According to a new DesignRush study, Kylian Mbappé’s Instagram post announcing his Real Madrid transfer was the top-performing collaboration of 2024, achieving a record-breaking follower surge in just four days.  

The study also highlighted nine other Instagram collaborations that pulled at least 185,000 new followers, showcasing the power of celebrity-brand partnerships in driving substantial engagement and growth.  

• Kylian Mbappé’s summer 2024 move to Real Madrid sparked the year’s highest Instagram follower surge, gaining 1.37 million new followers within just four days

• Ryan Reynolds scored second place with 353,798 new followers around Wrexham AFC’s match in Vancouver and Will Smith took third, gaining 353,729 followers promoting Bad Boys: Ride or Die

• Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Make-A-Wish collaboration in January led to 187,124 new followers, landing him in the tenth spot

B2B marketplace and agency directory, DesignRush analyzed the Instagram activity of 100 top-followed celebrity accounts to uncover their most successful brand collaborations of 2024.   

This was done by calculating the change in followers for these accounts from the day before a collaboration post to two days after a collaboration post. A collaboration is considered major if the celebrity account mentions the brand at least five times.

2024’s standout Instagram collaborations between celebrities and brands showcase the power of strategic partnerships in boosting engagement and follower counts:

Kylian Mbappé’s move to Real Madrid was Instagram’s most influential celebrity-brand collaboration of 2024, with the French forward netting 1.37 million followers after announcing he would join the Spanish giants in June. The meeting of two of the soccer world’s biggest names highlights the power of combining the right influencer with the right brand, resonating deeply with the Madrid fanbase and fueling their socials surge.

Ryan Reynolds had 2024’s second most influential celebrity-brand collaboration, gaining 353,798 followers after Wrexham AFC’s friendly against the Vancouver Whitecaps in July. As the Welsh team co-owner, the Canadian actor’s immense star power and international buzz surrounding his films fueled Wrexham’s rise this year. These connections helped spawn the Emmy award-winning documentary series Welcome to Wrexham, whose third season was released in June. This well-marketed partnership contributed to the explosion in social media followers.

Will Smith was third, adding 353,729 followers in June while promoting the fourth installment of the Bad Boys franchise: Bad Boys: Ride or Die. The American movie star reprised one of his most iconic roles in his first return to the silver screen since 2022. Bad Boys: Ride or Die was one of the biggest box-office releases of the year, showing how influential reuniting the cast of a loved franchise can be.

The table below shows the ranking of celebrity-brand collaborations with the highest following gains: 

Snoop Dogg’s collaboration with NBC during the Paris 2024 Olympics in July was fourth, with 326,123 followers gained. The American rapper’s enthusiastic guest appearances as a commentator and presenter during the summer games were a hit with audiences, adding a unique twist to the coverage and a huge increase in followers.

Shraddha Kapoor saw the fifth largest increase in followers after promoting her Palmonas jewelry brand. The Indian film star amassed 295,077 more followers around her August cover shoot for Hello! Indo-Arabia’s August-September edition.

Miley Cyrus’s partnership with Gucci saw the American singer gain 261,449 followers after her Grammy win in February, the most influential collaboration between a celebrity and fashion brand, ranking sixth overall.

Steph Curry’s August collaboration with streaming service Peacock was 2024’s seventh largest collaboration, netting 241,653 followers. The legendary basketball player was promoting his Mr. Throwback comedy TV series, in which he plays himself.

Urvashi Rautela’s collaboration with La Marquise Jewellery was eighth, with the Indian movie star gaining 226,754 followers in early June. The actress posted about her glamorous outfit, including a bracelet from La Marquise, for the May premiere of Emilia Perez at the Cannes Film Festival.

Taylor Swift’s partnership with Getty Images was the ninth most influential, with the American musician accruing 221,151 more followers in February. This was during her Eras Tour stop in Sydney, Australia, where she had a surprise collaboration with fellow singer Sabrina Carpenter.

Rounding out 2024’s top 10 was Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation in January, adding 187,124 followers from this. The American movie star and former wrestler granted the wishes of 21 children at a day out in Universal Studios, California. 

Gianluca Ferruggia, General Manager at DesignRush, shared the significance of the findings: 

“It was fascinating to see which collaborations between top celebrities and brands engaged audiences the most in 2024. One thing is clear: brands need to tap into the influential powers of the right celebrities to draw incredible amounts of exposure to their business.  

“Some collaborations were so influential because two huge names from different industries came together to deliver an impact. Mbappé’s post announcing his Madrid move was the best example as the post earned him more followers than the next three collaborations combined. Mbappé is one of the biggest stars in soccer, and Real Madrid is arguably the biggest club, so combining the two after weeks of build-up saw their socials skyrocket. 

“Other collaborations were successful for less obvious reasons, like Ryan Reynolds and Wrexham AFC’s partnership. Reynolds brought Hollywood glitz and glamour to Wrexham, while Wrexham provided sincerity and grounding to Reynolds’ soccer project. After all, Wrexham was in the fifth tier of English football before the takeover, with clubs higher up the league pyramid and closer to top-level success potentially available for a takeover. These two combined have made Wrexham’s rise a great underdog story that has captured the imaginations of audiences on and off Instagram.”