In theory, a brand trip is a great idea. A bunch of camera-ready personalities, generating a triple whammy of creator-brand longevity, brand buzz, oh, and a ton of content, all together on a lush adventure, earning an influencer right of passage on the corporate credit card? Sign me up!
In practice, they make my PR brain very nervous. Anyone who lived through Dramageddon or the infamous Tarte trip knows that brand trips have had a tumultuous past and are heading toward an even more uncertain future. As recent as Coachella ‘26, influencers “sell out” to live lavishly with brands they once condemned online to mass backlash.
On my nightly LinkedIn lurk, I came across this article from Jasmine Enberg and Kaya Yurieff from Scalable Pod (IG: @scalablepod) on these exact thoughts, with a focus on a new, potentially major player in creator marketing: the live event. Immediately, I knew I had to slide into some DMs. Extending a big, huge ‘thank you’ to Jasmine for sharing her thoughts:
Given the history of controversy and risks with brand trips, why do you think brands still lean into them?
“For some brands, trips make a lot of sense. Take airlines and hotels, for example: Their businesses revolve around travel, so taking creators on a trip is a natural way to promote their brands.
Trips are also still a way for brands to generate buzz, creator loyalty and get a ton of social content at a relatively low cost. It’s often cheaper to fly a bunch of creators and influencers to an exotic location where you know they’re going to film a ton of content than to negotiate individual brand deals with multiple creators.
The problem is that these trips often get the wrong kind of attention. They’ve gotten more and more extravagant over the years, which has rubbed people the wrong way. Especially when people’s budgets are tight, trips can seem out of touch.
It also just gets old: There’s only so much content people can take on anything.
Plus, brands also have less control than they might think over what creators post from those trips. And the ripple effect is real: Shein’s disastrous trip in 2023 also reignited other concerns about its business practices.”
That’s the crux of it: the lack of control. In today’s landscape, lack of control over public perception and creator content is a risk that is harder to justify than ever. As recently as a few weeks ago during Coachella, feeds were flooded with backlash and discourse around brands like Starbucks and their heavy-handed presence at the festival.
“Selling out” and becoming “unrelatable” are critiques as old as time, but the stakes feel higher now. What was once a symbol of influencer status is increasingly viewed as tone-deaf, or worse, reputationally catastrophic. Consumers are more discerning, more vocal, and more skeptical.
But, as they say, when one app closes, another one opens. The brand trip may be losing its shine, but a new model for experiential marketing is gaining traction: the live event.
What makes a live brand event successful (or more effective than a brand trip?)
“Live events give brands many of the same benefits (meaning buzz, loyalty and social content) as influencer trips, with much better optics and more control.
For brands, live events are a way to bring people into their world in a more controlled environment, while still letting creators share their own stories. They can also open these events up to the public, so people don’t feel excluded.
They can also be logistically easier and cheaper to coordinate, especially when brands don’t have to fly a group of creators somewhere—and if they were planning to host an event anyway.”
Do you see this as a lasting shift?
“It’s certainly not just a fad. Live events are so back. People genuinely want to be in-person again. You see that everywhere, with Gen Zers returning to malls and even campuses opening up for creators (whose entire careers have been digital) to co-work.
The catch is that people also want their offline experiences to reflect what they’re experiencing online. They don’t want the malls of the 90s, they want experiences that are made for the modern age. Creators are a big part of that.
That’s also why you see podcasters going on tour and some creators even opening theme parks!”
I’ll admit, I’m a bit biased. I got my start in PR helping local bands (including my own) plan and promote live concerts and festivals. I’ve seen firsthand the kind of connection that only happens in person. Events are lit.
And as a Gen Z, that desire for connection feels stronger than ever. Authenticity is a value and baseline that my generation and beyond demands (peep last month’s piece on celebrity brands and perceived authenticity). That fine line brands and creators dance between relatability and “selling out” isn’t going anywhere; there’s just something more honest about an experience that’s meant to be branded, especially when it invites people in, rather than shutting them out.
Brands creating connections will fare better over those creating content. Where the standard of brand trips is reminiscent of past trends, the artifice of content and aspiration, the new standard and best practices will become about access. And the brands that understand the difference will be the ones that can get away with creator-brand longevity, buzz on the cheap, oh, and a ton of content once again.
Brand trips walked so live events could run. For Gen Z and beyond, consumers are going to be more interested in what’s happening IRL than who got flown to Tulum.
