Report

Brand Ambassador
Marketing 2025
Understanding the Full Impact of
Celebrity & Influencer Partnerships
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

Intro

A letter from the CEO of

Launchmetrics, Michael Jaïs.
In 2024, brands in the U.S. spent over $7.1 billion on influencer marketing. That level of investment confirms
what many of us already know: brand ambassadorships have evolved into a cornerstone strategy. But with that
shift comes new pressure—pressure to prove value, justify spend and understand what impact really looks like.
And the truth is, ROI can’t be fully captured by measuring what happens just when an ambassador posts. The
true influence of a campaign lies in what it sets in motion—how it shapes perception, sparks conversation and
connects brands to culture in more meaningful ways.

To help brands measure that full scope of value, we’re introducing Voice Echo—a new framework that tracks not
just direct performance, but the extended impact campaigns create as they are picked up and amplified by
media, influencers and communities. It provides a clearer picture of how influence moves across the ecosystem,
and which Voices are truly driving brand relevance forward.

We’ve also developed our own AI-powered qualitative framework to go even deeper—decoding the themes,
narratives and brand values that show up in these conversations. It’s a powerful complement to Voice Echo,
because today, measuring impact means understanding not only what’s being said, but why it resonates—and
what that means for long-term brand equity.

Throughout this report, we’ll show how Voice Echo reveals a more complete picture of brand ambassador
impact—and how pairing it with qualitative insights unlocks a new level of strategic clarity. Additionally, we will
share perspectives from leading industry professionals at Tommy Hilfiger, McCann, American Influencer
Council, Chris Gay of The Society Management and others.

Our hope is that this becomes more than a benchmark—it’s a practical guide to help you build smarter, more
on-target and truly elevating ambassadorships in the years to come.

Michael Jaïs.
CEO of Launchmetrics
Table of contents
1. The State of Brand Ambassador Marketing in Fashion, Lifestyle and Beauty: Survey Results

2. How to Measure Brand Ambassador ROI

3. Noteworthy Influencers of 2024 by Direct Impact

4. Top Brands of 2024 by Official Celebrity Ambassadorships MIV®

5. How Voice Echo Reveals the Full Story Behind Ambassador Performance

6. Noteworthy Ambassadorships of 2024

7. Brand Focus: Alo & the Indirect Echo Garnered by Celebrities & Influencers

8. Decoding Ambassador Impact

a. Case Studies of Top Partnerships

Nara Aziza Smith

Zendaya

Lewis Hamilton

9. Going Beyond ROI

a. How Talent Shapes the Way Brands Are Talked About

b. Key Qualitative Stats from Brand Ambassador Conversations

10. Key Insights & Actionable Next Steps

a. Key Brand Ambassador Stats Based on our Voice Echo Analysis

b. Report Takeaways

c. What the Experts Say

d. Your Ultimate Ambassadorships Checklist

11. Our Partners

12. About Launchmetrics

13. Methodology
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

The State of Brand Ambassador Marketing in

Fashion, Lifestyle and Beauty

From Grace Kelly’s famous moment shielding her baby bump When it comes to the growing importance of brand
with an Hermès bag to Audrey Hepburn’s enduring bond with ambassadorships, the results speak for themselves. 58% of
Givenchy, brand ambassadorships have long played a powerful FLB professionals said they’ve increased investment in
role in shaping public perception and brand prestige. ambassador marketing over the past five years, and 34% now
pay ambassadors over $500K annually. Despite this
Today, that legacy continues, but the game has changed. Brand momentum, 60% still find it difficult to measure success,
ambassador marketing in the Fashion, Lifestyle and Beauty highlighting a persistent gap between investment and insight.
(FLB) industries is now built on full-scale, data-driven
strategies, with businesses expecting measurable ROI more Below are key highlights from the survey, offering a deeper
than ever before. To gain a clear picture of how the field is look into how modern FLB brands are approaching
shifting, we surveyed FLB professionals around the world. ambassador marketing in 2025 and beyond.

30% of 85% of survey

respondents assert
FLB professionals
they work with brand ambassadors (including
dedicate 31-40% of their budgets to brand celebrities, athletes and/or influencers).
ambassadorships, while one quarter of survey
respondents confirm allocating over 40% of
their budgets to these partnerships.

58% of FLB
professionals claim
to have ramped up their brand ambassador
marketing efforts in the last five years.

0-15% 16-30% 31-40% 41-50% 51-60% +60%

58%

34% of
businesses pay their Same efforts and
investments as 5 years ago
Just started

ambassadors over $500K per year. Reduced investment None of the above
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

A striking 60%
of respondents say
measuring the success of their brand
ambassador program is moderately to
very difficult, with an average difficulty
score of 6.4 out of 10.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Very easy Extremely difficult

Social media engagement (likes, shares, comments)

while nearly

40%
Reach and/or impressions

Brand perception

74% leverage Media Impact

Value® (MIV®) for a more
Media Impact Value® (MIV®)

holistic measurement of
of survey respondents Sales Conversions
brand ambassador
still rely on traditional
marketing ROI, which also
social media EMV, AVE or other traditional media metrics
factors in social media
engagement metrics
engagement.
Consumer sentiment

57% of FLB
professionals feel
they have the right tools and data to
accurately assess the impact of brand
ambassador campaigns,

while 43%
are either not sure or feel they are
not well equipped.
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

