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- Influence Weekly #404 - Van Cleef & Arpels, Rolex:“RichTok” And The Brands Of Asia’s 1%
Influence Weekly #404 - Van Cleef & Arpels, Rolex:“RichTok” And The Brands Of Asia’s 1%
U.S. Army’s Influencer Strategy Drives Early Recruitment Success Amid Gen Z Outreach
Nii Ahene
August 29, 2025
Spotlight Stories
YouTube Rolls Out ‘Hype’ Feature Globally To Boost Smaller Creators
Creator Economy Jobs August 2025: Global Expansion And Nonprofit Sector Drive Opportunities
Van Cleef & Arpels, Rolex: “RichTok” and the brands of Asia’s 1%
U.S. Army’s Influencer Strategy Drives Early Recruitment Success Amid Gen Z Outreach
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Great Reads
YouTube expanded its "Hype" feature to 39 countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, and India on August 27, 2025. The feature targets creators with fewer than 500,000 subscribers by adding a dedicated button under videos that viewers can use to boost discoverability.
Viewers can hype up to three videos per week from eligible creators. Each hype contributes points toward a ranking system on a leaderboard accessible through YouTube's Explore menu. The scoring mechanism gives greater weight to creators with smaller subscriber counts.
During beta testing in Turkey, Taiwan, and Brazil, YouTube recorded over 5 million hypes across more than 50,000 channels within four weeks. The platform reported that 75% of surveyed viewers expressed interest in supporting smaller creators, with higher percentages among Gen Z users.
YouTube added performance metrics in YouTube Studio's mobile app and plans to introduce category-specific leaderboards for gaming and style content. The company is testing purchasable hypes in Brazil and Turkey as a potential revenue stream.
Creator economy companies are hiring across multiple sectors as August brings global expansion and nonprofit entry into influencer marketing. Action Against Hunger is hiring its first Digital Marketing Officer in New York, offering $65,000-$70,000 to manage influencer partnerships and peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns.
Gaming ecosystem Ampverse DMI is hiring an Influencer Sales Manager in New Delhi, while luxury marketing group YKONE is recruiting a Strategic Planner in Abu Dhabi. Travel platform Skyscanner is expanding Americas operations with a Senior Social Media Manager role in Miami.
Live streaming platform Kick, serving 50 million users, is seeking a Content Producer in Melbourne. Later is offering $115,000-$140,000 for an Influencer Marketing Account Lead in Boston. Creator platform Passes, founded by Lucy Guo, is hiring a Lifestyle Creator Success Manager in Los Angeles.
Emerging opportunities include Tilt's live shopping host positions in London and The Mobile-First Company's $75,000-$90,000 Lead Content Creator role for U.S. expansion. Entry-level positions range from Agentio's $20/hour Brooklyn internship to Viral Nation's remote talent intern program.
RichTok influencers are providing luxury brands with unprecedented market research as ultra-wealthy creators document authentic consumption patterns without sponsored content filters. Chinese-American billionaire's daughter Becca Bloom joined TikTok in January 2025 and gained 4 million followers showcasing extravagant daily life, from feeding cats caviar on Versace plates to casual Hermès shopping trips.
Singapore's Chloe Liem attracts 1.2 million followers as the "Van Cleef Princess," while Hong Kong's Mei Leung posts $75,000 monthly spending breakdowns and Rolex orders to 516,000 followers. These creators mix ultra-luxury items with accessible brands, emphasizing jewelry investments over seasonal fashion. Richemont's jewelry sales rose 8% to 15.3 billion euros in 2024, while LVMH fashion declined 8% in H1 2025. For luxury maisons, RichTok offers real-time insight into how wealthy Gen Z consumers style and value products, though influence cannot be purchased through traditional sponsorships.
Campaign Insights
The U.S. Army reached its 2025 recruitment target four months ahead of schedule after partnering with social media influencers to reach Gen Z audiences. The Army raised its 2025 goal by more than 10% from the previous year but still exceeded expectations through its influencer strategy.
