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- Influence Weekly 391 - The NBA's Creator Playbook: Inside Its Modern Media Machine
Influence Weekly 391 - The NBA's Creator Playbook: Inside Its Modern Media Machine
Booking Moves All Creators and Affiliates To Awin: What Travel Bloggers Need To Know About ‘Termination’ Notices
Nii Ahene
May 30, 2025
Spotlight Stories
The Impact Of Tariffs On The Creator Economy – 18 Experts Share Thoughts
The NBA's Creator Playbook: Inside Its Modern Media Machine
Booking Moves All Creators and Affiliates To Awin: What Travel Bloggers Need To Know About ‘Termination’ Notices
Inter Miami CF Launches Official Snapchat Account At Dreams Cup To Engage Young Fans
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Great Reads
The impact of tariffs on the creator economy is creating significant challenges and opportunities. Tariffs are increasing production costs for creators who sell merchandise or operate product-based businesses. This is forcing some creators to raise prices, seek cheaper suppliers, or pursue cost-cutting measures. For brands, tariffs are straining marketing budgets, leading to cuts in influencer campaign spending in some cases.
However, this environment is also creating opportunities for domestic brands and pushing more brands toward performance-based influencer marketing like affiliate partnerships to ensure measurable ROI. The challenges are forcing creativity and adaptation - some brands are emphasizing sustainable local products, while creators diversify income streams. Overall, experts advise agility, diversification, and performance-based strategies for creators and brands navigating tariff pressures in the creator economy.
Steven Bartlett, an entrepreneur and podcast host, has joined creator commerce platform Stan as a co-owner. Stan has reported reaching $30 million in annual recurring revenue and $300 million in gross merchandise value. Bartlett will take an active role, involved in product strategy and AI implementations. His investment aligns with his FlightStory Fund, which backs startups challenging conventional business models.
Stan focuses on helping over 70,000 creators build sustainable businesses through monetization tools, audience engagement, and scaling capabilities. Bartlett's commitment reflects growing confidence in the creator economy's potential for independent entrepreneurs developing focused, sustainable businesses.
Creator Ventures, an early-stage venture firm focused on the consumer internet, announced the closing of a $45 million Fund II to invest in startups building creative tools, consumer apps, marketplaces, and AI-enabled software. Co-founded by Sasha Kaletsky and creator Caspar Lee, the firm plans to lead pre-seed and seed rounds ranging from $200,000 to $2.5 million.
Notable portfolio companies include beehiiv, Praktika.ai, ElevenLabs, and Status. With over $65 million in total assets under management, Creator Ventures aims to back founders in social, creator, product-led growth, and go-to-market areas where it can provide significant value. The new fund is supported by institutional investors like Level Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Cendana Capital.
Campaign Insights
TikTok had a major presence at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, providing unique access and experiences for creators. Highlights included Tom Cruise surprising creators with a fireside chat, creator Reece Feldman premiering his first short film, and platform representatives hosting events spotlighting the #FilmTok community. TikTok's growing role underscores its value to the film industry for promoting movies and talent directly to audiences. The festival activations aimed to inspire the next generation of filmmakers by giving them insider access.
The NBA has embraced the creator economy, empowering players and online creators to produce and share content, reshaping how the league engages fans. The league provides tools like Greenfly and WSC Sports' AI editing to give players and creators easy access to game footage. Stars like Draymond Green and former players like Matt Barnes are launching successful podcasts and media companies.
The NBA proactively partners with rising creators, inviting them to major events and giving them unique access. This creator-focused strategy has expanded the NBA's reach, with players becoming broadcasters and cultural influencers beyond just being athletes. The NBA is leading other leagues in this modern media approach, turning its athletes into powerful media platforms for authentic storytelling and connection with fans.
Booking.com has initiated a major restructuring of its affiliate program, terminating direct partnerships and forcing travel bloggers to migrate to the Awin affiliate network. The move comes as a strategic shift, with Booking.com citing careful review but not providing specific reasons. Content creators face technical challenges updating tracking links, adapting to new interfaces, and potential commission changes.
