What Influencer Marketers Can Learn From 3 Legacy CPG Brands
Heritage CPG brands aren't exactly known for being first movers in creator marketing. But a few of the biggest household names are proving that legacy doesn't have to mean predictable.
We've been watching how brands like Dove, Hidden Valley Ranch, and Old El Paso are showing up in the creator space lately, and their programs are worth studying. Here's what caught our attention and why it matters for influencer marketers.
Dove handed its entire campaign to creators
Dove has been quietly building one of the most sophisticated creator programs in CPG.
Their #ShareTheFirst campaign was the brand's first campaign made entirely from creator content, leveraging real stories from 111 global creators sharing unfiltered "first" photos and the personal moments behind them.
The campaign resulted in:
- Over 1 billion impressions
- 1.4 million engagements
- 94% positive sentiment
- Increase in purchase intent (+17 points among girls, +9 among women)
Why we love it: Dove proved that a heritage brand can build an entire campaign on creator content without sacrificing quality or scale. By giving creators full ownership of the storytelling rather than scripting them, they got content that felt real because it was real.
Hidden Valley Ranch is hiring creators for a European adventure
Hidden Valley Ranch recently announced the Ranch-bassador Program for summer 2026, which will entail two duos of content creators spending 7 weeks traveling across Europe as they pair the iconic Hidden Valley ranch dressing with local cuisines and capture people's reactions along the way.
Each team is responsible for producing 4 short-form videos per week across Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts, plus one long-form YouTube episode. All equipment and travel expenses are covered by the brand.
Instead of running one-off sponsored posts, Hidden Valley is building a serialized content engine that gives creators real ownership over the narrative. The format lends itself to the kind of episodic storytelling that performs well on YouTube and TikTok, where audiences want to follow a journey, not just see a product.
Why we love it: Hidden Valley is treating creators like co-producers, not just distribution channels. The Ranch-bassador Program gives creators a real brief with creative latitude, and the long-form plus short-form content mix means the brand gets assets that work across every major platform.
Old El Paso turned a product launch into a viral TikTok campaign
When General Mills needed to launch Old El Paso's Tortilla Pockets, they went all out with a parody song.
The "Mess Free Hero" campaign reimagined Foreigner's classic "Juke Box Hero" as a TikTok-first music video performed by social media influencers. Tortilla Pockets doubled as microphones in the influencer performances, seamlessly integrating the product into the content without it feeling forced.
The campaign extended beyond TikTok to Spotify and OTT platforms, and the results reflected the effort:
- Over 1.8 million #MessFreeHero TikTok UGC videos created (103% above benchmark)
- 8 billion video views for the #MessFreeHero hashtag challenge on TikTok
- A 12-point lift in brand awareness and a 15-point lift in purchase intent from influencer content
- $5 million in Tortilla Pocket sales during the campaign period
Why we love it: Old El Paso understood that a product launch doesn't have to look like a product launch. By leading with entertainment and giving creators a genuinely fun concept to work with, they made the content something people wanted to share.
Key Takeaways
All 3 of these programs share a few things that separate them from typical heritage brand marketing:
- They give creators real creative ownership. None of these campaigns are "hold up the product and smile" briefs. They're built around formats that let creators bring their personality to the content.
- They're platform-native. Each campaign was designed for the platforms where it lives, without a full-blown content studio getting involved.
- They think beyond the single post. Whether it's a creator-led initiative that scaled to 14 markets, a 7-week travel series, or a multi-platform music campaign, these brands are building programs with a longer shelf life rather than short-term ad placements.
Want to see where the industry is headed next? Download The State of Influencer Marketing 2026 for the latest data on how brands are scaling their creator programs.