How to Measure
Brand Ambassador ROI

Brand ambassadorship has long been a go-to strategy for Trusted by leading brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Lacoste,
visibility, credibility and cultural relevance. But despite Jacquemus and Estée Lauder Companies, this approach
its popularity, many brands still struggle to understand helps teams sharpen strategies, optimize spend and
the real impact of their ambassador campaigns. Over clearly see what’s working—and why.
70% of survey respondents continue to rely on
traditional metrics like engagement rates and While MIV offers a powerful, data-driven view,
impressions—so it’s no surprise that nearly 60% say understanding the emotional and cultural impact behind
measuring true success remains a challenge. the numbers is equally important for brand-building.
We'll explore both sides throughout this report.
Today, Media Impact Value® (MIV®) has become the
go-to metric for brands seeking a more advanced, holistic
view of performance. MIV assigns a monetary value to
every placement across social media, online coverage,
print and all key Voices (Celebrity, Influencer, Media, Media Impact
Owned Media and Partners), helping brands better Value® (MIV®)
quantify impact.

However, MIV alone only captures part of the picture.

By combining MIV with Voice Echo analysis—which
measures how ambassador impact extends beyond Brand
their own direct posts to include media coverage, Ambassador
partner content and third-party mentions—and layering
ROI
in qualitative analysis to assess emotional and cultural
resonance, brands gain a truly comprehensive
Qualitative Voice Echo
understanding of ambassador effectiveness and ROI.
Analysis Analysis

Learn more

“A robust measurement framework is absolutely essential

because great partnerships are both an art and a science.
Metrics like Media Impact Value® (MIV®), among others, give
us tangible ways to understand what’s working and where
there’s room to optimize. We should be looking at performance
through multiple lenses: operational, creative and financial.”

Crystal Malachias
Global co-Managing Director,
McCann Content Studios
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

Top Brands of 2024

Ranked by the MIV® Generated through Celebrities & Influencers

Brand ambassador marketing has (including social media creators, At first glance, influencers may seem
come a long way—from classic editors, photographers and stylists) to drive more impact—but their
celebrity endorsements to a broader generated buzz for the top five brands campaigns don’t always ignite the
mix of athletes, influencers, models in each category in 2024. wider conversations that celebrity
and reality TV stars. partnerships can.
The categories covered were luxury,
To understand how different types of premium and mass-market fashion, There’s often more happening beneath
ambassadors drive impact, we sportswear, jewelry and watches, and the surface. While celebrities may not
analyzed how Celebrities (such as beauty. We compiled a list of 30 brands post as frequently as influencers (or in
actors, musicians and athletes) and (the top five from each category) and some cases, may not have social
Influencers then selected the top 20 below based channels at all and therefore do not
on MIV for each Voice. contribute ‘direct’ impact), they often
spark buzz among the other Voices,
generating longer-lasting effects and
Total MIV by Celebrity Voice Total MIV by Influencer Voice broader reach. For example,
Influencers, Partners and Media might
contribute coverage about a buzzy
1 $687M 1 $1.67B
celebrity ambassadorship. We call this
2 $454M 2 $1.52B phenomenon ‘Indirect Echo’—we’ll dig
into this later.
3 $420M 3 $1.19B

4 $364M 4 $881M

What do these
5 $339M 5 $795M

$332M $759M
6 6
rankings reveal
$275M $759M
about the brands’
7 7

$222M $688M
ambassador
8 8

$221M $598M
strategies?
9 9

10 $196M 10 $564M

11 $171M 11 $502M Understanding the total MIV

per Voice is only part of the
12 $135M 12 $275M
story. To truly decode impact
13 $119M 13 $245M
and understand who is
14 $94M 14 $188M creating the most buzz for
15 $89M 15 $180M brands, we need to look at
the individual partnerships
16 $86M 16 $176M
and the content that made
17 $82M 17 $148M
waves. Next up, noteworthy
18 $76M 18 $146M influencers and their top
19 $69M 19 $124M posts of 2024.

20 $61M 20 $98M
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

Noteworthy Influencers of 2024

Ranked by total Direct Impact

Social media Influencers have become a for the 20 leading brands featured in the Their collective impact
vital part of brand strategy, playing a report. Each influencer listed here
key role in delivering impact across the sparked significant direct is not only
entire marketing funnel. From driving
massive awareness at scale to
impact—meaning they garnered
notable buzz for brands thanks to the
powerful—it’s
supporting conversion-focused posts they published on their own measurable, strategic
campaigns, creators today are profiles—proving the value of influencer
contributing to short- and long-term marketing as a core growth channel. and central to how
success for brands, whether as official
While larger creators may help brands
brands are winning
ambassadors, sponsored advocates or
even as organic brand fans. dominate Share of Voice and increase attention in today’s
social-first landscape.
brand affinity, smaller or more targeted
This curated group of creators influencers are often relied on to drive
represents the top contributors to MIV performance-based results, tapping into
deeply engaged communities.

