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- Influence Weekly #440 - Syracuse University Launches Creator Economy Minor
Influence Weekly #440 - Syracuse University Launches Creator Economy Minor
DAZN Taps Creators For FIFA World Cup 2026 With Fan-First Content Push
Nii Ahene
May 08, 2026
Spotlight Stories
L'Oréal Romania Taps SAMY To Manage Creator Marketing Across All 21 Group Brands
Whatnot Partners With Shopify To Let Live Sellers Spend More Time Selling, 90% Say Live Commerce Can No Longer Be Ignored
DAZN Taps Creators For FIFA World Cup 2026 With Fan-First Content Push
Syracuse University Launches Creator Economy Minor
Great Reads
Gaming companies led creator economy hiring in May 2026, with Nintendo of America and 2K Games posting senior influencer marketing roles. Nintendo sought an Influencer Marketing Manager for franchises including Mario and Zelda at $117,400-$211,300 annually. 2K Games, owned by Take-Two Interactive, posted two positions: Senior Manager of Influencer for NBA 2K and WWE 2K titles, and Associate Creative Director for Social at $123,200-$182,360 each.
Crypto exchange Kraken hired a Brand Partnerships Manager at $96,000-$192,000 to manage partnerships including Atlassian Williams F1 team. Apollo.io, valued at $1.6 billion, sought a Senior Influencer Marketing Manager at $159,000-$198,700 in tier one markets.
Live commerce platform Whatnot offered contract Influencer Marketing Manager roles at $126,000-$165,000. Beauty brands expanded teams as OLAPLEX hired an Influencer Performance Coordinator at $60,000-$70,000 and SharkNinja sought a Senior Director of Global Social Media at $207,000-$253,000. Gaming talent firm Night and social commerce company MagicLinks also added influencer marketing positions.
Enterprise software companies are shifting marketing budgets toward B2B influencer marketing on LinkedIn as enterprise software purchases increasingly begin with LinkedIn posts from trusted sources rather than traditional research reports. Companies like IBM now brief data analytics creators by name, while MrBeast partnered with Salesforce for Super Bowl advertising.
The sector operates differently from traditional B2C influencer marketing, prioritizing audience precision over reach. A single engagement from the right CTO can outweigh thousands of interactions from irrelevant audiences, with B2B customer lifetime values ranging from $10,000 to $20,000 annually compared to $5,000 lifetime value for B2C customers.
LinkedIn dominates as the primary platform, though most brands struggle with creative execution. Employee advocacy programs show the most untapped potential, with internal experts often possessing deeper category knowledge than external creators.
Net Influencer partnered with SEO agency Grow and Convert to analyze AI search visibility for user-generated content agencies across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, and AI Mode in May 2026. The study tested eight buyer-focused prompts across all five platforms to determine which UGC agencies appeared in AI recommendations.
Seventy-five agencies surfaced across 40 total query runs, with visibility concentrated among top performers. Brighter Click led with 40% visibility, followed by Billo and Minisocial at 30% each. No agency reached the 60% threshold that would classify it as a default recommendation across most queries and platforms.
AI Mode generated the most mentions at 54, while Perplexity produced the fewest at 29. The analysis revealed steep drop-offs between rankings, with more than half of agencies scoring just 3% visibility. Reddit.com, themarketingagency.ca, and quimbydigital.com were the most frequently cited sources when AI models generated recommendations. The data suggests category specialization in UGC correlates more strongly with AI visibility than general influencer marketing brand recognition.
Want to know what the top-ranked companies are doing differently and how to improve your visibility share? We're breaking down the full data live later this month.
Webinar: How to Win Attention in AI Search: What Top-Ranked Creator Economy Companies Do Differently
May 20 | 1:00 PM ET, 10:00 AM PT | Free
Limited to 100 seats
Campaign Insights
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit partnered with LTK as its social commerce infrastructure partner, marking the media brand's first entry into creator-powered shopping. The partnership launched alongside the publication's annual issue in April 2026.
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit established an official profile on the LTK app and enabled shoppable content across its social media platforms. The partnership includes live coverage of the brand's annual runway show, with looks available for purchase in real time through LTK.
The deal transforms Sports Illustrated Swimsuit's editorial content into a year-round commerce channel beyond its traditional annual issue cycle. A separate LTK study with Northwestern University found that 90% of brands now incorporate creators into marketing strategies, with creator marketing ranking as the top investment priority for CMOs in 2026.
L'Oréal Romania selected global social-first agency SAMY to manage influencer marketing for all 21 of its brands in the Romanian market, with the partnership beginning in June 2026. SAMY will handle end-to-end creator partnerships across L'Oréal's portfolio including L'Oréal Paris, Garnier, Maybelline New York, Lancôme, La Roche-Posay, CeraVe, Yves Saint Laurent, and Kerastase.
SAMY already manages L'Oréal's creator relationships in Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Nordic countries, Latin America, and the United States. The agency operates across 55 markets with over 1,000 staff and exceeded 100 million euros in revenue in 2024.
