Cutting Through the Noise and Building Always-On Influencer Marketing with Rachel Lambo
In a world where consumers are inundated with 12-step skincare routines, viral TikTok trends, and an endless scroll of product recommendations, standing out requires more than just a big budget. It requires clarity.
In this episode of Culture Creators, Liz Griffin, Senior Brand Partner at Linqia, sat down with Rachel Lambo, Senior Influencer Manager for Cetaphil and Differin at Galderma, to talk about cultural relevance, influencer evolution, and why knowing who you are as a brand is the ultimate cheat code.
From DJ dreams to boardroom education, Rachel shares what it really takes to win in today’s influencer landscape.
From Advertising to Activations: A Career Built on Curiosity
Rachel didn’t follow a straight line into influencer marketing and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
With a degree in advertising design, she started in traditional advertising before pivoting into IT marketing, eventually finding her home in beauty consumer packaged goods. Over the years, she’s worn many hats: digital lead, marketing director, consultant, and coordinator.
Each role added another layer to her understanding of how brands move from strategy to execution.
Today, she leads influencer and activation strategy for Cetaphil and Differin, two powerhouse brands in the skincare space. But contrary to popular belief, influencer marketing isn’t just parties and product drops.
“A lot of people think it’s just influencer — we’re always having fun. But, there have to be clear indications of what you’re trying to say, what the key messages are, and how you want the influencer to really understand and tell that story to their audience.”
It’s not just about visibility. It’s about translation.
Cultural Relevance Moves at the Speed of Light
Algorithms are personalized. Trends emerge and disappear overnight. So, how does a legacy skincare brand stay culturally relevant?
For Rachel, it starts with knowing exactly who you are.
When a major pop culture moment hits, say, a headline-making celebrity engagement like Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, the question isn’t: “Should we jump in?”
It’s: “Can we make this authentically ours?”
Her team looks at:
- Who they’re trying to speak to
- The key message they need to land
- Whether the trend aligns with their brand’s values
“You can jump on so many trends,” she says. “From documentaries to Netflix episodes. But, how do you find the relatability? What makes sense for us?”
Without strong brand fundamentals, chasing every trend becomes chaos. We need to look at trends as a potential opportunity rather than a requirement.
Skincare in the Age of Overwhelm
As both a marketer and a consumer, Rachel understands the paradox of the beauty category.
It’s fun. It’s creative. It’s aspirational. And it’s overwhelming.
Walk into a drugstore or Sephora and you’re hit with a wall of cleansers, serums, actives, tools, mists, and masks. On social media, influencers can tout 10–12 step routines.
Rachel poses the question many consumers are quietly asking:
“Do you need a 12-step routine? I don’t think so.”
For brands like Cetaphil and Differin, storytelling becomes a form of simplification. It’s about clarifying what actually matters and empowering influencers with the right information so they can educate, not just promote.
“The story is there,” she says. “It’s working through that storytelling with the influencer and providing them with the information so they can educate the audience too.”
In a cluttered category, of course clarity wins.
The Creator Filter: Authenticity Over Everything
Rachel reviews countless creator profiles every year. Her filter is surprisingly simple.
Be yourself.
“I can scroll three grids down and watch two or three reels and understand who someone is,” she explains. Metrics matter, but authenticity is non-negotiable.
She’s especially drawn to creators who:
- Tell stories naturally
- Integrate products seamlessly
- Show their quirks and individuality
- Resist copying trends just for reach
There’s also nuance in platform strategy. TikTok-first creators may perform best natively there, while others excel on Instagram. Cross-posting is sometimes right, but never automatic. It all depends on the audience and objective.
And when content feels overly scripted?
“That’s sometimes the challenge — when creators are reading. We always say, ‘Please talk in your own language.’”
Because, consumers can tell.
From Social to C-Suite: The Evolution of Influence
Influencer marketing isn’t a side experiment anymore. It’s a boardroom conversation.
Rachel believes one of the biggest barriers to larger investment is education at the executive level.
Often, leadership simply isn’t the target audience.
Sometimes the breakthrough moment comes from an unexpected source: like a CEO’s teenager explaining how creators shape purchasing decisions.
The reality? Creators have become modern media channels.
“Remember MTV?” Rachel asks. Where viewers once rushed home to watch music videos, today audiences curate their own channels through individual creators who build serialized content, story arcs, and loyal communities.
Influencers aren’t just promoting products, they’re building platforms.
And increasingly, those platforms extend beyond social and into TV, billboards, and mainstream entertainment. Brands that recognize this shift early are building deeper, more durable partnerships.
Always-On vs. One-Off
One major shift Rachel has seen over the past year: the rise of always-on strategies.
To her, always-on means:
- Being consistently present in routine-based content
- Supporting core products and innovations year-round
- Staying top of mind without relying solely on massive tentpole campaigns
- Building long-term creator relationships
“It’s about being part of the conversation,” she explains. “When someone needs a new cleanser, they already know which one they’re buying because they’ve seen it consistently.”
Always-on isn’t louder. It’s steadier.
And when a new product launches, the runway is already built.
Measuring What Matters
KPIs aren’t one-size-fits-all. Rachel evaluates metrics based on the marketing funnel:
- Awareness: Mega influencers driving reach
- Consideration: Engagement and storytelling
- Conversion: Micro and nano creators with high trust
Views and impressions may matter more in one campaign; affiliate clicks and retail traffic in another. Success is defined by objective, not vanity benchmarks.
“If you have the same KPI standard every time,” she says, “you’re not necessarily going to measure success accurately.”
Flexibility is power.
Advice for the Next Generation of Marketers
Rachel’s guidance for aspiring marketers mirrors her own path:
“Try things. Don’t limit yourself.”
Marketing is vast. From brand strategy to events to influencer to digital and beyond. The broader your exposure, the lighter the lift becomes later in your career.
And if she weren’t leading influencer strategy? She’d be DJing.
Yes, Rachel recently started spinning, and her dream content angle would be fashion-meets-music: “Get ready with me to DJ” sets complete with glitter, handbags, and high energy.
Executing with Excellence
Looking back on 2025, Rachel is most proud of execution.
At Galderma, she and her team delivered innovative activations and partnerships that pushed beyond the brand’s traditional playbook. And with internal momentum growing, she sees even bigger opportunities ahead.
“This space is going to keep growing… It’s going to keep changing and evolving.”
If there’s one thread that runs through her entire philosophy, it’s encouragement. Encouragement for brands to stay true to themselves, for executives to stay curious, and for creators to keep going.
Because in a world full of noise, the brands and storytellers who win aren’t necessarily the loudest.
They’re the clearest.
For more from our Culture Creators series, head here.
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