Celebrity vs creator marketing is not a winner-takes-all choice, and this Christmas proves it. Digiday reported on November 6, 2026 that creators had a huge year yet the big festive campaigns from John Lewis, Sephora, Gucci and SharkNinja still went to famous faces, because holiday advertising rewards mass recognition and low risk. For hotels, spas and wellness brands, the practical answer is to use celebrity-style reach sparingly (or borrow its techniques) and put creators to work on the niche, high-intent audiences that actually book rooms and memberships.
If you are planning holiday talent, a spring launch or next year's influencer budget, the way the biggest advertisers split their casting this season is a useful signal. This post unpacks what happened, why the celebrity instinct persists, where it breaks down, and how a boutique hospitality or wellness brand can borrow the right parts without a seven-figure talent budget.
What Does Celebrity vs Creator Marketing Look Like in Christmas 2026?
In a November 6 Future of Marketing Briefing, Digiday's Seb Joseph pointed out the gap between how brands spend the other eleven months and how they spend December. Creators are central to everyday brand marketing, but the flagship Christmas films lean on stars. John Lewis cast Dame Kristin Scott Thomas, Sephora used Seth Rogen, Kay brought in Colin Jost, Gucci featured Mariah Carey, and Sports Direct built its spot around Nike athletes. SharkNinja went further, lining up Kevin Hart, David Beckham, Tom Brady and Aryna Sabalenka.
A handful of campaigns went the other way or split the difference. Marc Jacobs cast creator-comedian Megan Stalter alongside Ashtin Earle, and Anthropologie featured Pooja Tripathi and, according to the Digiday piece, plans to spread its campaign through about 50 creators. Lego, meanwhile, has hired a new head of celebrity talent and brand-first partnerships, a sign that even creator-friendly brands are building celebrity muscle.
Why the split matters for smaller brands
A national retailer buying a Christmas film is solving a different problem from a 40-room hotel or a Pilates studio. The retailer needs everyone to recognize the ad. You need the right few thousand people to recognize you. That difference is the entire strategic story, and it is why copying a blockbuster casting decision at small scale is rarely the right move.
Why Do Brands Still Pick Celebrities for Holiday Ads?
Digiday lays out three reasons, and each one is worth understanding because it tells you when the logic does and does not apply to your own business.
Mass reach beats niche affinity at the top of the funnel
Holiday advertising is aimed at nearly everyone, so brands want faces that nearly everyone knows. Kantar's Lynne Deason told Digiday that creators tend to attract niche interests, even though some have crossed into the mainstream. That is a feature, not a flaw, when your goal is a specific audience. It becomes a limitation only when the objective is broad awareness in a single week.
Celebrity casting feels safe to the people signing off
Christmas ads are scrutinized heavily, and casting a star follows a familiar formula that marketing chiefs see as low risk. Digiday notes that John Lewis's spot drew criticism online, yet its star avoided backlash. Sprout Social data cited in the same piece shows how mixed reactions can be even for a major launch: Tesco's ad generated roughly 3,263 posts or mentions and more than 36,000 interactions, but only 51 percent of the conversation was positive. Visibility is not the same as goodwill.
Sameness is the hidden cost
Linda Boff, quoted in the briefing, argues that copying the formula is itself a risk and that fresh, brand-rooted ideas are the better bet. When six famous faces fill the same ad breaks, the distinctive asset is the idea, not the cast list.
Is the Line Between Celebrities and Creators Disappearing?
Yes, and quickly. Celebrities now post their own content on their own channels, and creators are building the kind of followings that used to require a studio contract. Digiday predicts that festive campaigns will increasingly put stars and creators side by side, which is exactly what SharkNinja, Marc Jacobs and Anthropologie are already doing.
For an agency or a marketing manager, the useful takeaway is to stop treating the two as separate budget lines. Think of a spectrum of recognition, from a hyper-local nano creator to a household name, and match the position on that spectrum to the job the content has to do. We made a similar argument about scale in our look at how American Eagle's 15-creator campaign translates to hotels and wellness brands: smaller, closer voices often carry more trust per dollar.
What Should Hotels and Wellness Brands Take From This?
The lesson is not "hire a celebrity" or "avoid celebrities." It is to decide what the content is for, then pick the voice that does that job. Here is a practical way to work it through.