1 $22M MIV 2 $19.8M MIV 3 $19.7M MIV

Léna Olga
Mahfouf Grigoryan

Direct Impact: Direct Impact:

$548K $492K

4 $19M MIV 5 $16.8M MIV

Shima
Katouzian

Georgina Wisdom
Mazzeo Kaye
Direct Impact:
$374K Direct Impact: Direct Impact:
$364K $2.6M

The top figures represent the total direct MIV they generated in 2024 for the top 20 brands featured in this report, while
the direct impact figure highlights the highest-performing post for each listed brand.
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

6$ $14.83M MIV 7$ $14.81M MIV 10$ $13.3M MIV

Jeremy Olivia
Fragrance Yang

Direct Impact: Direct Impact:

$501K $309K

8$ $14.4M MIV 9$ $13.5M MIV

María
Bottle

Madeleine Mikayla Nogueira

White Hawken Direct
Impact:
Direct Impact: Direct Impact: $380K
$495K $320K

While influencer campaigns often These formal partnerships often generate ripple
effects that go far beyond the original post—earning
deliver impressive direct results, media coverage, partner amplification and fan-driven

official celebrity ambassadorships

buzz that drive long-term brand equity.

bring another level of strategic Let’s take a closer look at how leading brands are
maximizing these high-profile
value—especially when analyzed ambassadorships—and where that extended impact

through the lens of Voice Echo. is really coming from, on the next pages →
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

Top Brands of 2024

Ranked by the MIV® Generated Through Official

Celebrity Ambassadorships
The previous ranking showed the top brands based on the overall direct impact celebrities and influencers drove for them. The
table below goes a step further, showing how brands rank based only on the MIV generated through official celebrity
partnerships. Here, we break down the total impact into three types: Direct, Owned and Indirect Echo—an approach we call
"Voice Echo." By looking at Indirect Echo (the MIV generated by media, partners and third parties) alongside the direct MIV
from celebrities and brand-owned channels, we can highlight which campaigns create lasting cultural traction beyond the
initial post.

Take Chanel, for example: the brand generated $332M in MIV in 2024 from the Celebrity Voice overall (including mentions
from non-official partnerships). But when isolating just its official ambassadorships and accounting for the extended
conversation around them, the MIV total increases by 151%, rising to $835M, with 79% of this figure driven by Indirect Echo—a
clear sign of the added value that comes from campaigns capable of sparking broader, sustained engagement.

Brand Total MIV Indirect Echo Owned Direct

What’s
1 $1.43B 75% 10% 15% the norm?
2 $1.18B 74% 16% 11% Analysis of 2024’s top
3 $835M 79% 13% 8% ambassadorships shows that, on
average, 77% of total MIV
4 $693M 79% 11% 10% comes from Indirect Echo
5 $462M 82% 4% 15% (Media, Partners, Influencers
and other Celebrities) with 13%
6 $427M 80% 8% 12% driven directly by the official
7 Celebrity ambassadors and 10%
$355M 70% 8% 22%
from Owned Media.
8 $343M 71% 10% 19%
9 $309M 75% 8% 17%
10 $290M 73% 8% 19%
So what does
11 $249M 83% 9% 8%
successful brand
12 $210M 68% 23% 9%
13
ambassadorship
$175M 66% 16% 18%
14
actually look like in
$172M 77% 7% 16%
15
action?
$136M 92% 6% 2%
16 These standout campaigns show
$87M 88% 7% 5%
how Voice Echo plays
17 $52M 70% 8% 21% out—capturing not just
attention, but the
18 $48M 73% 16% 11% conversations, amplification and
19 $17M 68% 25% 7% earned momentum that
followed.
20
$8.7M 85% 2% 13%
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

Brands are putting serious budget behind

How Voice Echo celebrity and influencer partnerships, but

many still find it hard to measure what they’re

Reveals the Full actually getting out of them.

Story Behind
One big challenge is lack of visibility—
it’s tough to go beyond surface-level

Ambassador
engagement stats and really understand how
an ambassador is impacting brand
performance. It’s even more difficult to
Performance separate the value from direct posts versus all
the buzz that happens around them,
like press coverage or partner mentions.
Learn more
On top of that, figuring out real ROI is rarely
accurate—brands often don’t have the full
picture when it comes to what’s actually
driving results. Without the right tools,
assessing ambassador campaign performance
across different regions, moments (like red
carpets or music festivals) and channels is
near impossible. And without a way to
benchmark against competitors, it’s hard to
know what “good” looks like—making it tough
to improve strategies or justify future spend.

That’s where Voice Echo reporting comes in.

What Voice Echo Measures

Direct Impact: Media value Owned media: Impact Competitive

generated by the garnered on the brand’s Benchmarking:
ambassador’s own content. own channels.
Compare key Voices
against industry standards
and competitor
Indirect Echo: Impact ambassadors across
generated through other ROI Estimation: Predict brands and regions.
Voices discussing the potential returns before
ambassador, such as press investing in new celebrity
coverage or partner or influencer partnerships.
amplification.
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

Noteworthy
Ambassadorships of 2024
These are some of the buzziest official This Voice Echo analysis reveals how Calvin Klein’s viral campaign
ambassadorships of 2024 based on strategies vary across brands. Some with Jeremy Allen White is a
Media Impact Value® (MIV®), see the greatest value from celebrities
standout example of the
including the broader conversations posting directly on their own channels,
(Indirect Echo) generated around each while others benefit more from the latter—where the buzz
collaboration. ripple effect generated by the broader extended well beyond the initial
conversation. content.

