allowing them to see more or less of specific content.

Why It Matters: Manage Topics builds on the option to refresh the For You feed, giving users greater control over their content experience. Rather than resetting the entire feed or manually marking individual videos as uninterested, users can now fine-tune their feed by adjusting preferences across multiple topics.

YouTube

YouTube announced the development of AI detection and control tools for creators, artists, actors, musicians, and athletes. Using its existing Content ID system, YouTube will allow its partners to detect and manage AI-generated content that simulates their voices. It’s also developing technology for creators to detect and manage AI-generated content that uses their faces. Additionally, YouTube plans to give creators more control over how third parties use their content, though specifics have not been shared yet.

Why It Matters: YouTube has been proactive in addressing AI's impact on creators. By expanding its successful Content ID system to include AI, YouTube aims to tackle issues like deepfakes and eventually provide licensing options for third-party use of creator content. These tools will be welcomed by creators, especially as reports of companies like OpenAI, Apple, and Nvidia, scraping content—thus violating YouTube's Terms of Service—continue to rise.

YouTube rolled out updates to customize Shorts thumbnails. Creators can now add text and filters to their Shorts thumbnails on mobile. Additionally, they can edit thumbnails for Shorts that have already been published.

Why It Matters: Though thumbnails have minimal impact on Shorts consumption—since they don’t appear in the Shorts feed where most views originate—creators have been asking for more customization options. While YouTube hasn’t provided the ability to upload custom thumbnails like TikTok or Instagram, these new tools offer more flexibility for creators to package their Shorts.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn added support for draft messages. When users start crafting a message, it will automatically be saved in a new "Drafts" section, accessible via a filter next to the inbox search bar.

Why It Matters: Though a minor update, the ability to save and revisit unfinished messages provides significant convenience. Previously, unsent messages would disappear, requiring users to start over. This feature, combined with the recent option to edit scheduled posts, adds efficiency for networking and content sharing on the platform.

Snapchat

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel shared updates for the platform in an employee memo. Snapchat will soon begin testing new ad types, including Sponsored Snaps and Promote Places. Sponsored Snaps will appear at the top of the chat inbox, while Promote Places will enable brands to highlight stories on the Snap Map. Additionally, Snapchat is working on providing advertisers with enhanced tools and actionable insights related to their ads.

Spiegel also mentioned that Snapchat is testing a simplified version of the app that combines Stories and Spotlight into a unified content experience with a more streamlined user interface.

Why It Matters: As Snapchat hits its 13th anniversary, it is addressing challenges related to its ad business and user experience. These new ad formats and improved insights aim to boost revenue by offering more engagement opportunities and better measurement for advertisers. The unified content experience should make the app easier to navigate, which could help with overall usage and bring in new users.

THANK YOU

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