Has Love Island, the influencer accelerator, run out of gas?

Love Island used to be the ultimate influencer accelerator machine.

Hopefuls like Molly-Mae Hague went into the villa with 25K Instagram followers and came out a fully-fledged brand, having raked in over 2.3M across her stint in Mallorca. 

It’s no wonder that when June rolls around there are heaps of like-minded bombshells eager to get the same VIP treatment.

Obviously, these Islanders are straddling multiple channels right now, but as Instagram is the dominating platform for Love Islanders, our data is that way inclined. Now, two years later, Molly-Mae’s on 5.8M followers and, just this year, has bagged an extension on her £1M PrettyLittleThing deal, alongside her Filter by Molly-Mae fake tans that are sold on the site.

Above: Molly-Mae Hague was a contestant on ITV2's Love Island in 2019 and garnered a huge social media following.

Another golden child of the show who’s been able to flip their Island experience for the better is Kem Cetinay. Now with 2.3M followers on Instagram, Kem’s a presenter, mental health advocate, and has a huge portfolio of #ads to boast about, ranging from brands such as Cadbury UK to Sky TV.

Whilst [Faye Winter and Teddy Soares] are the king and queen of this year’s growth rate so far, they’re still falling way behind the previous series’ success stories. 

It’s no wonder that when June rolls around there are heaps of like-minded bombshells eager to get the same VIP treatment and to go through the Islander-to-influencer accelerator. But, as the show prepares to wrap, the follower growth across socials is not quite what it was, which leaves us wondering – is Love Island still the influencer machine it used to be?

One of the biggest success stories so far this season is Faye Winter. Faye went into the villa with the lowest following on Instagram, her core channel, which had only 3K followers that she’s now built to 476K. Likewise, Senior Financial Consultant Teddy Soares had the second lowest Instagram following of the new arrivals, with only 1.6K. Now, he’s had a 27K% follower increase and sits on 443K. So, whilst these two are the king and queen of this year’s growth rate so far, they’re still falling way behind the previous series’ success stories.  

Brands used to fight over the Islanders.

In 2019, 11 out of the 18 finalists reached over 1M by the time of their departure and, this year, we don’t think anyone will hit that target upon leaving. So, should we blame the algorithm or the show itself?

Above: Kem Cetinay, a star of Love Island's 2017 series, recently appeared in a big-budget ITV Hub commercial with Jason Watkins. 

The world has changed dramatically in the last 18 months. At home, we consumers are all looking for a bit of escapism as we try to live vicariously through the lives of someone else… anyone else. But, this year, Love Island isn’t resonating with viewers. This means no one at home is bothering to follow the Islanders on socials, and the knock-on effect of lower followings is less influence, which equals less brand appeal. 

No one at home is bothering to follow the Islanders on socials, and the knock-on effect of lower followings is less influence.

The previous Islanders are unrivalled in this sense; they have familiarity, longevity, and their audience is loyal enough to establish a reliable consumer base for their brands. In fact, brands used to fight over the Islanders; their rate of growth, engagement level, and follower count offered amazing opportunities for everyone involved.

The cast this time around, though, are struggling to grasp that influencer magic. To use our favourite word when it comes to influencer marketing, it’s inauthentic. It feels forced, unnatural, and tired. Twitter users have dragged the couples for being too tame, with one asking themselves, “this season is so dead why am i here every night at 9 please #loveisland.”

It’s inauthentic. It feels forced, unnatural, and tired.

This has likely turned brands away from splashing the cash on the newbies as they haven’t quite proved themselves capable of repaying the favour. The regular brands, such as PrettyLittleThings and Boohoo Man, will still get involved but on a significantly smaller scale than previous years. With lower followings comes lower cost barriers, which means influencer rates will be much less than previously. By rights, these influencers would then be way easier to onboard.

Above: Faye Winter and Teddy Soares are Love Island's 2021 success stories and are better positioned to benefit from that popularity with brands. 

The beauty and fashion brands that do partner with Islanders will naturally gravitate towards the bigger personalities of the villa, so Faye Winter and another 2021 favourite, Chloe Burrows, will still be seen as influencers, just on a smaller scale.

The others may get the odd deal here and there with lesser known brands, but the longevity of their influencer careers will also be smaller. If I was them, I would be thinking of how to future-proof my brand.

The biggest shift this year is Islanders onboarding publicists straight from the villa.

For example, many now make their money through affiliate marketing compared to influencer deals. Affiliate marketing is when you see an influencer wearing a certain dress or pair of leggings on their social feeds, mainly on Instagram and TikTok, and they include a swipe-up link to shop. From this they can then get a small percentage kickback from the sales of that item.