How are Brands Leveraging Music Influencers in their Marketing Strategies?

Music Influencer Marketing Campaigns

Mr Fantasy X Chipotle

While KJ Apa is well-known for his sincere characterisation of Archie on TV show Riverdale, the New Zealand actor recently emerged with a truly bizarre alter ego – Mr Fantasy. Complete with a wig, fake teeth and increasingly unhinged behaviour, Mr Fantasy puts out music that is primed to catch the runaway viral train.

It wasn’t the first quirky move KJ has made, but it’s certainly been one of his most effective. Not only has he created a fresh slate on which to build his music career, dodging preconceptions carried over from his acting career, but he’s enacted an entertaining ‘Hannah Montanification’ that the online community can’t get enough of.

Mr Fantasy’s debut brand partnership was as over-the-top and irreverent as his persona. The Mr Fantasy Burrito is a satire of the ‘musician’s first brand deal’ moment; typically cringey, forced and trying to “be authentic”, Mr Fantasy is completely ridiculous, imitating…something questionable with his burrito creation, before saluting the staff and running off. In doing so, he arrives at realness by the side door.

Kylie Cosmetics x Terror JR

In 2015, a 17-year old Kylie Jenner released the lip kit that broke social media and was dubbed ‘King Kylie’, a name that came to be synonymous with her “edgy latex dress and teal wig” signature look at that time.

To celebrate 10 years of Kylie Cosmetics, the brand brought back the King Kylie era, a genius nostalgia-fuelled revival that’s complete with updated versions of OG products, a wipe of their socials to leave only classic and ‘nu’ King Kylie content on Snapchat and Insta. The crowning element, however, is the music.

If you heard the song ‘Three Strikes’ by Terror JR in 2015/16, you thought of King Kylie. It was the soundtrack to those early, dominant social campaigns. In 2025 Kylie teamed up with Terror JR again to release her own musical debut, an homage and direct follow up called ‘Fourth Strike’, to soundtrack the launch of the revamped makeup line.

Not only is Fourth Strike deeply nostalgic, it’s Kylie-branded to its core. But most importantly, it develops Kylie Jenner into a new type of influencer, as well as making Kylie Cosmetics into a richer and more potent creator-led brand.

Benson Boone x Crumbl

The logic behind this marketing strategy from Crumbl Cookies was elegant in its simplicity. Let’s take a delicious sounding, viral song lyric and turn it into a snack.

After Benson Boone’s “Magical Mystical” became an absolute earworm throughout the first half of 2025, online communities couldn’t stop pondering on the evocative ‘moonbeam ice-cream’ lyric and its possible taste. Crumbl’s marketing team thought something along the lines of: “why wonder”.

This was a moment of serendipity in food influencer marketing, the kind of which can only be had by being totally culturally attuned to online discourse as it unfolds. Given the lack of prior touch points between musician and brand, this was a case of quantum creative alignment that made something delightful cross from the world of ears to the world of taste – and it was all the sweeter for it.

Of course, Crumbl’s customer base are primarily Gen Z and Millennial, as is Benson Boone’s audience, leading to instant momentum both online and in stores. Tasty.

Doja Cat x The Sims

People love getting to know the personal, relatable sides of music superstars. Take, for example, Doja Cat’s enduring and intense love for The Sims.

The famous game series marked 25 years in 2025, and has had subtle nods to celebrities from day one. For their landmark celebration they got Doja Cat in (alongside other celebs and influencers like Latto (13.7M followers) and Trixie Mattel (4.2M followers)) for a mammoth 25-hour Let’s Play livestream. That’s on top of designing her as a fully playable Sim and making her a permanent feature of the ‘Small Businesses and Hobbies’ expansion pack.

Doja Cat’s been a certified fan since at least 2018, referencing the game in an early track of hers. Fans of the 21x award-winning musician loved the ‘influencer crossover’ experience, because who wouldn’t love to see Doja Cat bring be a videogame streamer for a day?

The Sims are a masterclass in taking influencer touch points and building on them in this way, weaving them into the product itself and in this case, allowing players to play as Doja Cat and access unique Doja Cat content long after. 

Madison Beer x Victoria Secret

The partnership between Madison Beer and Victoria’s Secret is a strategic alignment that runs deep, beginning with fragrance campaigns in 2021 and culminating in a high-profile performance and runway appearance at the 2025 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

The singer-songwriter has worked with the brand for years, including being the face of the new Tease Crème Cloud Eau de Parfum making her performance during the Victoria Secret Catwalk a natural pairing rather than a ‘buy in’, and an engine for successful revival of the fashion brand.

Nurturing long-standing alliances with music influencers ensures they aren’t seen as ‘influencers for rent’ but stalwart brand ambassadors. The approval and loyalty of that music influencer is a magnet for the approval and loyalty of their audiences, making it a great way to grow natural reach and engagement among their engaged audiences.

Addison Rae x Lucky Brand

Addison Rae rose from humble influencer origins to fame as a credible musical talent, an increasingly well-trodden path in the social age. Rae personifies the Y2K aesthetic resurgence taking over our lives and FYPs in 2025. Her music and fashion has been explicitly framed as a return to early 2000s pop-star energy; an era defined by the divisive yet iconic low-rise denim.

So who better to collaborate with Lucky Brand for a denim collection? And Rae didn’t just wear it, or stick her name on it, but joined as a creative director for the Addison Ultra Low Rise Flare. 

It’s a collaboration that works so well because product and ambassador are in complete alignment – they basically can’t exist without each other. The low-rise jeans are symbol of herself, not only as a product she actually wears, but as another chance to demonstrate her ability to succeed creatively in a new medium.

Of course, who would snap this collab up more than Addison Rae fans? The perfect alignment goes beyond product and ambassador to include the consumer, too. Every brand’s dream.

What Can Brands Learn?

Let your music artists be artistic

While brand partnerships can be incredibly powerful, their effect hinges on remembering why you’re engaging with them in the first place. Audiences love and follow music influencers because of their creativity, personality, and emotion.

Don’t try and wall up and control your music influencer partners. Common culprits are restrictive scripting, creative direction, or content type limitations. Platform them and let them influence in the way they do best.

Look and listen for vertical alignment and crossover

When you get your brand and music influencers working in harmony, the results will be music to your ears. To do this, you’ll need a deep and broad understanding of the music landscape, its personalities, and the day-to-day evolution that happens on socials, plus a creative attitude to how your brand can fit into the narrative.

If you’re finding this bit hard, don’t worry. We can help.

Music is culture, and social culture moves fast

If you want content that really hits, it has to be relevant. That means keeping your finger on the pulse on what audiences are actually consuming. Viral content and the music of the day can peak remarkably quickly, alongside an ever changing landscape of social discourse, meta-jokes and crossovers.

Want to be poised to jump on the next cultural or viral moment and leverage it for maximum effect? Let’s chat.

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Are you ready to turn the volume up on your campaigns? Talk to our team to discover how The Goat Agency can enhance your music influencer strategy.

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