The campaign featured content creators including Steven Kelly, who has 1.3 million Instagram followers, and slackliner Breannah Yeh producing sponsored military content. In June, the Army invited over 30 influencers to its 250th anniversary parade for behind-the-scenes access.
The strategy addresses documented recruitment challenges. Gen Z's favorability toward military service dropped from 46% in 2016 to 35% in 2021, according to a Government Accountability Office report. The Army missed recruitment goals by nearly 25% in 2022 and around 20% in 2023, meeting its 2024 target of 55,000 only after lowering the goal by more than 10,000.
Some enlisted personnel already command larger audiences than official military channels, with National Guard recruiter Sgt. 1st Class Tyler Butterworth having over 2 million Instagram followers compared to fewer than 80,000 on the Army's official recruiting page.
Shein launched its Glowmode activewear line in Australia with influencer Kaela Tavares as the campaign spokesperson. The fast-fashion retailer held an event at Coogee Beach and scheduled a weekend giveaway at North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club to promote the launch.
The campaign comes as Shein strengthened its Australian market position, reaching 6.54 million visitors in July 2025 to become the country's 20th-most-visited retail website, according to Semrush data. In fashion specifically, Shein ranked fourth among Australia's most-visited fashion websites, behind The Iconic with 8.44 million visitors, Shopify's Shop app with 9.7 million visitors, and Myer with 12.6 million visitors.
Sensor Tower analysis showed Shein increased its Australian advertising spend by 50% in the June quarter after pivoting from the U.S. market following increased tariffs. The company now faces competition from Amazon Australia's recently launched "Amazon Haul" platform, which offers products under $25 across fashion and lifestyle categories.
QYOU Media executed a multi-creator TikTok campaign for Paramount Pictures' "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning" that generated 36.4 million video views across nine countries. The agency, which specializes in creator marketing for entertainment brands, orchestrated what it calls a "Digital Stunt" featuring basketball trick shot artist Lethal Shooter, parkour creator Hero, pop culture commentator Angelica Trae, and tech creator Sam Hutchinson.
The campaign centered on a stolen basketball that triggered a heist storyline unfolding across multiple platforms over several days. The narrative concluded at the film's premiere with Tom Cruise returning the basketball to Lethal Shooter. QYOU shot the content chronologically using iPhones to maintain creators' natural aesthetic while building toward higher production values.
The campaign supported the film's $127 million opening weekend, which Paramount noted as a franchise best. QYOU has helped launch 30 films to number one box office positions and reports its "Digital Stunts" deliver seven times more value than standard influencer activations. The agency has worked with Paramount for three years across nearly all major releases.
YouTube added creator iShowSpeed (Darren Watkins Jr.) to its first exclusive NFL broadcast featuring the Kansas City Chiefs versus Los Angeles Chargers on September 5. The 43-million-subscriber creator will participate in one of four "Watch With" streams offering live commentary during the game.
Other "Watch With" participants include Tom Grossi (861,000 subscribers), Robegrill (4.15 million subscribers), and Skabeche (13.7 million subscribers). The main broadcast features NFL Network's Rich Eisen and Kurt Warner, with creator "Deestroying" (6.32 million subscribers) providing sideline coverage.
The game streams free globally on YouTube and YouTube TV, marking the NFL's first regular-season game without broadcast or paid streaming requirements. YouTube's 2.5 billion monthly users provide extensive reach, with the platform representing over 13 percent of total TV consumption according to Nielsen data. NFL content generated over 350 million viewing hours on YouTube in 2024.
White Castle announced its sponsorship of "Downs 2 Business," a podcast about Name, Image, and Likeness rights hosted by football players Caleb Downs, an Ohio State safety, and Josh Downs, an NFL wide receiver. The video-first series is produced by sports platform DAZN and Team Whistle, distributed across DAZN, YouTube, Spotify, and Apple platforms.
The partnership targets football fans ahead of the season kickoff, joining brands like DoorDash, Bud Light, and Applebee's in football-related marketing. White Castle's Columbus, Ohio headquarters creates geographic synergy with Caleb Downs' Ohio State location.
