Celebrity Influencers Go Up in Smoke

Celebrity Influencers Go Up in Smoke

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Welcome to this month’s edition of our newsletter “If Brands Put People First” where we pop up in your inbox monthly with our analysis of campaigns, advertisements, and commercials from brands that we think could make a major impact if they used real people, with real stories, to achieve real results.

In this month’s newsletter, Cofounder Ryan Davis and Strategist Nicole Dunger take a deep dive into the impact and implications of Snoop Dog’s splashy campaign with Solo Stove.


In November, Snoop Dogg scored one of the biggest viral ad campaigns of 2023. The campaign for a smokeless stove company, Solo Stove, was hailed as “the best ad of the year” and “genius marketing,” as it generated a reach of nearly 3 BILLION

Woah, that must have sold an incredible amount of stoves! 🔥

Nope. The thing is, the ad didn’t convert to any meaningful sales and instead dinged the company’s revenue so much that the CEO responsible for it vanished in a puff of smoke. 💨

While celebrities and other popular influencers can generate awareness and excitement, they often don’t lead to any lasting conversations. They might grab our attention, and feel like the only thing anyone is talking about for a few days, but with the cyclical nature of social media, we can just as quickly move on to the next big thing.

In this case, Snoop Dog’s prank tweets generated a stark increase in mentions of the smokeless stove that only lasted a little under 5 days.

By engaging microinfluencers and other creators, you can keep the audience engaged, after the celebrity post has long ago burned out. Activating real people online brings the conversation into the feeds of everyday people. Encouraging those within your target market to discuss things like, “what does smokeless really mean?” or “how can smokeless benefit my family?” making the conversation feel more relatable.

A splashy entrance, with a lasting impression on everyday consumers.

At People First, we have found that the levels of influencer reach often impact the outcomes of your marketing. While celebrities and macroinfluencers are great at generating awareness, mid-tier influencers are better at powering consideration, and microinfluencers take things over the finish line by driving conversion through targeted, whitelisted advertising.

Ultimately, you can’t let celebrities fly solo anymore. The quick turnaround from one celebrity headline to the next, requires the inclusion of real people to bring authenticity, relatability, and conversions to your campaign.

It’s good to see that the smokeless stove company has pivoted to influencers who speak to their target consumers; such as notable outdoorsy folks and cooks. But is this really enough? While these influencers do reflect potential buyers in certain demographics, hobbies, or life stages, are they really relatable with their 1 million+ followers? They can definitely inspire their audiences to work with the products they use, but to take things a step further by including real people, such as your nextdoor neighbor or your kids soccer coach, Solo Stove might just find the success they are searching for in this campaign.

And for a lower cost I might add.

That’s the power of putting people first in your marketing.