Café Kitsuné x Summer Fridays: a creator-first activation that turned desirability into measurable impact

About Café Kitsuné

Founded at the intersection of fashion, music and lifestyle by Maison Kitsuné, Café Kitsuné has established itself as a global benchmark for highly desirable coffee shops.

With more than 35 cafes in the world's trendiest capitals, the brand offers a unique experience combining specialty coffee, refined aesthetics and strong cultural roots.

No traditional advertising, no traditional media: at Café Kitsuné, visibility comes through experiences with strong organic potential, relayed by a loyal and influential community of creators.

When chic cafés meet cult skincare: an experience designed to shine

Café Kitsuné, the coffee shop arm of the Franco-Japanese fashion house Maison Kitsuné, embodies a lifestyle at the crossroads of casual chic, gastronomy and culture. The brand is developing an ambitious influencer strategy to support its international expansion, reinforce the desirability of its locations and nurture brand loyalty.

“Influence plays a central role in our growth. It allows us to reach new communities while strengthening our image among existing audiences. Every collaboration, every pop-up, every launch is designed to be shared naturally,” comments Louise Safarti, Marketing Manager at Café Kitsuné.

In spring 2025, this strategy took the form of a unique partnership with Summer Fridays, an American skincare brand founded by influencer Marianna Hewitt. Renowned for its minimalist aesthetic, clean formulas and ultra-Instagrammable universe, the brand teamed up with Café Kitsuné to create an ephemeral sensory experience in the heart of Paris.

The Café Kitsuné at the Palais Royal was transformed into a flagship store in the colours of Summer Fridays: a revamped menu in pastel shades, an immersive setting, and product promotion integrated into the atmosphere of the venue.

But beyond the event itself, the challenge was clear: to promote this collaboration to the beauty and lifestyle communities and maximise its reach through a targeted, organic and controlled influencer campaign.

A campaign driven by desirability and carefully selected profiles

To promote its partnership with Summer Fridays, Café Kitsuné leveraged an influencer strategy that combined an exclusive event with a carefully orchestrated gifting campaign.

To mark the launch of the American beauty brand at Sephora France, Café Kitsuné organised a month-long pop-up in Paris, a venue designed as an immersive experience, embodying the lifestyle DNA of both brands. To amplify the visibility of this activation, the team invited a selection of high-potential creators: fashion, food, lifestyle and beauty influencers, all chosen for their aesthetic affinity and authentic commitment to the brand.

The creators received a signature cake and personalised drinks bearing the Summer Fridays logo, carefully prepared by Kitsuné baristas. The gesture, highly photogenic and in line with the premium world of coffee, generated high-quality organic content, visible on Instagram throughout the duration of the pop-up activation.

The gifting-only approach, with no obligation to post, reinforced the desirable and spontaneous nature of the campaign, while allowing Café Kitsuné to cultivate its relationships with profiles already close to the brand — and discover new ones. Thanks to Kolsquare, the team was able to identify the right profiles, track content performance, and refine the strategy in real time.

"What interests us is desirability. We seek to create activations that spark desire and spontaneity. Thanks to Kolsquare, we can refine our strategy, identify the strongest content, and adjust our approach for each campaign," comments Louise Safarti. 

Rapid impact: how the campaign sparked reach and organic buzz almost instantly

In just thirty days, the campaign generated forty-two pieces of content on Instagram, ranging from Reels to Stories to carousels. Together, these posts accumulated 2.3 million impressions, with several pieces of content going viral. The Earned Media Value reached £126,800, driven mostly by spontaneous posts, while the combined reach helped increase footfall in the café throughout the activation.

The campaign quickly found its audience, driven by a significant volume of spontaneous content. More than 60% of the posts generated were entirely organic, a strong sign of the creators' enthusiasm for the experience on offer. This authentic dynamic amplified the reach of the activation, reinforcing both the desirability of the venue and the visibility of the collaboration on beauty and lifestyle communities.

The strongest performances came from lifestyle and food profiles, those able to integrate the venue into their daily lives with great spontaneity: a coffee on the go, a break from the morning skincare routine, or even ‘coffee + beauty stop’ recommendations for tourists visiting Paris.

Café Kitsuné is not content with simply opening international locations: the brand is building an influential cultural ecosystem, in which each campaign is designed as a moment of desirability amplified by influence.

The Summer Fridays activation is a perfect illustration of this: a well-thought-out field campaign, massive digital reach, and measurable returns thanks to Kolsquare.

Want to amplify your brand campaigns through influence?

Book a demo with a Kolsquare expert.