The sponsorship comes as the college athlete NIL market exceeds $15 million in tracked spending, with apparel leading at $3.33 million across 2,620 posts, according to Out2Win. However, the newly formed College Sports Commission created approval bottlenecks, manually reviewing every NIL deal over $600 with just three employees. The commission approved over 5,100 deals between June 11 and August 20, but many deals face weeks-long delays, potentially costing athletes time-sensitive partnership revenue.
Chorus, the nonprofit arm of liberal influencer marketing platform Good Influence, launched a secretive program paying Democratic influencers up to $8,000 monthly to create pro-Democratic content. The initiative, funded by The Sixteen Thirty Fund, a dark money group that spent over $400 million in 2020, recruited over 90 influencers with a collective 40 million followers.
Contracts required creators to keep funding secret and prohibited standard disclosure practices. Participants included Democratic National Convention speaker Olivia Julianna, education creator Arielle Fodor with 1.4 million TikTok followers, and political commentator David Pakman. The program launched in January 2025 after being founded in November 2024 by Stuart Perelmuter and Democratic influencer Brian Tyler Cohen.
The Sixteen Thirty Fund distributed $141 million in 2018 and $196 million in 2022 for Democratic causes. Chorus faced criticism for using creator images in fundraising materials without permission. Ethics experts questioned the secrecy requirements, while some creators declined participation due to restrictive contract terms that limited their content and required Chorus approval for political engagements.
A U.S. influencer agency CEO reported three cases of brands misusing creator content without proper usage rights or compensation in the past month.
A non-U.S. swimsuit company used influencer images in newsletters without permission, then extended paid advertising usage beyond the agreed one-week Meta platforms timeframe. The agency halted the program but accepted an extended contract with higher rates rather than pursue compensation for unauthorized usage.
In a separate incident, a DTC brand owned by a creator who operates a UGC agency used content from a micro-influencer with 10,000 Instagram followers without consent for paid advertisements. The influencer had been approached as a potential brand ambassador but received no contract or product gifting, purchasing the item himself before creating organic content.
When confronted, the agency owner claimed the content was submitted through a boot camp program with terms allowing advertising usage, but failed to provide working documentation when requested and subsequently ignored follow-up contact. The influencer agency CEO cited lack of enforcement mechanisms and meaningful consequences as reasons why brands continue unauthorized content usage.
Prediction marketplace Kalshi hired 23-year-old crypto influencer John Wang as head of crypto to expand its digital asset presence. Wang, a University of Pennsylvania dropout who founded Armor Labs before it was acquired, was recruited after CEO Tarek Mansour noticed his crypto commentary on X. The federally regulated platform gained prominence during the presidential election as a CFTC-licensed alternative to blockchain-based rival Polymarket, which blocks US users.
Kalshi recently added crypto deposits alongside traditional payment methods and plans culturally resonant crypto markets targeting crypto Twitter users. The Trump administration's crypto-friendly stance has accelerated the company's expansion plans. Kalshi raised $185 million at a $2 billion valuation, with crypto funds Paradigm and Multicoin among investors. The platform has Trump family connections, with Donald Trump Jr. serving as strategic adviser and Trump nominee Brian Quintenz on the board.
Blue Apron moved its influencer marketing operations in-house in August 2025 as part of a brand refresh aimed at cutting costs and improving campaign speed. The meal kit delivery company now manages relationships with more than 100 creators internally, according to head of marketing Raina Enand.
Blue Apron has brought most marketing functions in-house, from influencer marketing to direct response media buying, while using external agencies only for mass reach campaigns. The company plans to focus heavily on Instagram and TikTok content.
This reflects broader industry cost pressures, with one agency executive reporting a QSR client cutting its influencer budget from $1.75 million to $900,000 for the fiscal year. Goldman Sachs valued the creator economy at $250 billion in 2024 and forecasts growth to $480 billion by 2027.
Earlier in 2025, Unilever announced plans to allocate half its ad budget to social media and work with 20 times more influencers. The in-house trend allows brands to eliminate agency fees and respond faster to campaigns, though it requires substantial internal infrastructure for contract management and creator relationships.
