Uncover the Power of Influence

The Oscars have long been defined by the red carpet, but in 2026, the story extends far beyond it.

While the 98th Academy Awards drew 17.86 million viewers across ABC and Hulu, down 9% year-on-year, the cultural impact of the ceremony moved in the opposite direction. Earned Media Value (EMV) surrounding the top five films on social media surged by 230%, while reach increased by 131%.

The implication is clear. Audience attention is not disappearing, it is redistributing from live broadcast to social media. And within that shift, a new layer of influence has become impossible to ignore – creators.

While the ceremony itself remains one of the most powerful cultural stages globally, the way its moments travel, scale, and generate value is being fundamentally reshaped by the creator economy.

For platforms like Netflix, Apple TV and HBO, whose films saw the most success at this year’s awards, engagement and EMV spiked greatly.

The Academy Awards have long been Hollywood’s most anticipated night. But for luxury fashion, the Oscars are something more: a rare convergence of culture, cinema, and global visibility that no other red carpet can quite replicate.

In 2026, that influence reached new heights. This year’s ceremony generated an extraordinary £553 million in Earned Media Value (EMV), a 41.4% increase year-on-year, alongside 413 million engagements (+62.2%) and a global reach of 2.23 billion (+43.4%).

At a time when every marketing investment is under scrutiny, the red carpet continues to prove its ability to deliver not just visibility, but measurable impact. For the maisons dressing the world’s most influential talent, the Oscars are not simply about appearances.

They are about authorship, of image, of narrative, and increasingly, of cultural relevance on a global scale.

The Winter Olympics 2026 in Milano-Cortina were not just a global sporting event, they were a defining moment for fashion, sportswear and brand visibility.