While some worry about financial impacts, the consolidation allows Booking.com to streamline operations. Affected partners must act quickly, applying to Awin, downloading data, and systematically updating integrations. Alternative solutions like Stay22 and creator storefronts have emerged, as the shakeup highlights opportunities for disruption in the travel affiliate space.
LinkedIn is reinforcing its position as an essential platform for B2B marketers at the Cannes Lions 2025 International Festival of Creativity. The company is expanding its presence with a new LinkedIn Studio, featuring creator-led content, AI-powered interactive tools, and tailored video prompts. LinkedIn's Cannes strategy focuses on brand consistency through cohesive design elements inspired by Mediterranean aesthetics, while incorporating local influences.
The event execution involves cross-functional coordination and leadership alignment across teams. For marketers with limited resources, LinkedIn advises prioritizing clear purpose, strong agency partnerships, visual identity, and simple audience engagement opportunities. The platform's influencer marketing programs demonstrate improved performance metrics over traditional advertising.
YouTube achieved its highest viewership yet in April 2025, reaching 12.4% of total TV viewing time according to Nielsen data. This marks YouTube's third consecutive month of record viewership, gaining 1.6 percentage points since January. Streaming overall hit a record 44.3% share, surpassing broadcast and cable combined at 45.3%. YouTube's audience among adults 65+ has nearly doubled in two years to 15.4% of its viewers. With over 1 billion hours watched daily on TV screens, YouTube is poised to overtake Disney as the largest media company by revenue before year-end, potentially valuing the platform between $475-550 billion as a standalone business.
The pizza industry is witnessing a rise in influencer-driven marketing, with both pizzeria operators and suppliers leveraging social media influencers to drive sales and shape trends. Operators and chefs with strong online followings are increasingly sharing their expertise through educational content, positioning themselves as trusted advisors and building influence. Simultaneously, suppliers are partnering with these influencers to showcase their products authentically, solve operational challenges, and accelerate consideration among buyers conducting research online.
From conveyor ovens to dough flours, influential creators are bridging the gap between technical specs and real-world kitchen use, driving purchasing decisions through relatable, impactful storytelling. This influencer revolution represents a natural evolution in how information flows, trust is built, and purchasing decisions are made in the saturated pizza market.
Inter Miami CF launched its official Snapchat account during the Dreams Cup youth tournament, becoming one of the first MLS teams to integrate Snapchat's augmented reality camera technology at its home stadium. The move targets Snapchat's large youth demographic, offering behind-the-scenes content, interactive features like chat, geotags, and shared stories.
New Snapchat Lenses allow fans to appear on stadium screens and overlay team graphics through real-time camera capture. This expansion complements broader trends in sports/social media, like TikTok's renewed MLS partnership and Snap's growing sports partnerships, new ad formats, and location-based offerings announced at its 2025 NewFronts presentation.
FIFA unveiled the official Club World Cup trophy during a surprise appearance on YouTube creator iShowSpeed's livestream, reaching nearly 40 million subscribers. FIFA President Gianni Infantino demonstrated the trophy's rotating centerpiece and gifted iShowSpeed the tournament match ball.
Infantino hinted at Cristiano Ronaldo potentially playing in the tournament through a short-term transfer deal, capitalizing on iShowSpeed's fandom to promote the event among young viewers. This unorthodox marketing tactic allows FIFA to connect with Gen Z audiences through an influential creator. By integrating seamlessly into iShowSpeed's stream, FIFA turned the trophy reveal into an organic, shareable moment that could drive fan engagement for the upcoming tournament.
Denmark is introducing legislation to ban influencer marketing campaigns that promote unhealthy food and drinks to children under 15 years old. The proposed rules target products high in sugar, salt or fat across television, online platforms and social media. Violations will be punishable by fines monitored by a consumer ombudsman.
The move follows controversies last year involving companies using influencers with young audiences to market unhealthy products. While welcomed by health groups, some argue the age limit should be raised to 18 to protect older teenagers as well. Denmark aims to join countries like Norway that already restrict junk food marketing to minors.
Deloitte's latest "State of Social Research" report reveals that social-first brands outperform competitors by focusing on three key areas: community, content, and conversion. The research shows a 9% increase in community management investment, with 51% of brands leveraging AI for personalized responses.