The Bundesliga partnered with YouTube creator Mark Goldbridge to broadcast 20 Friday night matches to his That's Football channel's 1.4 million subscribers. Goldbridge, who built his brand reacting to Manchester United matches, received the broadcasting rights without payment as the German league struggled to find buyers in Britain.
Sky Sports previously held exclusive rights to show German matches but now only broadcasts Saturday evening games. The BBC will stream the matches online, while The Overlap, Gary Neville's YouTube channel, will also carry the games.
The arrangement reflects European leagues' difficulty selling broadcast rights as domestic football dominates viewer attention. Sky and TNT Sports focus budgets on Premier League matches and domestic competitions. The Bundesliga partnership represents leagues' shift toward digital platforms to reach younger audiences who consume football through content creators rather than traditional broadcasters.
Brands and agencies have increasingly restricted talent managers' ability to redline creator contracts over the past 18 months, causing friction in negotiations. Talent managers Johanna Voss, Molly Tracy of Vrai, and Samantha Hicks of Shine Talent Group reported being told they could no longer edit terms and conditions sections, which contain indemnification clauses, termination agreements, and usage rights.
The restrictions emerged as US influencer marketing spending approached $10 billion in 2025, according to eMarketer. Unilever planned to hire 20 times more influencers, while 54% of brand marketers intended to increase influencer spending, per the World Federation of Advertisers.
Industry executives suggested the no-redlining policies stemmed from volume management needs. Village Marketing's Vickie Segar noted clients spending $20-30 million quarterly on hundreds of thousands of agreements. Some talent managers adapted by negotiating master service agreements with frequently-used agencies to establish standard terms across multiple campaigns, though this solution only worked with regular partners.
Conservative MP Luke Evans warns politicians risk ignoring voters by avoiding TikTok, where 11% of UK adults get news and 30% of children aged 12-15 consume content. Only 10% of Tory MPs use the platform compared to 25% of Labour colleagues. Evans, the sixth-most followed UK politician on TikTok with 52,000 followers, argues politicians must engage where voters are active.
Populist figures like Nigel Farage dominate with 1.3 million followers, while mainstream politicians stay away due to security concerns about Chinese ownership. The UK government banned TikTok on official devices in 2023. Evans built his following by explaining parliamentary processes and answering non-partisan questions, earning recognition as the "TikTok doctor MP." He warns young men particularly are being ignored by mainstream politicians and turning to extreme content creators like Andrew Tate for guidance.
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Interesting People
FanBasis CEO Yash Daftary spoke at CreatorHub 2025, which drew over 1,000 digital entrepreneurs to Orlando from August 15-17, expanding from last year's smaller event. FanBasis, a platform that helps creators sell digital products and services, shifted its focus in 2023 from celebrity fan experiences to creator monetization tools after Daftary observed top earners were selling coaching and digital products rather than basic fan interactions.
The company now serves over 3,500 creators, coaches, and agencies. Daftary's 45-minute session focused on revenue scaling challenges, particularly the $100,000-$250,000 monthly plateau where businesses often fail due to team expansion costs and operational complexity. He identified the million-dollar monthly mark as another critical threshold.
FanBasis addresses technical fragmentation by consolidating tools that creators typically spread across multiple platforms like Kajabi, Discord, and Stripe. The company plans to release new monetization features in October and November 2025. Daftary emphasized diversifying customer acquisition beyond single channels and hosted exclusive dinners for creators earning over $1 million annually at the event.
NYC band Cafuné was dropped by major label Elektra in 2024 despite their viral TikTok hit "Tek It" generating over one billion streams on Spotify. The duo signed with TikTok's in-house platform SoundOn for distribution of their new album "Bite Reality," scheduled for September 12th release on their independent label Aurelians Club.
"Tek It" went viral in 2022 when users posted sped-up versions for anime fan edits, leading to millions of remixes. Cafuné capitalized by releasing an official sped-up version and signing with Elektra Records. However, the streaming success proved insufficient for the label during industry restructuring.