The deal comes as Romania's influencer marketing sector shows signs of saturation. A 2025 Starcom Romania report found the share of Romanian adults following influencers plateaued at 81% in 2025, unchanged from 2024, after rising from 50% in 2018. Additionally, only 54% of consumers now recognize influencer campaigns as advertisements, down from 62% the previous year.
POP.STORE became the title sponsor of VidCon Anaheim 2026 to launch ECHO-ME, an agentic AI commerce platform for creators. POP.STORE, a creator monetization platform and subsidiary of CommentSold Group, announced the sponsorship for VidCon's 15th annual flagship event.
ECHO-ME operates through four AI agents that handle social engagement, content creation, deal monitoring, and automated sales. The Social Engagement Agent responds to comments and messages in the creator's voice and can increase engagement up to eight times. The Content Creator Agent produces illustrated PDFs in under 10 minutes and generates HD and 4K reels and photoshoots.
POP.STORE will host VidCon's Opening Day Keynote with CEO Gautam Goswami and commentator Jon Youshaei, featuring a live demo of ECHO-ME. The company will occupy a 50×50 booth designed as a "Galactic Mission Control" environment for attendee interactions.
Intuit QuickBooks expanded its creator marketing partnership with agency Collectively from a $200,000 budget with one contractor to over $40 million in spending this year. The partnership, which has lasted more than six years, focuses on casting creators who are actual QuickBooks customers running real businesses.
Collectively's selection process requires creators to demonstrate authentic QuickBooks usage and credible business stories. The agency featured interior designer and creator Dani Dazey in QuickBooks' "Outdo It" campaign, where she designed the commercial set in addition to appearing in the ad.
QuickBooks serves businesses ranging from solo entrepreneurs to companies with more than $100 million in revenue within Intuit's portfolio that includes TurboTax, Credit Karma, and Mailchimp. The campaign emphasizes QuickBooks' AI capabilities while maintaining human oversight, targeting small business owners who want to focus on their core expertise rather than administrative tasks.
Whatnot, a US-based livestream marketplace, partnered with Shopify in April 2026 to integrate live commerce capabilities directly into the e-commerce platform. The collaboration allows Shopify merchants to install Whatnot as a sales channel within their admin dashboard, automatically synchronizing product information, descriptions, prices, and variants between the platforms.
The integration addresses operational challenges faced by 70% of Whatnot sellers who struggled to keep products, inventory, and orders synchronized across multiple platforms. Whatnot reported that 90% of sellers believed live commerce could no longer be ignored as a sales channel.
Since launching in beta, the partnership generated over $10 million in sales across 20 product categories. Gaines Pet, a dog treats seller, increased weekly streaming time from 10-12 hours to 30 hours following the integration. FashioNica, a luxury handbag retailer, reported faster product launches through bulk product management capabilities and automated order synchronization across both platforms.
Expedia partnered with content creator iShowSpeed as its official travel partner in a multi-phase global campaign targeting Gen Z travelers. The travel booking platform launched Exspeedia.com, a custom website where fans can track iShowSpeed's travels, book trips through Expedia, vote on future destinations, and enter sweepstakes to meet the creator. Two winners from the United States, Canada, and Mexico who book and complete trips through the site will be announced by September 2026.
The partnership launched April 29 with a 12-hour livestream on iShowSpeed's YouTube and Twitch channels, featuring travel across four Caribbean destinations. iShowSpeed has more than 150 million followers across platforms. His previous travel livestreams generated substantial viewership, with his Africa tour producing 16 million hours watched and Europe tour generating over 9 million hours watched.
Expedia also created an @Exspeedia_ TikTok handle to distribute partnership content across social channels. The campaign will continue with iShowSpeed traveling to North American cities.
Content creator Colin Rocker, who focuses on career development and personal finance, made an equity investment in creator platform Favikon after the company raised its first seed round. Rocker, who derives 85% to 90% of his income from brand partnerships with Microsoft, Adobe, Apple and Ally Bank, said the investment represented his largest single investment to date.
The move reflects growing creator anxiety about platform dependency and income sustainability. U.S. influencer marketing spending is expected to reach $13.7 billion by 2027, according to eMarketer. According to Sprout Social's 2025 report, 65% of influencers prefer involvement in creative or product development over traditional sponsorships.
OWM, a platform facilitating creator-brand equity deals, receives approximately five daily requests from founders seeking creator partnerships. However, agency executives said equity deals remain limited to early-stage companies or those with low market penetration. Nearly 80% of influencer collaborations cost under $300, according to Collabstr's 2026 report, indicating micro-engagements dominate the market rather than high-value equity arrangements.
Brand USA appointed M+C Saatchi North America's Sports and Entertainment Division as one of its influencer marketing agencies in May 2026. The destination marketing organization selected the agency to develop creator-led campaigns aimed at inspiring international travel to the United States.