Creator strategy prioritizes niche influencers, with micro and mid-tier creators delivering the highest ROI. To drive conversions, brands are introducing multiple voices through creators and user-generated content, building trust and enhancing the social shopping experience. While social media investment increases, effectiveness depends on adopting innovative, customer-centric strategies across these three areas.
The Big 3 Podcast - May Recap Podcast Now Out!
Join us for The Big 3 by Influence Weekly, where hosts Ceci Carloni and Nii Ahene deliver expert commentary on the creator economy's most impactful business developments. Each month, they offer insider perspectives on industry-shifting stories, unpacking what these changes mean for brands and marketing professionals in the creator economy
Interesting People
ABC's long-running dance competition show "Dancing with the Stars" (DWTS) has extended an invitation to Kai Cenat, one of the world's top Twitch streamers, to join the upcoming season as part of its strategy to boost viewership by featuring social media personalities. Cenat, 23, ranked 24th on Forbes's 2024 top-earning creators list with an estimated $8.5 million in earnings. DWTS has increasingly relied on influencers like reality stars in recent seasons to drive fan engagement and viewership across social platforms.
This approach paid off for Season 33, with the finale scoring the show's best ratings in 3 years by attracting nearly 8 million viewers and breaking voting records. For Season 34 this fall, DWTS has already confirmed social media superstar Alix Earle and other internet celebrities as contestants, aiming to continue leveraging the popularity of online personalities to attract younger audiences to the show.
Twitch superstar Kai Cenat revealed that Netflix and Amazon Prime are pursuing his viral Streamer University concept following its massive success in Akron, Ohio last week. The three-day event drew thousands of aspiring creators for panels and performances featuring streamers like DDG, Duke Dennis, and virtual support from Drake. Cenat firmly rejected corporate buyout offers during a follow-up stream, emphasizing creative independence over licensing deals. "With an idea like this so original, you gotta keep it where it's at," he told viewers.
The streamer positioned his refusal as a broader lesson about platform ownership, encouraging creators to treat their channels like major subscription services. The seminar-style gathering represents a new model blending live entertainment, education, and creator economy networking. Cenat's decision to maintain grassroots control signals resistance to traditional media consolidation in the streaming space. His message resonated with creator economy professionals watching how independent content makers navigate corporate interest while building sustainable businesses.
The creator economy has seen a unique niche emerge - moving influencers. Moving companies like Piece of Cake and Roadway have created influencer marketing programs offering free or discounted moves in exchange for promoting their services on social media. For micro-influencers with a few thousand followers, companies may knock off a few hundred dollars. Major influencers with tens of thousands of followers often get their entire move covered.
The companies provide explicit instructions on the content to be posted, down to mandating shots of neatly packed boxes being carried by movers. While beneficial for marketing, the mass of discounted moves raises questions about the profitability of these programs, though companies argue each influencer brings in enough new business to make it worthwhile.
However, some influencers feel the demands from moving companies have become excessive, with one rejected for not providing an adequate "storyboard" for their moving vlog. As the moving influencer space becomes oversaturated, companies may need to reevaluate their strategies.
Disney influencer Blake Silva turned his lifelong obsession with Disney into a full-time career as a content creator. During the pandemic, he started regularly posting Disney-focused content on Instagram and TikTok, gaining a massive following. Silva found success by authentically sharing his love for Disney fandom and lifestyle.
He now earns a living through brand deals, monetization on platforms like YouTube, and leveraging his sizable social media presence of over 400,000 followers. Silva's advice is to embrace your passions and find an authentic niche, rather than mimicking others. Despite occasional criticism of being a "Disney adult," Silva loves bringing fun and joy to his audience.
Sundaze PR, a transatlantic agency, has appointed former Acast executive Molly DeMellier as Chief Operating Officer to sharpen its focus on the creator technology sector. Founder Sarah Jackson has transitioned to the CEO role. DeMellier brings experience working with creator tech brands at the intersection of startups, entertainment, and innovation. She highlights the importance of using channels like LinkedIn and podcasts for thought leadership positioning by executives.
