What Don Julio and Popeyes Are Grateful For (HBBIP #111)

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For nearly so long as I can keep in mind, Thanksgiving has been my favourite vacation. Firstly, as a result of it gives an annual reminder that regardless of how disturbing or loopy the world is perhaps, there’s at all times one thing on the market to be pleased about. But additionally, and maybe extra importantly, it’s the perfect excuse I’ve but found to eat a fairly frankly disgusting quantity of pie. Who wouldn’t be pleased about that?

As in 2023 and 2024, this 12 months I’m grateful for my unbelievable readers, who’ve made writing this article the spotlight of my profession. I’m grateful for everybody on the CreatorIQ facet who helps with the publication, notably Lauren Lippert, and everybody on the advertising workforce at giant for powering such a mighty content material engine. 

Plus I’m grateful for the creator financial system, which places (a fairly frankly disgusting quantity of) meals on my Thanksgiving desk, and whose continued progress allows me to put in writing about essentially the most attention-grabbing manufacturers on this planet every week.

Like this week, for instance. It’s a story of twists and turns, tequila and turkey, so seize some gravy, get snug, and settle in for our annual Pre-Thanksgiving HBBIP Meals & Beverage Replace Spectacular! 

(We’re nonetheless engaged on the identify.)

The Prime Manufacturers of All Time (of the Week): Don Julio & Popeyes

I do know, I do know. It appears like a bizarre pairing at first. However is it truly two nice tastes that style nice collectively? Based on our metrics, sure.

Earlier than you begin trying to find recipes (tequila-glazed hen, anybody?), let’s again up for a second as I take you to the initially these twists and turns.

Initially, this article was simply going to be about Don Julio. The enduring tequila model was popping off in all our metrics, and I figured that pre-Thanksgiving is perhaps an appropriately festive time to see what all of the fuss was about.

Don Julio Creator Rely, 2020 – 2025

Trying first at creator rely, we do see a gradual rise for our buddy Julio (that’s Don Julio to you), highlighted by a formidable leap in 2024. Whereas the model didn’t fairly match its whole-year whole from 2024 within the first ten months of 2025, it seems to be properly on its approach to exceeding that whole by New 12 months’s Eve.

Don Julio Submit Rely, 2020 – 2025

It’s an identical story for publish rely, which noticed a 584% progress between 2020 and 2024. Creators have been clearly spreading the phrase about Don Julio—we’ll get to what they have been saying in a second.

Don Julio EMV, 2020 – 2025

Relating to how Don Julio maintained its 2024 surge into 2025, EMV tells an attention-grabbing story, however not a whole one. In spite of everything, CreatorIQ’s varied metrics exist in a complementary ecosystem, and it’s greatest to evaluate them together with each other, somewhat than isolating any single information level. So in relation to EMV, the expansion has continued for Don Julio, although not fairly on the identical charge as earlier years.

Don Julio Engagements, 2020 – 2025

However engagements—the stat most carefully correlated with EMV—tells a distinct story. Right here, we see a 982% surge from 2020 to 2024, however a reasonably sharp drop into 2025. Granted, engagements are sometimes generated in clusters round particular occasions, so Don Julio may undoubtedly make up some severe floor with devoted actions in November and December, however this does point out that no matter was happening by way of everything of 2024 saved creators and their audiences extra actively engaged.

Don Julio Impressions, 2020 – 2025

That is additional corroborated by impressions: a 919% spike from 2020 to 2024, adopted by a 2025 decline that also handily defeats any earlier 12 months.

We’ve acquired some intriguing items of proof at work right here, all of which add as much as two fundamental questions:

• What did Don Julio do to surge so dramatically?
• Is the model able to repeat this success?

Once I appeared into the supply of this progress, I discovered that Don Julio’s engagements elevated dramatically from July 2024 to January 2025.

Don Julio Month-to-month Engagements, January 2020 – October 2025

You realize what else spiked dramatically throughout the identical time interval? Don Julio’s crossover marketing campaign with Popeyes. 

In January 2025, the 2 manufacturers launched a limited-edition collaboration menu, a part of an ongoing collection of collaborative menus which have sparked an excessive amount of success for Popeyes on social media, together with a pickle-centric menu in April 2025 that took the web by storm. Individuals love tequila, they usually love pickles, so truthfully I’m not stunned each campaigns caught on so strongly.

How did our favourite tequila-chicken partnership fare, precisely? I’ll put it to you this fashion: the partnership led to all-time highs for Don Julio’s month-to-month engagements and impressions in January 2025. Plus, posts mentioning the collab drove $3.8M EMV in January alone, propelling Don Julio to a complete of $5.8M EMV that month. Listed here are two extra true details:

• $5.8M EMV was an all-time month-to-month excessive for Don Julio
• $3.8M EMV—once more, simply the Popeyes-related posts from January—would have additionally been an all-time month-to-month excessive for Don Julio.

If you happen to’re seeking to perceive our present period of unconventional cross-vertical model collaborations, and the facility that these team-ups maintain in relation to capturing the hearts and minds and wallets of creators and customers, look no additional than Don Julio x Popeyes.

Come to think about it, and with an eye fixed towards the vacation, how did all this look from the Popeyes facet?

Popeyes Creator Rely, 2020 – 2025

Much like Don Julio, clearly there’s constant progress in relation to creator rely, with ever-increasing totals for six years in a row.

Popeyes Submit Rely, 2020 – 2025

Ditto publish rely, although there’s a little bit of a plateau sample, which is attention-grabbing and unusual. If the sample holds, will 2026 see an identical whole as 2025?

Popeyes EMV, 2020 – 2025

Every part is on the up-and-up with EMV as properly, however as we discovered with Don Julio, EMV is a part of an ecosystem, as seen from these subsequent two charts…

Popeyes Engagements, 2020 – 2025

Popeyes Impressions, 2020 – 2025

Like Don Julio (as soon as once more), engagements and impressions proved a blended bag for Popeyes. Then once more, we noticed how spiky this stuff might be: one large vacation activation may transfer quite a lot of turkeys, propelling 2025 forward of 2024 and maintaining the expansion rolling.

No matter whether or not 2025 beats out 2024 in engagements and impressions, each Don Julio and Popeyes have seen progress in different metrics, and each manufacturers can credibly declare to have discovered a successful method. By providing unconventional pairings, and foregrounding creators within the promotion of those pairings, particularly throughout FoodTok, meals & beverage manufacturers are absolutely embracing the period of efficacy. 

I can’t wait to see what’s subsequent in line for the house’s tastiest crossover hit. No matter it’s, I hope it consists of loads of mashed potatoes.

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