Start with the objective, not the name
If the goal is awareness across a whole market for a single moment, such as a grand opening or a flagship event, recognizable faces can be worth the premium. If the goal is bookings, class packs or memberships, creators with a tight, trusting audience in your category almost always get you closer to the transaction. Write the objective in one sentence before you look at a single talent roster.
Borrow the celebrity playbook without the celebrity
Mass-market holiday films succeed on three things: a clear emotional idea, a memorable face, and repetition. You can copy all three on a small scale. Pick one emotional promise (rest, reunion, ritual), choose a single recurring face, such as your founder, your head therapist or one loyal creator ambassador, and repeat the idea across email, social and in-property signage for the whole season.
Layer creators for reach and trust
Anthropologie's reported plan to spread its message through roughly 50 creators is the model worth borrowing. For a boutique brand, that might mean five to ten local creators invited to experience the property or studio over a few weeks, each telling the story in their own style. It is a cheaper way to produce volume and variety, and it avoids the sameness problem Linda Boff warned about.
Get the commercial terms right
Creator relationships break down more often on logistics than on creativity. Late payments, unclear usage rights and vague deliverables sour partnerships quickly, which we covered in our guide to influencer payment terms. If you are considering something more ambitious than a flat fee, our piece on creator equity deals and sweat equity explains when sharing upside makes sense.
How Do Holiday Channel Trends Change the Plan?
Casting is only one decision. Where the content lives matters just as much. Modern Retail+ Research, published November 5, 2026 and based on a survey of 90 brand and retail professionals, found that brands plan to lean less on their own channels this holiday season than last. Planned use of owned e-commerce sites fell to 46 percent from 69 percent, and owned physical stores fell to 60 percent from 84 percent. TikTok Shop, tracked as a standalone channel for the first time, came in at 21 percent.
That survey covers retailers and consumer brands, not hotels, so treat it as directional. Still, the implication is clear for anyone who relies on direct bookings: if more brands are spreading attention across marketplaces and social storefronts, the cost of being found in those places rises, and your own website and email list become more valuable as the place where you control the relationship. Creator content should therefore point somewhere you own, whether that is a booking page, a class schedule or a gift card store.
A Five-Step Plan for Choosing Talent This Season
- Define the job. Awareness, consideration or conversion. Choose one primary goal per campaign.
- Map your audience. Identify the three or four communities that already trust voices in your category, such as local food writers, yoga teachers or design-minded travelers.
- Pick a spectrum, not a type. Combine one anchor voice with several smaller creators so you get both recognition and credibility.
- Protect the idea. Write a one-line creative idea that survives any change of cast, so the campaign stays distinctive.
- Measure what you can book. Track unique booking links, promo codes and email signups per creator, not just views.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are creators better than celebrities for marketing?
Neither is universally better. Celebrities deliver mass recognition for broad moments, while creators deliver trust and relevance with specific audiences. Most brands now blend the two based on the campaign objective.
Why do brands still use celebrities in Christmas ads?
According to Digiday, holiday ads target a mass audience, celebrity casting is seen as a low-risk formula, and recognizable faces make a campaign instantly legible. Creators tend to draw narrower audiences, according to Kantar's Lynne Deason.
Can a small hotel or wellness studio use creators like a big brand does?
Yes. Inviting five to ten local creators to experience your space produces varied content at a fraction of celebrity costs, as long as you set clear deliverables, usage rights and payment terms in advance.
What should I measure in a creator campaign?
Measure bookings, class sign-ups and email captures tied to each creator through unique links or codes. Views and likes show attention, but only attributed conversions show whether the partnership paid for itself.
Build Your Holiday and 2027 Creator Plan With a Miami Marketing Agency
One Media Society is a Miami-based digital marketing agency that helps hospitality, wellness and lifestyle brands choose the right voices, structure fair creator deals and turn content into bookings. If you want a casting and channel plan that fits your property or studio rather than a national retailer's budget, explore our marketing services or reach out through our Miami marketing agency page.
Sources: Digiday, Future of Marketing Briefing: Creators had a big year. Christmas still went to the celebrities (Nov. 6, 2026); Modern Retail+ Research: Brands' focus on owned channels wavers for the 2026 holiday season (Nov. 5, 2026).