DeMellier also emphasizes building narratives aligned with strategic partnerships, drawing from her work with media companies. With DeMellier's hire, Sundaze aims to double down on delivering standout communications for creator economy technology companies helping creators scale globally. The agency currently represents clients like Adelicious, FlightStory, and Wondercraft across its London and New York operations.
Gaming influencer marketing is evolancing rapidly, with platforms developing distinct roles and marketers focusing more on performance metrics over follower counts. YouTube remains the most trusted platform for deep content, while Twitch excels at live engagement and TikTok drives viral reach. Nano-influencers with under 10,000 followers dominate across platforms and often outperform larger creators.
Brands prioritize downloads, installs, retention rates and multi-touch attribution over vanity metrics like likes. Finding authentic partnerships, scheduling conflicts with creators, and cross-platform attribution remain key challenges. Forward-thinking brands build long-term relationships with creators rather than one-off promotions. The $30 billion gaming influencer marketing industry demonstrates increasing maturity as strategies evolve.
Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson's viral "hood" persona video on TikTok has become his most successful content on the platform to date. The video features Donaldson initially rejecting the trend before embracing an aesthetic with gold chains, flatbill hats, and cash displays. It has amassed over 233 million views, 23.3 million likes, and 289,000 comments, setting new engagement highs for Donaldson's TikTok portfolio. Following the video's success, he collaborated with streamer Kai Cenat on a second set of themed photos, with fans requesting future partnerships with creators like iShowSpeed. The trend highlights Donaldson's ability to connect with viral internet culture while cultivating his brand persona.
Industry News
CreatorIQ CEO Chris Harrington unveiled new platform features designed to support the booming creator marketing industry in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region. Data shows EMEA brands are outperforming global counterparts, especially in beauty, driving high earned media value through fewer but higher-quality creators. To address measurement challenges, CreatorIQ introduced a standardized framework with metrics across brand presence, visibility, resonance, and impact, along with an open benchmarking tool.
The company is expanding country coverage, adding payment currencies, and launching AI-powered brand safety tools. Research highlighted creator marketing's impressive 470% return on ad spend and 51% higher profit margins compared to traditional marketing. Harrington emphasized creator marketing as the most efficient, resilient channel for achieving more with less budget.
The "Make Ads That Convert" virtual event hosted by Motion returns on May 27-June 4, 2025, focusing on practical applications of creative AI in advertising. Now in its third year, the event aims to attract 20,000 registrants with its "Ad AI Renaissance" theme, blending traditional advertising principles with new technology. Motion has structured the event as a series of tactical workshops by carefully selected experts who excel in their fields and can effectively communicate their knowledge.
The event will cover topics like using AI for market research, creating AI-generated visuals, applying persuasion principles with AI, exploring UGC with AI, and structuring AI-augmented creative teams. With a focus on providing step-by-step frameworks and demonstrating real-world applications rather than just theoretical concepts, Motion aims to help attendees move beyond the hype and gain practical insights into leveraging AI for improved creative strategy and advertising performance.
Multiple YouTube creators in India have reported receiving copyright strikes from Asian News International (ANI), one of the country's largest news agencies, for using brief news clips in their videos. ANI is allegedly demanding licensing fees ranging from $12,000 to $60,000 to withdraw the strikes, which creators claim is a "business model" of extortion.
While YouTube's policies allow fair use of copyrighted material for commentary and news reporting, the platform's inconsistent enforcement has left many creators vulnerable to ANI's demands. Legal experts argue ANI's approach constitutes "copyright trolling" and may violate India's fair dealing provisions. The controversy has drawn political attention over concerns about threats to independent journalism and privately-imposed censorship through copyright claims.
Lazada, a leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia, announced a $100 million annual investment in its LazAffiliate Programme to capitalize on the region's booming creator economy. The investment introduces an enhanced commission framework, performance dashboards, custom storefronts, and campaign rewards accelerators, enabling creators to unlock new income streams through measurable, performance-based collaborations with brands and sellers.