1 $105M MIV
Jisoo
x

Indirect Echo: 64%

Owned: 3%

Direct: 33%
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

2 $90M MIV 3 $85M MIV 4 $81M MIV

Anya
x Stray Kids x Zendaya x
Taylor-Joy

Indirect Echo: 75% Indirect Echo: 66% Indirect Echo: 97%

Owned: 12% Owned: 23% Owned: 3%
Direct: 13% Direct: 11% Direct: 0%

5 $79M MIV 6 $73M MIV 7 $ $66M MIV

Jeremy
ENHYPEN x Rihanna x x
Allen White

Indirect Echo: 31% Indirect Echo: 92% Indirect Echo: 84%

Owned: 5% Owned: 3% Owned: 16%
Direct: 63% Direct: 5% Direct: 0%

8 $64M MIV 9 $62M MIV 10 $55M MIV

Jude
x Rosé x Jennie Kim x
Bellingham

Indirect Echo: 44% Indirect Echo: 52% Indirect Echo: 67%

Owned: 1% Owned: 4% Owned: 9%
Direct: 55% Direct: 44% Direct: 24%
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

Brand Focus: Alo & the Indirect Echo Garnered by

Celebrities & Influencers
Alo’s spot in the top 20 brands reflects its smart, layered approach to influencer and celebrity marketing. By leveraging a mix of
high-profile stars and digital creators, the brand drives both direct impact and broader cultural buzz. This strategy not only
boosts brand visibility but also sparks ongoing conversations and earned media that extend well beyond paid placements.

The table below highlights the leading Voices behind Alo’s Indirect Echo, revealing how celebrities like Jin (7.4%) and Jisoo
(5.2%) naturally contribute a large share due to their global reach. While influencers like Alix Earle (2%) also play a key role,
proving that even niche creators can fuel meaningful conversations. Even though celebs often generate large-scale knock-on
effects, influencers are often leveraged for their direct results—yet both tiers are critical to Alo’s full-funnel success.

It’s important to note that not all the celebrities and influencers listed below are official brand ambassadors. In some cases, the
Indirect Echo stems from organic posts shared simply out of genuine love for the brand.

Leading Voices & Their Share of Indirect Echo for

1 Kendall Jenner 8.5%

“Brands have become much
2 Hailey Bieber 6.1% more sophisticated about
3 Jin 7.4% having different influencer or
4 Kylie Jenner 4.4%
celebrity cohorts that they
tap into for different end
5 Isabeli Fontana 4.3%
goals. Some influencers are
6 Daiane Sodre 3.8%
better for top of funnel
7 Jisoo 5.2% metrics, like brand sentiment
8 Bella Hadid 2.6% and awareness; others are
better at conversion.”
9 Matthew Noszka 2.2%

10 Jennifer Lopez 2.1%

11 Alix Earle 2%

12 Georgina Rodriguez 2% Aditi Banga

Head of Fashion x Innovation
13 Rosie Huntington-Whiteley 1.9% at Instagram/Meta

14 Candice Swanepoel 1.8%

15 Taylor Swift 1.3%

 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

Decoding
Ambassador
Impact
Different ambassadors spark different kinds
of impact.

From fashion icons to sports legends, each of

these high-performing partnerships shows
how unique personalities, platforms and
storytelling moments shape results.

To illustrate how different ambassador

strategies play out in practice—from direct
impact and Indirect Echo—let’s look at
standout examples driving MIV. And later in
the report, we’ll dive deeper into how those
same partnerships shape brand storytelling
and identity.

Zendaya x Schiaparelli S24 I Spotlight.com

 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

Ambassador Spotlight Influencer

Summary: Nara Aziza cemented her Nara’s ambassadorships

place on fashion’s radar through showcased her versatility and
high-profile collaborations with Marc rising cultural cachet. Her growing
Nara Aziza Smith Jacobs and H&M. From fronting Marc presence in editorial spreads and
Jacobs’ edgy seasonal campaign to brand campaigns underscored her
@naraaziza her effortless style to H&M’s global status as one of the year’s
reach, breakout faces in fashion.
Followers: 4.6M

Key Insight
Total MIV $1.5M Total MIV $582M
While Owned Media accounts
Voice Echo Breakdown Voice Echo Breakdown for just 10% of MIV in brand
ambassadorships on average, it
Direct Impact Direct Impact represents 32% for Marc
$117K $236K Jacobs and 41% for H&M in
(Ambassador) (Ambassador)
their campaigns with
Owned (Brand) $473K Owned (Brand) $238K
Nara—indicating that the
Indirect Echo $918K Indirect Echo $107K brands took a more active role
in creating and amplifying
content through their own
7.8% channels, rather than relying on
18.4% Indirect Echo to carry the
impact.
40.6%
60.8% 31.4%

41%

Top Placements Top Placements

Owned $313K MIV Indirect Echo $235K MIV

Total MIV: This is the total Media Impact Value garnered within the first month of the brand ambassadorship
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

Ambassador Spotlight Celebrity

Summary: “It’s Zendaya’s year,” Together, these ambassadorships

declared headlines earlier this reflected her unmatched range
year—and her presence across major and confirmed her position as one
Zendaya campaigns in 2024 proved it. She of the most influential figures in
fronted standout campaigns with On, global brand marketing.
@zendaya
Louis Vuitton and Bulgari, seamlessly
spanning sportswear, fashion and fine
Followers: 179M
jewelry.