The band used their viral earnings to fund a year of independent songwriting. Bandmate Sedona Schat noted TikTok's distribution arm offered more favorable terms than traditional labels. Other artists are following similar patterns - Sabrina Carpenter released six versions of "Espresso" in 2024, including a sped-up "Double Shot Version" mimicking user-generated remixes already circulating on YouTube.
Journalist Esme Hewitt discovered a TikTok influencer with 20,000 followers had plagiarized sections of her personal adoption story, reciting entire passages from her Times article word-for-word without credit. The influencer claimed Hewitt's intimate thoughts about adoption and self-worth as her own experiences in a video to followers.
When Hewitt confronted the plagiarism, the influencer's husband defended the copying and dismissed Hewitt as "not that special." Hewitt posted a response video with evidence of the plagiarism, prompting the influencer to apologize and acknowledge using Hewitt's words.
The incident highlighted platform inconsistencies around content theft. TikTok's policies protect copyrighted works but not underlying ideas, while Instagram and YouTube offer limited protection for smaller creators. Harry Brewis's 2023 YouTube video on plagiarism, which garnered 38 million views, documented similar cases of creators stealing content from smaller accounts.
The case sparked broader discussion about creator economy practices, where daily content demands encourage copying over originality, and viral trends often obscure original sources entirely.
Chanelle Evette transformed from accidental pandemic live streamer to CEO of LCA Talent Agency after discovering financial success on Singapore-based platform Bigo Live. Starting with casual conversations during lockdown, she realized streaming potential when monthly earnings covered rent and bills through authentic audience connections.
Evette developed a niche combining financial advice with mental wellness, believing money and mindset are interconnected for building financial freedom. Her creator-first talent agency focuses on mentoring rather than traditional management, providing hands-on strategy, branding, and personal development support.
LCA evaluates potential talent based on mindset and drive over follower metrics, emphasizing consistency and authentic content creation. The agency plans expansion into live events and workshops, including a "Stream Rich Event" promoting Evette's upcoming ebook "Live Stream to the Riches." Evette credits networking and systematic onboarding processes for building sustainable creator careers in the growing live streaming industry.
Young content creators are navigating the challenge of maintaining their social media presence while returning to university studies. Sofia DelGiudice, a 19-year-old Toronto creator, gained 90,000 combined followers across Instagram and TikTok after a back-to-school video went viral with five million views. She earned 35 million views across platforms in the past three months alone, adding 20,000 new followers this summer.
The University of Guelph-Humber launched its first influencer marketing course, with instructor Lara Cardoso noting increased student interest in talent agencies. Haley Jackman, an 18-year-old creator from Ontario, signed with talent management company Upside Down Talent to handle brand partnerships and campaign deadlines.
University of Toronto marketing professor David Soberman advised creators to assess viability realistically, suggesting those earning $20 monthly after six months should reconsider. The trend reflects the growing institutionalization of creator economy education and professional representation as students seek to monetize their online presence.
Dietitian Jessica Knurick has built a counter-movement to the Make America Healthy Again campaign using social media platforms. Knurick accumulated 1.1 million Instagram followers and 335,000 TikTok followers by creating content that challenges claims from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other MAHA leaders.
Knurick's follower count grew from 150,000 to over 1 million in two years. She focuses on debunking MAHA messaging while highlighting financial conflicts within the wellness industry that she says receive less scrutiny than pharmaceutical companies.
The dietitian targets MAHA leaders including Calley Means, who operates TrueMed, a company allowing health savings account dollars for wellness products, and Casey Means, Trump's surgeon general nominee who sells continuous glucose monitors. Knurick argues that MAHA incorrectly identifies causes of chronic disease, emphasizing food dyes and seed oils over evidence-based factors like income inequality and healthcare access. She acknowledged that fewer than 10 percent of Americans follow dietary guidelines, contrary to MAHA claims about their harmful influence.
Industry News
TikTok launched "TikTok for Artists" on August 26, 2025, an analytics platform that helps musicians track performance and build careers on the social media platform. The tool provides artists with statistics on song performance including views, posts, and creator engagements per track, plus post metrics showing views, likes, comments, shares, and completion rates.
