The sun has set on the island of love for another year. This Summer’s series of Love Island UK was on fire, and now it’s time to take a look at the contestants' successes and explore the brand deals on the horizon. 

With each series of Love Island, social media users go wild with sharing their thoughts on the antics. This activity gives brands a good idea of the public's favorite islanders, allowing them to get the collaboration planning in early. 

A halt in social media growth? 

Up until Love Island UK’s winter series that took place in January 2023, Love Island contestants would hand over control of their social media accounts to friends and family to drum up that all-important engagement during their time inside. Then, upon exit, the islanders would be able to continue growing the engagement and follower count that was already laid out for them.

This social media takeover has now been ground to a halt, in a bid to protect the mental health of the islanders and their families, allowing the islanders to ‘start fresh’ or perhaps not even aim for social media stardom at all post-villa. 

Despite this, popular contestant Molly Marsh, for example, entered the villa with 26k Instagram followers and is currently sitting at around 328k, giving potential brand partners a pretty good idea of Molly’s popularity and potential audience reach. 

Sustainable partnerships are changing the landscape

eBay was the official fashion sponsor of this Summer’s series, having successfully injected sustainability into the villa since 2021. 

Prior to this game-changing partnership with eBay, ITV famously partnered with fast fashion brands that would deck out the wardrobes in the villa. Consumers are now becoming more conscious about the impact of fast fashion on the planet, which is why the official partnership with eBay was greeted with open arms. 

Post villa, eBay has welcomed islanders Tasha Ghouri and Tom Clare on board as their youthful brand ambassadors, paving the way for more conscious consumption amongst the Gen Z and Millennial audience the show attracts. 

Will eBay welcome winners Jess and Sammy to join their team of ambassadors this year? Our eyes and ears will be wide open waiting for the announcement… 

Brands, lay your cards on the table

Pre the Love Island social media rule change, we would typically see islanders sign major brand deals almost immediately upon exit from the villa. Last year’s summer stars Ekin-Su, Paige, Indiyah, Gemma, and Tasha bagged contracts for fashion and beauty partnerships before they had even settled back into post-villa life.

However, in the winter 2023 series, the first series in which contestants' social media accounts went silent, the brand deals with contestants were few and far between, the only notable signing was Tom Clare for eBay.

While most of this year’s winter cast failed to attract any big-name deals, it seems that Molly Marsh’s rapid online growth, alongside positive feedback about the series, has been enough to change the narrative. New excitement has been sparked amongst brands who can see potential in the summer cohort. 

We are now just three days post the always anticipated Love Island final, and we will be waiting on tenterhooks to see if this popular summer series will provoke another brand deal boom!

Will Molly secure a presenting gig? Will Tyrique release a 90’s style fashion collab? Only time will tell… 

If you want to hear a behind-the-scenes exclusive interview with Molly Marsh, be sure to listen to our podcast with the Love Island superstar to get a better idea of her goals and aspirations for the years to come…