Key Insight
Total MIV $3.6M Total MIV $25.3M Total MIV $1.6M
On generated most of
Voice Echo Breakdown Voice Echo Breakdown Voice Echo Breakdown its impact for Zendaya’s
ambassadorship
Direct Impact Direct Impact Direct Impact through Indirect Echo,
$0 $0 $0
(Ambassador) (Ambassador) (Ambassador) with a standout
moment being a
Owned (Brand) $921K Owned (Brand) $3.7M Owned (Brand) $368K
Federer-led content
Indirect Echo $2.6M Indirect Echo $22M Indirect Echo $1.3M piece referencing the
movie Challengers,
which alone drove
$422K in MIV. Rather
14.6% 22.7%
25.9% than relying on direct
posts from Zendaya, On
leveraged cultural
74.1% 85.4% 77.3%
relevance and
cross-ambassador
storytelling—smartly
tapping into tennis star
Top Placements Top Placements Top Placements
Federer’s influence to
Indirect Echo Indirect Echo Owned amplify the narrative
$422K MIV $500K MIV $74K MIV and build momentum
around the campaign.

Total MIV: This is the total Media Impact Value garnered within the first month of the brand ambassadorship
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

Ambassador Spotlight Athlete

Summary: Lewis Hamilton, the famed Hamilton brought global visibility

British Formula 1 driver, deepened and cultural relevance to both
his presence in the fashion and luxury brands—fronting Dior’s menswear
Lewis Hamilton space through high-profile capsule and continuing his
partnerships with Dior and IWC. long-standing relationship with
@lewishamilton Known for blending athletic IWC as both ambassador and
excellence with bold personal style, design collaborator.
Followers: 39.4M

Key Insight
Total MIV $2.9M Total MIV $5M
Despite the IWC x Lewis
Voice Echo Breakdown Voice Echo Breakdown Hamilton partnership being
over a decade old, Hamilton’s
Direct Impact Direct Impact cultural relevance continues to
$1.2M $0 grow. This is evident in the
(Ambassador) (Ambassador)
exceptional MIV ($1.2M in
Owned (Brand) $337K Owned (Brand) $863K
Direct Impact alone) he drove
Indirect Echo $1.4M Indirect Echo $4.1M for IWC in just one
month—demonstrating his
enduring star power and the
brand's ability to keep the
17.2%
collaboration fresh and
resonant with audiences.
47.4% 40.9%

82.8%
11.7%

Top Placements Top Placements

Direct $788K MIV Owned $581K MIV

Total MIV: This is the total Media Impact Value garnered within the first month of the brand ambassadorship
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

Going
Beyond ROI
Diving into qualitative insights to
understand the cultural resonance of
brand ambassadorships
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

How Talent Shapes the Way Brands Are Talked About:

A Qualitative Analysis
Partnering with brand-aligned talent it ensures alignment, impact and especially for brands aiming to shift
isn’t just about amplifying reach—it’s smarter, deeply informed positioning. For instance, if evoking
about sparking the right conversations decision-making. ‘nostalgia’ is the goal, partnering with
and shaping perception. Long-term talent who naturally embodies that
partnerships have the power to define Our proprietary AI-powered qualitative value can be a powerful move.
cultural relevance, drive desirability and framework reveals the core value
deepen audience connection. themes from each brand-ambassador The values below were surfaced by
collaboration. Values shown in blue analyzing thousands of articles and
As Fashion, Lifestyle and Beauty brands reflect what we believe the ambassador identifying recurring themes and
operate in increasingly nuanced and uniquely contributed, and those in keywords. For example, our AI-powered
culturally driven spaces, the need for green reflect values that the search flagged multiple media mentions
qualitative data has never been greater. ambassador brought to both of Lewis Hamilton’s guest design work
Metrics alone can’t capture sentiment, partnerships—demonstrating how for Dior, specifically highlighting his use
symbolism or how talent influences talent can shape and enrich brand of artisanal, African-inspired materials
brand identity. That’s why pairing ROI identity. Understanding the values a (see ‘Africa’ listed below).
data with qualitative insight is celebrity or influencer brings is
essential: essential,

Categories

Cultural Relevance & Audience & Lifestyle

Ambassadors Brands Product Strategy
Brand Values Connection

Luxury Excellence Inspiration

Precision Sustainability Aspirational style

Innovation Identity Recognition

Functionality Sustainability Influence

Lewis Innovation African Athletic identity
Hamilton
Capsule collection Culture Performance lifestyle

Sneaker innovation Wellness Lifestyle identity

Technology Diversity Gen Z

Comfort Inclusivity Community

Innovation Gender-neutral Aesthetic influence

Zendaya Silhouettes Culture Red carpet

Craftsmanship Surrealism Style

Architectural Silhouettes Vintage Red carpet

Statement Nostalgia Expression
Exclusivity Inclusivity Aspirational Identity

DIY Tradwife Influencer-led style

Nara Aziza
Craftsmanship Domestic femininity Meme fluency
Smith
Limited edition Nostalgia Niche Fashion Expression
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

Key Qualitative Stats from Brand Ambassador Conversations

When we zoom out from the specific value themes tied to Talent’s influence, by contrast, is far more prominent in the
each brand-ambassador collaboration, clear patterns begin cultural and audience-facing dimensions. Our AI-powered
to emerge. Values linked to product strategy—especially analysis shows that nearly half of all value associations
those grounded in technical excellence or innovation—are (47%) fall into the lifestyle and audience connection
less frequently shaped by ambassadors. Categories like category—values like “Recognition,” “Performance Lifestyle”
“Sneaker Innovation” or “Craftsmanship” remain firmly in or “Gen Z” that reflect emotional resonance and everyday
the brand’s domain, reinforcing the idea that brands hold relevance. Across the full data set, 53% of value themes
tighter control over how product quality and functionality were ambassador-driven, showing that the people brands
are communicated. choose to work with don’t just amplify visibility—they shape
how the brand is understood.