With this move, Lazada positions itself at the forefront of the shift towards creator commerce, aligning with industry trends where creators seek to build independent revenue channels beyond traditional social media monetization. The performance-based framework allows brands and sellers to invest only in actual conversions, transforming creator collaborations into sustainable and scalable revenue channels.
Disney+ has acquired the popular preschool series "CoComelon" after Netflix declined to renew its licensing deal due to a significant 60% drop in viewership. Despite Netflix offering a higher bid, Disney+ ultimately outbid them to secure streaming rights starting in 2027. The acquisition aligns with Disney's strategy to bolster its children's programming and compete with YouTube's growing dominance in streaming viewership.
"CoComelon" will join Disney+'s existing hits like "Bluey" and "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" as the franchise expands with an upcoming animated film. The move underscores the intense competition among streaming platforms for engaging children's content.
YouTube is addressing misconceptions about its Shorts format as engagement and monetization grow significantly. Shorts viewership increased 20% year-over-year in Q1 2025, with 70% of channels now uploading Shorts. Shorts' revenue per watch-hour matches YouTube's core business in multiple countries, including the U.S., and exceeds traditional content monetization in some markets.
YouTube clarified that Shorts' recommendation system differs from long-form content to accommodate unique viewing patterns, without negatively impacting long-form performance. The platform highlighted community-building features like "reply with a Short" and advised creators on production strategies, content optimization, and upcoming AI tools to adapt existing assets for Shorts. As the short-form video space heats up, YouTube aims to integrate Shorts seamlessly into creators' overall strategies.
Reuters reports that OnlyFans owner Fenix International Ltd is in advanced talks to sell the subscription platform to an investor group led by Forest Road Company for around $8 billion. The potential deal highlights OnlyFans' rapid revenue growth to $6.6 billion in 2023, up from $375 million in 2020.
However, the company faces increasing regulatory scrutiny over content moderation and fraud allegations involving third-party account management practices. An initial public offering remains an alternative option for OnlyFans. The transaction discussions occur as the platform's founder recently launched a competing service called Subs.com with a similar revenue-sharing model.
TikTok and SoundCloud announced a partnership that integrates SoundCloud into TikTok's "Add to Music App" feature, enabling users to directly save songs discovered on TikTok to their SoundCloud playlists. The integration aims to turn casual listeners into lifelong fans and strengthen SoundCloud's position in fueling music culture. Coinciding with this, SoundCloud launched a "Move Your Music" feature allowing users to transfer music libraries from competing platforms.
The partnership reflects TikTok's growing influence on the music industry, with 84% of songs entering the Billboard Global 200 in 2024 achieving viral status on TikTok before charting. Artists with strong TikTok engagement see an average 11% weekly streaming growth compared to 3% for those with lower engagement. TikTok users also spend 48% more time streaming music and are 68% more likely to subscribe to paid music services.
Meta's future hinges on a landmark antitrust trial that concluded after six weeks of testimony. The Federal Trade Commission alleges Meta maintained a monopoly in "personal social networking" through its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp as part of an anticompetitive "buy or bury" strategy. Meta contends it faces broad competition beyond just Snapchat.
Consumer surveys show over half believe Meta holds a social media monopoly, with significant support for potential divestiture of Instagram and WhatsApp. Meta continues to struggle with trust issues. If the FTC prevails, Meta may be forced to spin off platforms crucial to its ad revenue model amid broader government regulation of big tech companies.
The World Influencer and Bloggers Association (WIBA) Awards honored top global content creators at its annual ceremony during the Cannes Film Festival. YouTube star Panda Boi with over 71 million followers won the Grand Prix title, highlighting the growing prominence of the creator economy. Other notable winners celebrated viral moments and impact across categories like acting, fashion, food, and more.
The event positioned WIBA as the leading international accolade for social media influencers and creators. It comes as the advertising industry increasingly recognizes creator marketing, with Cannes Lions rebranding its category to "Social & Creator Lions" for 2025. The ceremony underscored how the creator economy has become a major force in modern media and marketing.