The platform introduced a "Pre-Release" tool that allows musicians to promote upcoming albums and enables fans to pre-save releases directly to Spotify or Apple Music libraries. This complements TikTok's existing "Add to Music App" feature, which generated over one billion song saves since its 2024 launch and recently expanded to include YouTube Music integration alongside SoundCloud and Deezer.
The launch reflects TikTok's growing music industry influence. A Luminate study found that 84% of songs entering the Billboard Global 200 in 2024 achieved viral status on TikTok before charting. TikTok users spend 48% more time streaming music than average U.S. listeners and are 68% more likely to subscribe to paid streaming services. The platform is now available across North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Oceania.
YouTube content creator Keandre Ashley accepted a scouting position with an undisclosed NBA team after operating the "Hoop Intellect" channel for seven years. Ashley's channel produced over 400 basketball analysis videos and accumulated nearly 60,000 subscribers.
The hiring reflects sports leagues' growing integration of digital creators into official roles. On the same day as Ashley's announcement, Owen Phillips, who operates "The F5" newsletter on Substack, was hired as Senior Basketball Analyst for the Denver Nuggets. Phillips previously worked for the New York Knicks in 2021.
The NBA leads major U.S. sports leagues in social media presence, with teams averaging 16.6 million followers compared to 9.1 million for NFL teams, according to STN Digital. The league's expanded creator program for the 2024-25 season generated 650 million video views across NBA digital channels. The NBA also partnered with creators through initiatives like the PlayStation NBA Creator Cup in Las Vegas in July.
France's Digital Affairs Minister Clara Chappaz announced the government will sue Australian streaming platform Kick for negligence following the death of content creator Raphaël Graven during a livestream. Graven, known as "Jean Pormanove," died during a 12-day livestream marathon featuring content where he endured abuse from participants.
Paris prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into whether Kick knowingly broadcast "videos of deliberate attacks on personal integrity" and violated European Union Digital Services Act content moderation requirements. The platform faces potential penalties of 10 years imprisonment and fines up to €1 million if found guilty.
Kick, founded in 2022, reached one billion hours watched in Q2 2025 and built 57 million users with a 95/5 revenue split favoring creators. The case follows another controversial incident involving MMA fighter Raja Jackson's assault on wrestler Stuart Smith during a California event broadcast on the platform. Kick stated it is taking legal advice and cooperating with authorities.
YouTube confirmed it secretly used artificial intelligence to enhance videos on YouTube Shorts without creator consent or notification. The platform ran experiments using machine learning to unblur, denoise and improve video clarity during processing, affecting select content creators including Rick Beato, who has over five million subscribers.
Creators noticed subtle changes including altered skin texture, defined wrinkles, and warped facial features. Music YouTuber Rhett Shull posted a video about the issue that generated over 500,000 views. Social media complaints about the modifications dated back to June 2025.
Rene Ritchie, YouTube's head of editorial and creator liaison, defended the practice as similar to smartphone video processing. However, the company did not respond to questions about giving users choice over AI modifications. Samuel Woolley from University of Pittsburgh criticized YouTube for manipulating creator content without consent, arguing the distinction between machine learning and generative AI was not meaningful in this context.
Twitch streamers have expanded beyond gaming into consumer products, with several launching companies that reached seven-figure sales. Kai Cenat, the platform's third most-followed streamer with 18.6 million followers, cofounded fragrance brand Tone with his Atlanta-based content group AMP. The brand crossed seven figures in sales within a week of its February launch and debuted at Target in July, becoming one of the retailer's top-performing deodorant and fragrance brands.
Tyler Blevins, known as "Ninja" and Twitch's second most-followed streamer, cofounded flavored cashew milk brand NutCase in 2023. The brand will enter 12 Whole Foods locations in California, Nevada and Arizona later this year, marking its first brick-and-mortar expansion.
Twitch reported more than 105 million monthly active users, with non-gaming content categories like "Just Chatting" and "IRL" gaining prominence post-pandemic. The platform saw increased female and Gen Z viewership during COVID-19 lockdowns. Beauty-focused content tagged "GRWM" generated 888,000 hours watched in 2025, a 101 percent year-over-year increase.