Across our analysis

53% of the values

tied to brand
ambassadorships
were directly driven by the
ambassador—proving that talent
doesn’t just represent a brand, they
actively shape its narrative.

47% of all
conversations
around brand-ambassador
partnerships center on lifestyle
and audience connection.
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

Key Insights
& Actionable
Next Steps
Report takeaways, expert insights
and your ultimate checklist
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

Key Brand Ambassador Stats Based

on Our Voice Echo Analysis of Top Performing Brands
Our 2024 analysis of celebrity and influencer partnerships reveals these standout trends driving the Fashion, Lifestyle
and Beauty industries forward.

46% 50%
of the top brand
ambassadorships
of all placements tied to a brand ambassadorship go live within the first
of 2024 were
24 hours.
with celebrities
from the APAC
region.

60% 44%
41%
The first day of a campaign Brand ambassadors, including
accounts for 60% of total MIV® both celebrities and influencers,
generated during a brand contribute 44% of a brand’s total
ambassadorship. annual MIV.

$76M MIV In just one year,

the Influencer
Voice grew by
41% from 2023
On average, the top performing official celebrity ambassadorships to 2024.
deliver $76M MIV on average over the course of a year.
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

Report Takeaways

Ambassadors Drive Nearly Much of a Celebrity MIV and Voice Echo

Half of Annual Brand Ambassador’s Value Comes Reporting Reveal Where
Visibility From the Conversations Impact Actually Happens
They Spark.
Brand ambassadors—ranging MIV remains the most
from Hollywood celebrities and comprehensive metric for
On average, 77% of celebrity
music artists, to social media understanding brand visibility
ambassador-driven MIV comes
influencers and across channels. But Voice Echo
from Indirect Echo—coverage
athletes—account for 44% of a reporting adds a crucial
from media, partners, other
brand’s total Media Impact layer—revealing where value is
celebrities and/or influencers
Value® (MIV®) in a single year, being generated (e.g. through
outside the campaign—reacting
confirming their role as one of owned channels, directly from
to or amplifying the
the most powerful levers for ambassadors or Indirect Echo)
collaboration, highlighting the
visibility and engagement across and who is driving it. For
importance of selecting the right
the Fashion, Lifestyle and Beauty ambassador campaigns, the
ambassadors that are not only a
(FLB) sectors. Well-executed majority of MIV comes from
fit for the brand, but that are
ambassadorships have the power Indirect Echo, meaning that
culturally relevant to further
to spark conversation and earned media and third-party
drive conversation beyond the
deepen connection with amplification are what give a
initial post.
consumers, making them critical partnership cultural weight.
to both cultural relevance and Without Voice Echo analysis,
long-term brand equity. brands risk misunderstanding
the real drivers of campaign
success.

Qualitative Insight Is No Longer Optional Ambassadors Shape Brand Culture,

Not Just Product Visibility
As brand investment in ambassadorships climbs—with
34% of brands now paying over $500K per year—so Our qualitative analysis shows that nearly half of all
does the pressure to prove strategic value. In the hyper value associations linked to ambassadors center on
competitive FLB industries where visibility alone isn't lifestyle, identity and emotional connection—values
enough, qualitative, AI-powered analysis is essential for that shape how audiences relate to a brand. More
understanding not just how much impact an than just driving exposure, ambassadors help define
ambassador drives, but what kind of brand story they’re brand meaning. To maximize impact, brands must
helping to tell. Without it, brands risk spending big on choose talent who reflect their cultural story, not just
partnerships that generate reach, but miss the mark on amplify product campaigns.
long-term alignment and cultural relevance.
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

What the Experts Say

Insights & Future Predictions from Industry Leaders in Fashion, Lifestyle and Beauty

“A single spike in visibility is never the goal. What truly “Quantifying success is crucial, especially when
matters is building consistent and meaningful making investment decisions. MIV® and similar tools
engagement with our community time after time. By help bring clarity to the impact of each collaboration,
tracking the quality and the rhythm of that but they’re most powerful when paired with
engagement, we can stay focused on driving long-term qualitative insights: Did this ambassador bring us into
brand strength and cultural impact.” new conversations? Did they spark cultural relevance
or open new doors in a key market? Numbers
Virginia Ritchie matter—but context still wins.”
Chief Marketing Officer, Tommy Hilfiger
Robin Caillaud
Chief Digital & Marketing Officer, The Frankie Shop

“MIV is one of many essential KPIs in a

performance-based environment…Brands must be
proactive and anticipate blind spots in the creative “Measurement is everything! Data is important!
process that impact performance. Marketers can Metrics like MIV help brands quantify influence, track
reduce risk by planning and paying for more impact and refine strategy. Clear insights reveal what’s
content options and alternative assets.” working, what’s not and where to optimize.”

