Purple Philips handheld steamer printed "PHILIPS" "5000 Series" lying on a red knit sweater beside teal fabric
Submitted by Smoking Gun

Philips Handheld Steamer Summer Travel Influencer Launch

Influencer Marketing

Smoking Gun launched the Philips 5000 Series Handheld Steamer as a summer travel essential through macro and lifestyle influencers on Instagram and TikTok, and reports 14.3M video views.

14.3MVideo Views
4.7MEngagements
5.3M+Hero Content Reach
147KClicks to Retailer

About the campaign

Smoking Gun launched the Philips 5000 Series Handheld Steamer with influencer and PR content that drew 14.3 million video views. The goal was to position the steamer as a summer travel essential and drive traffic to retailer sites. The brief also called for brand visibility, engagement, consideration and conversation online and offline.

The agency built the work around the tagline "Your Travel Essential" and tied content to weddings, cruises and general travel. Ryan Thomas and Lucy Mecklenburgh starred in a humorous Reel, supported by Instagram Stories with swipe-up links to retail partners. Six lifestyle and fashion influencers, including Bronte King and Rachel Riley, produced Reels and Stories about summer travel. Content ran across Instagram and TikTok, and Rachel Riley's 'packematics' content led a social-first PR push for national coverage.

The agency reports 147k clicks through to retailers, and the product sold out in Currys, John Lewis and Argos. Engagements reached a further 4.7 million on top of the video views. The Ryan and Lucy content alone reached over 5.3 million. Headlines on Rachel Riley's 'Packematics' ran in The Telegraph, The Sun and other titles.

Case in 60 seconds

Philips needed the 5000 Series Handheld Steamer seen as a summer travel essential, which meant tying the product to seasonal travel trends and lifestyle moments while also driving visibility, consideration and direct traffic to retailer sites.

A steamer earns attention in summer only inside moments people are already planning, such as weddings, cruises and general travel, because packing for those trips is when looking presentable away from home matters most.

Built around the tagline "Your Travel Essential", the idea placed the steamer in real travel moments through familiar faces, so convenience and performance were shown in context while social content and PR both pushed toward retailers.

Ryan Thomas and Lucy Mecklenburgh starred in a humorous Reel, backed by Instagram Stories with swipe-up links to retail partners, and six lifestyle and fashion influencers, including Bronte King and Rachel Riley, posted Reels and Stories about summer travel. Rachel Riley's 'packematics' content then fronted a social-first PR push that secured national articles, with content amplified across Instagram and TikTok.

Smoking Gun reports 14.3 million video views, 4.7 million engagements and 147k clicks to retailers, with the product selling out in Currys, John Lewis and Argos, while the Ryan and Lucy content alone reached over 5.3 million.

Strategy Breakdown

People planning summer travel, including weddings, cruises and general trips, reached through the followings of macro and lifestyle influencers on Instagram and TikTok.
A handheld steamer has no built-in seasonal hook, so the agency anchored it to summer weddings, cruises and general travel to make the launch timely and relevant.
Philips is cast as the brand behind a travel essential, with the tagline "Your Travel Essential" stressing convenience, performance and lifestyle relevance.
Audiences follow familiar and trusted faces toward a purchase, so the agency chose Ryan Thomas and Lucy Mecklenburgh to carry reach and resonance before retailer links did the converting.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • Instagram
  • TikTok

Partners

  • Smoking Gun

Creator role

  • Ryan Thomas
  • Lucy Mecklenburgh — creator
  • Bronte King
  • Rachel Riley

Results & Evidence

MetricValue
Video Views14.3M video views
Engagements4.7M engagements
Hero Content Reachover 5.3M+
Clicks to Retailer147K clicks

Why Smoking Gun's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Pairing two familiar macro names in one humorous Reel concentrates reach in a single hero asset, while a wider lifestyle roster carries the product into many separate travel moments that one post could not cover.

  2. 2

    Giving every creator post a click path to a named retailer connects content to stock movement, because swipe-up links and click-throughs turn viewing into a visit to Currys, John Lewis or Argos.

  3. 3

    A creator whose content doubles as a press hook lets social and PR share one asset, so Rachel Riley's 'packematics' posts fed national headlines rather than requiring a separate media story.

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