Rolling Stone released its annual list of the 25 most influential creators of 2025, compiled with analytics company CreatorIQ using follower counts, engagement rates, and audience growth metrics. The list spans multiple platform categories from TikTok lifestyle creators to podcasters and OnlyFans models.
MrBeast topped the ranking with 871.6 million followers across platforms, despite facing a class-action lawsuit over his Amazon show Beast Games related to poor working conditions. Streaming dominated with creators like IShowSpeed at 135 million followers and Kai Cenat at 80.1 million followers leading the category.
Business developments included Dave Portnoy selling Barstool Sports for $551 million in 2023 before buying it back for $1, and Alex Cooper expanding beyond her Call Her Daddy podcast to launch Unwell Hydration electrolyte drinks and executive produce reality shows for Hulu. Several creators crossed into traditional media, with Caleb Hearon cast in the Devil Wears Prada sequel and Jake Shane appearing on Hacks.
The rankings reflect creators' evolution beyond single platforms into broader media properties and business ventures.
Podcast hosting platform Acast launched its free Acast Ads Academy on August 27, 2025, offering two self-paced certification courses for marketers. The platform provides "Podcast Advertising 101" for newcomers and "Podcast Advertising 201" for experienced marketers seeking advanced strategies, with industry-recognized certification upon completion.
The educational initiative addresses growing evidence of podcast advertising effectiveness. Acast's September 2024 study of 2,600 weekly podcast listeners across 13 countries found more than half of daily podcast listeners made purchases after hearing podcast advertisements. The research showed podcast ads outperformed other audio formats, with consumers 10% more likely to listen to podcast ads than radio ads.
Industry data from June 2025 revealed podcast advertising achieved higher trust and attention metrics than social platforms. While podcasts reach 31% of Americans monthly compared to Facebook's 74%, podcasting achieved an "effective reach" of 27% versus Facebook's 50%. Acast currently hosts 125,000 shows worldwide with approximately 400 million monthly listens and maintains sales teams in 15 countries.
President Donald Trump signaled he may extend TikTok's divestment deadline for a fourth time as the September 17 cutoff approaches. The "divest-or-ban" legislation passed in 2024 requires ByteDance to sell TikTok or face removal from U.S. networks and app stores. Trump has delayed implementation three times since January.
A consortium led by ByteDance's existing U.S. investors remains the frontrunner to acquire TikTok's American operations. The proposed structure would grant U.S. investors 80% ownership while ByteDance retains under 20%, designed to meet security requirements. Oracle Corp and Andreessen Horowitz remain part of the investor group, though Blackstone recently withdrew.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick took a firmer stance, telling CNBC that TikTok will "go dark" if China rejects the sale deal. Despite ongoing security concerns, the White House launched its official TikTok account with a 27-second video featuring Trump's voiceover. TikTok has approximately 170 million U.S. users.
TikTok launched a dedicated in-app experience for Grammy-winning artist Laufey's album "A Matter of Time" on August 25, 2025, featuring the platform's first full concert livestream from Los Angeles on August 22. The hub offers interactive elements including profile frame tasks, full album tracklist with previews, direct streaming options, official merchandise for U.S. users, and curated fan content.
The initiative follows similar album launches for Miley Cyrus and the Selena Gomez-Benny Blanco collaboration, establishing a pattern of custom in-app music experiences. TikTok's music influence continues growing, with 84% of songs entering the Billboard Global 200 in 2024 achieving viral status on the platform before charting.
The platform's "Add to Music App" feature generated over one billion song saves since its 2024 launch. Research shows TikTok users spend 48% more time streaming music than average U.S. listeners and are 68% more likely to subscribe to paid streaming services. Laufey has accumulated 8.8 million TikTok followers and 347.1 million likes.
Somerce, a UK-based TikTok Shop marketing agency, grew from startup to managing over 55 client accounts across the UK, U.S., and Europe in one year since its 2024 founding by Joe Yates. The agency operates on a performance-based model with low minimum retainers and takes commission on sales rather than charging flat fees.