Qianna Smith Bruneteau Derek Blasberg

Founder, Executive Director, American Influencer Writer & Curator
Council

“Whether it’s a fashion house I’ve adored for years or

a beauty brand whose products I use every day, it
“Content creation through influencers and content needs to feel organic, like I would talk about it even if
creators will continue to be a focus to support the there wasn’t a campaign behind it. I believe that’s what
infinite need for brand content—whether for organic creates the magic—when a collaboration feels like an
social, paid social, email marketing, websites, blog extension of my own story, and not just a momentary
posts, Out-of-home campaigns and more.” partnership.”

Renee Ogaki Tamara Kalinic

Founder & CEO, OGAKI Fashion & Lifestyle Influencer

“Creatively and effectively succeeding with superstar talent is all about the quality
of content. Whether subtle or sardonic, the aim is to create more conversations that
drive actionables you want from your consumers. Today, much of this can be
achieved most easily and directly via talent.”

Chris Gay
The Society Management
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

What the Experts Say

Insights & Future Predictions from Industry Leaders in Fashion, Lifestyle and Beauty

“We are always measuring a suite of KPIs to ensure that the cultural impact we
create with our campaigns translates into traffic, conversion and sales of our
products. MIV is one of many important tools that we use, and it’s valuable because
it’s an indicator of the virality and earned media value that we can create when we
get the blend of partnership, content and launch moment right.”

Jonathan Bottomley
EVP Chief Marketing Officer, Calvin Klein

"I think the biggest opportunity is moving beyond the traditional influencer
marketing model and into true ownership models where talent have a real stake in
the brands they back. There’s also a huge opportunity in building more layered,
long-term storytelling: showing the behind-the-scenes, the evolution, not just the
polished final product.”

Jordan Mitchell
Co-Founder at Good Culture Inc.

"When brands and influencers collaborate, they're not just showing up as joint
creators. To consumers, they're showing up as brand personalities with a shared set
of attitudes to life. When we look at the data of which influencers generate the most
engagement, we can often see that it's not just people who are famous for being
famous, but people who vocally stand for something, whether that's representation
of a shared identity or minority group, a passion for a pursuit, a lust for life,
creativity, curiosity or positive change.”

Anusha Couttigane
Head of Advisory, Vogue Business
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

Your Ultimate Ambassadorships Checklist

10 Questions Every Marketing & PR Leader Should Ask Before Their Next Celebrity
or Influencer Partnership

Bringing together the insights and data from this report, this checklist is designed to help you evaluate the health,
performance and strategic alignment of your ambassador programs. Use it as a practical guide for building smarter, more
impactful ambassadorships in 2025 and beyond.

1. Is this the right ambassador for our brand and our audience?
Do they align with our brand values and speak to the lifestyle, identity or aspirations of our target consumer? Will the collaboration
feel authentic?

2. Are they already influencing the conversations we want to be part of?

Look for signs of cultural momentum: earned media buzz, trendsetting or Indirect Echo potential.

3. What fresh value do they bring to our brand?

Consider diversity of voice, lifestyle connection, emotional resonance or global reach.

4. Have we defined success in both numbers and narrative?

Go beyond traditional metrics like reach and engagement by assessing ROI through deeper measures like MIV® and complement
that with qualitative insights—analyzing sentiment, value alignment and long-term brand equity.

5. Can we measure the full range of impact?

Are we equipped to track owned content, ambassador output and the broader Indirect Echo they generate?

6. Are we designing a campaign that gives people something to talk about?

Build in cultural references, timely relevance and creative hooks that encourage organic amplification.

7. Are we activating the ambassador beyond a single post?

Think about content extensions—interviews, events, behind-the-scenes, UGC prompts—that fuel media and fan participation.

8. Do we have tools in place to track what values the ambassador is projecting onto the brand?
Use qualitative AI-driven tools to analyze how the partnership is shaping perception.

9. Are we learning where the value is coming from?

Identify which regions, channels and moments (e.g. red carpets, Coachella, collection or product launches) drove the most impact.

10. Are we feeding insights forward into future strategy?

Compare outcomes to past and peer campaigns and distill what you'd repeat, evolve or leave behind.
Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

Partners
The Leading Brand Performance Cloud
for Fashion, Lifestyle and Beauty
Software, Data and Insights to Track and Measure Your
Brand Strategy and Campaign Performance

● Benchmark against your competitors, measure ROI and drive cost savings

● Dive into global campaign data and filter by region, channel and Voice

● Simplify Media Monitoring with your print, online and social coverage all in one place

● Quantify your Brand Efforts with a single, unified metric, Media Impact Value® (MIV®)

● Uncover the 'why' behind brand performance with qualitative insights to decode what’s
resonating—and why it matters for your brand.