YouTube has hired long-time Disney executive Justin Connolly as its global head of media and sports, prompting Disney to file a lawsuit against the video platform. In the California court complaint, Disney claims breach of contract, interference, and unfair competition, stating Connolly signed a new three-year deal in November 2024 with a termination clause in March 2027. Disney is seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions to stop Connolly's appointment at YouTube. The high-profile hire escalates the streaming wars as major tech and media giants compete for top talent to bolster their platforms and content offerings.
GRIN, a leading creator management platform, has launched an AI assistant called Gia specifically designed for creator marketers. Gia leverages GRIN's proprietary data to streamline workflows like finding suitable creators, managing compensation, onboarding, and retaining top talent. The AI integrates directly into GRIN's platform to complement existing tools, learning how marketers work to operate like a teammate.
Early adopters report completing tasks in minutes that previously took hours or days. As 91% of brands now use AI for creator marketing, Gia aims to boost efficiency while freeing up time for human-led strategy and relationships. GRIN positions the AI assistant as adaptive to existing workflows, providing limited initial access while refining the system with select brand partners like SKIMS, Rhode, and GoPro. The launch aligns with GRIN's broader strategy of integrating data streams and tools within its creator marketing platform.
Demand-First Content Licensing: Inside Catch+Release’s Two-Sided Marketplace For Creators And Brands
Catch+Release, a San Francisco-based company, has built a two-sided marketplace that allows brands to efficiently discover and license authentic internet content from creators in minutes. The platform streamlines the previously laborious process of licensing user-generated content, with an 87% success rate compared to the typical 35% brands achieve on their own.
Brands can either search within Catch+Release's pool of licensed creator content or bring outside content for the company to validate and license. For creators, Catch+Release monetizes content they've already created without asking them to produce new material specifically for licensing. The platform emphasizes authenticity, providing brands access to genuine, unscripted moments that resonate more with audiences than staged stock content.
With enterprise-grade legal protection, automation capabilities, and tools for agency collaboration, Catch+Release has attracted major clients like TikTok, Meta, Dove, and Gatorade. Looking ahead, the company aims to integrate licensing tools directly into social platforms and creator workflows, enabling a democratized monetization model for anyone creating online content.
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Influencer agency Whalar Group is acquiring creator education platform Business of Creativity for $20 million. This marks Whalar's first acquisition since securing funding from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff at a $400 million valuation. The deal allows Whalar to expand its offerings by providing online courses and events to help brands and creators collaborate effectively.
With consolidation ramping up in the creator economy, Whalar co-CEO Neil Waller expects more M&A activity as the industry matures. The acquisition aims to roll out more educational resources, particularly in the US market, capitalizing on the growing importance of the creator economy for businesses.
A potential TikTok ban threatens to disrupt a $15 billion advertising ecosystem that supports millions of American businesses and creators. The platform drives billions in online commerce through its 170 million US users, with brands like Ralph Lauren and Coca-Cola relying heavily on TikTok for marketing and sales. The creator economy faces significant upheaval, with Goldman Sachs tracking over 50 million global influencers growing at 10-20% annually.
Many earn six-figure incomes through brand partnerships and TikTok Shop, the platform's retail feature that has successfully imported China's social commerce model to Western markets. Analytics firm Launchmetrics found TikTok's media impact value in America doubled to $2.5 billion in 2024, outpacing Instagram and YouTube growth. Beauty brands are particularly vulnerable since TikTok tutorials drive impulse purchases of affordable products through integrated shopping features.
If banned, eMarketer estimates roughly half of TikTok's $15 billion advertising revenue would migrate to Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. However, brands would lose years of audience-building investment and face the challenge of recreating engagement on platforms with different algorithms and user behaviors.
The decline of Hollywood has led creative professionals to find new opportunities in adjacent fields like creator studios, mini-dramas, and brand marketing. With the end of Peak TV and labor strikes reducing traditional film and TV jobs, many are pivoting to growing areas like influencer content, vertical dramas for mobile apps, and branded entertainment for companies seeking more engaging marketing.
While the pay and culture can be an adjustment, these roles are providing steady income and creative fulfillment for those willing to apply their skills in different contexts. Some producers and actors have found new career paths, while others hope to eventually return to Hollywood when conditions improve. Overall, the story highlights how industry disruption is reshaping career trajectories and unlocking novel forms of creative work.