Influencer marketing is a trend that’s here to stay. In 2022, 39% of marketers reported investing up to 20% of their marketing budget into influencer marketing strategies. Brands of all sizes are breaking away from traditional marketing and looking into more creator-driven ways to promote their products. Soft drink giant Coca-Cola is one of these brands experiencing tangible results. 

In a recent research report, the team at CreatorIQ assessed how Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestle, and Red Bull measure up against each other by analyzing key industry metrics. Keep reading to learn more about the results and what they mean for influencer marketing. 

Who Conducted the Survey?

The Coca-Cola Eases Past Competitors Thanks To Effective Content Creators report was conducted by CreatiorIQ, one of the world’s top influencer marketing software platforms. They offer several software solutions to help creators grow, manage, scale, and measure results. Founded in 2014, the company has over 300 employees in the United States and Europe. In 2021, they merged with Tribe Dynamics, an influencer analytics platform. The founder and CEO of CreatorIQ is Igor Vaks. Prior to his current role, Vaks was the COO of SavvyMoney and the CTO/CIO at Experian. 

Today, CreatorIQ has more than 20 million creators in their database. The company’s creator-led marketing solutions offer a different perspective than traditional brand-to-consumer approaches which are quickly becoming outdated. CreatorIQ helps organizations build the infrastructure they need to shift towards a more creator-centric marketing strategy. 

Survey Methodology

Between September 2022 and February 2023, CreatorIQ measured several data points from Coca-Cola as well as some of their top competitors: Pepsi, Nestle, and Red Bull. In that time frame, Coca-Cola received 67 million engagements and reached 10.9 billion people. The total number of impressions was 1.7 billion and the company received 17,500 total mentions across social media platforms. 

CreatorIQ also noted the top three creators and partnerships by impression:

Cam Casey – 567.6M Impressions

@itscamcasey

Christmas Themed Coca Cola 😳

♬ original sound – Cam Casey

Cam Casey has 9.2 million followers on TikTok. Cam creates videos in response to clips from other creators who try out different tricks and stunts with brand name items. In this video, Cam attempts to make a Christmas bow out of the label on a Coca-Cola bottle. In addition to Coke, Cam partners with other big brand names, like McDonald’s, Colgate, and Hershey’s.

Grace Sharer – 52.9M Impressions

@gracesharer

Who should i Pie next?🥧

♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys – Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey

Grace Sharer creates humorous videos on her TikTok account that feature Coca-Cola products as well as other brand name items from companies like Starbucks and Target. She currently has over 840,000 followers. Grace’s family-friendly content includes clips of her trying out TikTok trends and spoofs on nostalgic events like going to sleep-away camp. Here, Grace pranks her roommate with a piece of pie and two bottles of Diet Coke.

Nicholai Perret – 50.8M Impressions

@nichlmao I got him good at the end 😂 @vujaeofficial ♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys – Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey

Singaporian influencer Nicholai Perret has over 11 million followers on TikTok. He also makes short videos on his YouTube channel, which has an impressive 23 million subscribers. In this video, Nich asks one of his friends “yes or no” when offering him different products. At the end, he plays a prank on the friend with a bottle of Coca-Cola and some baking soda.

Three Key Takeaways

1. CreatorIQ found that Coca-Cola’s closest competitor was Pepsi. Pepsi’s total reach from September 2022 to February 2023 was 5.5 billion, which was 48% less than Coke’s.

2. Nestle worked with 651 creators, a half-on-half (HoH) increase of 17% for the company. Nestle’s creator community was 91% smaller than Coca-Cola’s.

3. Red Bull’s creator partnerships generated $36,000 in earned media value (EMV) per creator, which was a 15% HoH increase for the company. This was 65% greater than Coca-Cola’s numbers.

What Does This Mean for Influencer Marketing?

The first takeaway clearly shows Coca-Cola’s creator marketing strategy outpacing its closest competitor by an impressive amount. Like Coke products, the Pepsi brand is recognizable world-wide, however these numbers suggest Pepsi may need to shift their marketing strategy from more traditional to creator-centric. 

These figures also indicate the overall strength of influencer marketing. They serve as a benchmark for other organizations looking to modernize their marketing strategy. Coca-Cola is a great example of a big-name company embracing the trend.

The second takeaway shows a drastic difference between Nestle and Coca-Cola, both of which are some of the biggest names in the food and beverage industry. Coke and Nestle share a similar customer base and both brands have been around for over 100 years. However, it seems as though Coca-Cola has made a significantly larger investment in their creator marketing strategy, especially over the last several months. 

Unlike the first two takeaways, the third is an example of how a Coca-Cola competitor has an edge over the brand in the creator marketing space. Earned media value (EMV) is an influencer marketing metric that aims to quantify the value of social media content. EMV is an engagement measurement on content featuring a brand’s products or services that is converted into a dollar value. Here, Red Bull’s creator potency as measured by EMV per creator is 65% greater than Coke’s.

To better understand this metric, diving into Red Bull’s marketing history is key. From the start, the brand went against traditional marketing and put its product directly in the hands of its target customers. They found that giving their products away for free on college campuses created an effective “word of mouth” effect that took the brand to the next level. Unlike Coca-Cola who has to spend a considerable amount of time and resources moving away from a traditional marketing strategy, Red Bull has always been unconventional. The brand has historically stayed close to the consumer, much like today’s influencer marketing campaigns.

Overall, CreatorIQ’s data reinforces the importance of shifting away from traditional corporate marketing strategies and towards influencer marketing. Coca-Cola is a great example of a brand committed to embracing creator-led marketing strategies, as they’re outpacing some of their biggest competitors in several key metrics. 

Link to the Report

The Coca-Cola Competitive Analysis report can be found on CreatorIQ’s website, along with additional insights and case studies within the creator marketing space.