LEARN MORE
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

Methodology & Glossary

Media Impact Value® (MIV®*): Allows brands to assign a Voice Echo Analysis:
monetary value to every post, interaction or article to A framework for measuring the total MIV generated by an
measure its impact and identify contributions to Brand ambassador Voice (e.g. Influencer or Celebrity) across
Performance across Voices, channels and regions. This three types of brand mentions:
single measurement standard lets you compare and
understand which strategies create the most media Direct Impact: Content published by the Voice on their
impact across print, online and social by reflecting the own platforms mentioning the brand.
audience perspective. At Launchmetrics, our methodology
is built on more than 15 years of experience, working with Owned (Brand Owned Impact): Content published by the
and for Fashion, Lifestyle and Beauty (FLB) brands brand on its own channels mentioning the ambassador.
globally, including China. Finely tuned with AI Machine
Learning, the algorithm relies on both quantitative and Indirect Echo: Content published by third parties (Media,
qualitative attributes specific to the FLB industries Partners and/or other Influencers and Celebrities)
(including audience engagement, industry relevance, mentioning both the Voice and the Brand.
source authority and content quality) to ensure overall
accuracy and relevance when benchmarking in the This analysis helps measure the full extent of a Voice’s
growing competitive landscape. influence in driving brand visibility and media value.

Engagement: The total number of interactions on a piece

of content. For example, this includes comments, likes and
Expressions
shares.
MIV® – Media Impact Value®
Placements: Social media posts, media articles, or blog
posts which mention the brand.
B– Billion

Share of value (SOV): The percentage representation of a

M – Million
specific category's contribution to overall MIV®. It
quantifies the proportion of MIV® generated by a
K – Thousand
category relative to the total amount, providing insights
into the category's significance. Categories may include
Average $MIV® - Average MIV® per placement for a
Voices, channels, brands, or specific events within the
specific subset of data, allowing us to measure the
brand's ecosystem (non-exhaustive).
average quality of a channel

Online: Any online article is a placement. Each element of

Avg. Eng. Rate % – Average Engagement Rate in %: the
a gallery can also be a placement. If an article is present in
percentage of subscribers engaged in a certain post,
several sections of a media, it is counted once. If it appears
averaged across multiple posts of a channel.
in different media, it can be counted several times.
Social: Any post from YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, X is
FLB – Fashion, Lifestyle & Beauty
counted as a placement.
Print: Any article is a placement, which can contain
Influencers Tiers:
several references.
● Micro Influencers: 10K-100K followers
Tiers: Influencer tiers: Influencers & KOL’s are categorized
● Mid-Tier Influencers: 100K-500K followers
based on the number of followers they have on their social
● Mega Influencers: 500K-2.5M followers
channels. A Voice with multiple social accounts is only
● All-Star Influencers: More than 2.5M followers
categorized based on their largest social account
audience.
Read more about MIV® HERE
 Brand Ambassador Marketing 2025

Voices

Launchmetrics’ Voice-Centric approach highlights the Celebrities

Voices creating value today to provide a holistic view of Influential individuals that are known for something other
marketing performance and cross-compare the impact than their digital presence such as actors, singers and
various activities have on the customer lifecycle. athletes.
Understand the Voices that are driving your brand mentions
so that you can track, attribute and measure success Influencers/ KOL’s
accordingly. Any person who is not a celebrity and who has a relevant
footprint on social media to influence consumers in their
Media buying behavior/perception of a brand, including models
Any third party entity publishing content written by media and designers.
professionals such as a journalist, team, or freelancer. It can
have sources in print, online and social. Partners
Any legal entity (brand, retailer) that can publish content
Celebrities about another legal entity, for example: Sephora or CFDA.
Influential individuals that are known for something other
than their digital presence such as actors, singers and Owned Media
athletes. Any channel that belongs to the brand itself, for example:
Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Weibo, RED.

Report Methodology and Scope

Date Range Queries

All rankings and case studies are based on data from January The data in this report has been collected based on brand
1 to December 31, 2024, with the exception of the Alo case queries. Each brand is assigned a specific set of queries, for
study, which draws exclusively from data in the second half example: adidas OR adidasy3 OR "adidas_es" OR
of the year (July 1 to December 31, 2024). adidasoriginals OR adidaswomen (not exhaustive) have
been assigned to adidas for data collection purposes.
Survey participation
The survey was conducted with 150 Fashion, Lifestyle and The brands included in the report come from a selected set
Beauty professionals across EMEA and the Americas. that’s considered strongly related to the Fashion and
Lifestyle, sector. Regional data analyzed covers the
Platforms following locations: the Americas (North and South), APAC
Online and Social: Instagram, Weibo, YouTube, Douyin, (Australia, China, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, Singapore
Wechat, Facebook, Red, TikTok, Bilibili and X (formerly and Thailand) and EMEA (Europe and the Middle East).
Twitter).

Qualitative Insights

In addition to our proprietary Media Impact Value® (MIV®) This qualitative layer complements our quantitative
analytics, this report includes insights from Launchmetrics’ expertise, giving brands a richer understanding of how
new Qualitative Insights (QI) offering—an AI-powered conversations, trends, and brand associations are evolving.
methodology designed to uncover the why behind the what.
By detecting rising topics, identifying brand-trend or
We leverage Large Language Models (LLMs) combined with brand-values alignment, and analyzing strategic initiatives
advanced prompt engineering and more traditional topic such as brand-ambassador collaborations, our QI
modelling methodologies to analyze unstructured data at methodology helps brands make sense of the cultural and
scale, allowing us to surface nuanced perspectives and contextual factors that drive perception—and ultimately,
emerging narratives shaping the industry. performance.