Somerce developed a creator community management approach, maintaining communities of up to 1,200 creators per client, with 800 actively posting content. For beauty brand Glow For It, creators in their community post 5-7 times monthly, exceeding industry averages. The agency specializes in beauty products, aligning with TikTok's data showing beauty items sell every two seconds on the platform.
In July, Somerce took over the lease of TikTok's former Manchester Studios after TikTok announced closure. Yates plans to launch a SaaS platform for live streaming and creator management. The agency's success coincides with TikTok Shop's 180% year-on-year revenue growth in the UK market.
Whalar Group, a creator marketing company, appointed Eddie Renard as its first Chief Operating Officer on August 22, 2025. Renard previously served as President of People & Operations for more than four years at the company, which operates seven businesses and employs over 300 people worldwide.
The appointment followed several strategic moves by Whalar Group. The company completed a $20 million acquisition of The Business of Creativity, co-founded by advertising veteran Sir John Hegarty. Whalar Group also promoted Jo Cronk and Emma Harman to Co-CEOs of its creator agency.
In the UK division, Jessica Womersley and Shannon Watkin were appointed to the joint role of Co-Head of Client Accounts after securing new clients including Virgin Atlantic, which named Whalar its Agency of Record. The company has backing from investors including Salesforce founder Marc Benioff, Shopify, and Hollywood producer Neal H. Moritz.
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YouTube overtook Netflix as the most-watched streaming service on TV in 2025, prompting traditional entertainment companies to pursue deals with digital creators. Netflix signed partnerships with creators including Ms. Rachel, The Sidemen, and science educator Mark Rober, while seeking a leader to develop video podcasts.
Amazon secured YouTube star MrBeast for competition show "Beast Games," which aired its season finale in February and received renewal for two additional seasons in May. Comcast's Peacock, Disney's Hulu, and other platforms also expanded creator partnerships.
Fox-owned Tubi launched "Tubi for Creators" three months ago, attracting 60 creators representing 5,000 episodes with plans to provide development funding and brand revenue. YouTube paid $70 billion over three years to creators, artists, and media companies, while ad agency WPP predicted creator platform ad revenue would exceed traditional media for the first time in 2025.
Creators raised substantial funding, with Dude Perfect securing $100 million and MrBeast's Beast Industries employing 350 people as of April.
TikTok's non-US revenues surged 38% to $6.3 billion in 2024 across UK, Europe, and Latin America markets, more than doubling from $2.6 billion in 2022. The UK leads regional penetration with 32.3% monthly usage, while Spain, France, and Italy show 25-27% adoption rates. UK advertising revenues are forecast to triple from $540 million in 2023 to $2 billion by 2027, though growth rates will slow from 65% to 27% annually.
TikTok faces mounting regulatory pressure, setting aside $1 billion for fines and already paying over half due to Irish data rulings. The European Commission accused the platform of election interference during Romania's 2024 presidential race. Non-compliance with EU Digital Services Act could trigger penalties up to 6% of annual revenues. Despite launching Project Clover, a €12 billion data security initiative, TikTok cut European headcount 6% while staff costs rose to $937 million.
Accenture Song acquired Superdigital, a US-based social and influencer agency founded in 2013, as part of the consulting firm's expansion into social media marketing services. Superdigital, which specializes in short-form video and social-native creative for clients in tech, consumer goods, gaming and entertainment sectors, employed over 40 creators and strategists who will join Song's marketing practice.
The acquisition followed recent deals by Accenture Song, which added agencies Unlimited, Work & Co and Soko to its portfolio. Industry forecasts projected influencer marketing spend would exceed $24 billion in 2025, making it one of the fastest-growing marketing budget categories.
The deal reflected broader consolidation in the influencer marketing sector, as holding companies and consultancies acquired specialist shops to meet client demand for social media expertise. Sean Lackey, Accenture Song's Americas marketing lead, said social media often served as the first consumer touchpoint, positioning it as a battleground for brand relevance and driving acquisition activity among larger marketing services companies.