M+C Saatchi Sport + Entertainment will handle influencer strategy, talent sourcing, partnerships, content development, campaign amplification, and performance measurement across key global markets. The agency will leverage its network of creators and cultural insights to connect Brand USA with diverse traveller segments.
Brand USA's Chief Marketing Officer Leah Chandler said the agency was chosen for its destination marketing experience, global network, and vision for creator-led content. M+C Saatchi North America CEO Nadja Bellan-White emphasized the agency's ability to match cultural voices with specific consumer segments across different communities.
Work began in May 2026, with initial campaigns expected to launch across priority international markets in summer 2026. The campaigns will showcase US destinations and experiences through the agency's America the Beautiful platform.
Beauty brand Refy abandoned its standard content approval process when launching its $40 Skin Base Skin Tint in March, allowing 12 paid creators to post reviews without brand oversight. The strategy broke from standard influencer marketing practices where brands typically review and approve content before publication.
Charlotte Geoghegan, Refy's head of brand, said the team felt confident in the product after two years of development and wanted to differentiate from standard creator campaigns. Seven of the 12 creators had previously worked with Refy, providing a safety net for the experimental approach.
Creators including Kayla Ryan and Kelly Huang highlighted the unusual brief setup in their posts, generating organic discussion about the strategy. Creator Farron Clark posted an unpaid analysis video that received over 500,000 views, which Refy later leveraged by hiring her for additional content.
The campaign exceeded sales forecasts by 200%, according to Geoghegan. Only two of the 12 creators explicitly mentioned the no-approval process in their content.
Sports streaming platform DAZN launched DAZN48, a creator program that will recruit 48 soccer creators to produce content for the FIFA World Cup 2026. The company announced the initiative on April 24, with each creator representing one of the 48 competing nations.
Selected creators will produce daily reactions and cultural storytelling throughout the tournament beginning in June. DAZN positioned the program as delivering fan-perspective coverage across its platforms and social media channels. Soccer creators can apply at dazn.com/dazn48.
The move follows a pattern among sports broadcasters using creators for tentpole events. NBCUniversal deployed over 25 creators for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, while its Paris Creator Collective for the 2024 Olympics generated over 300 million views across social platforms.
Research from Tubular Labs analyzing social video behavior between July 2025 and March 2026 found World Cup audiences engage heavily with non-traditional sports content formats.
Interesting People
NASA gained 5.2 million Instagram followers in April 2026, topping the month's fastest-growing U.S. accounts following the Artemis II Moon mission launch on April 1. NASA's dedicated Artemis program account added 2.4 million followers from the same event.
Three independent creators captured spots without confirmed news events driving their growth. Dr. Fia Johansson, a psychic advisor, gained 3.4 million followers to reach 15.9 million total. Emerging creator @king.exoduss added 2.4 million followers to reach 4.6 million. Musician Afroman gained 894,000 followers from a 219,000 base.
Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber each added 2.3 million followers, likely connected to his Coachella performances. The festival's official account gained 2 million followers. MrBeast added 1.1 million followers without a specific trigger event, while Jason Derulo gained 1 million through his ongoing Reels content strategy.
TikTok fashion creator Wisdom Kaye attended the 2026 Met Gala on May 4, wearing a Public School double-breasted suit with metal accessories. This marked his return to the event after being excluded in 2025.
Kaye previously attended the 2024 Met Gala when TikTok purchased a table for the event. In 2025, he publicly announced on social media that he was not invited to the gala, which had the theme "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style."
The creator suggested that organizers did not want social media personalities at the 2025 event. He had joked on TikTok about fans sending screenshots of his tweets to Anna Wintour regarding his exclusion.
The 2026 Met Gala featured the theme "Costume Art" and was co-chaired by ASAP Rocky, Pharrell Williams, Colman Domingo, and Lewis Hamilton. Kaye's 2026 appearance demonstrates the ongoing tension between traditional fashion institutions and digital content creators seeking access to exclusive industry events.
The Team, Casey Wasserman's talent agency, acquired Provisions Golf, bringing YouTube golf creators Grant Horvat and the Bryan Brothers to its roster. The creators have more than 4 million combined followers across YouTube and Instagram.
Provisions founders Joe Gilliland and Josh Morgan joined The Team as senior vice presidents and will continue operating from Dallas and California. Provisions began receiving acquisition interest in February 2025 from multiple agencies before selecting The Team over one other finalist.
The deal adds golf influencers to The Team's existing roster that includes professional golfers Nelly Korda, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, and Tony Finau. The agency also represents athletes across other sports including NBA player Klay Thompson and NFL player Maxx Crosby.
Horvat and the Bryan Brothers launched Your Golf Tour this year, featuring creator tournaments with $1 million in prize money. The acquisition reflects growing competition in golf creator content, with rival agencies like WME representing Good Good Golf and managing Golf Channel's revived Big Break series.
MRB2024, LLC, the production company behind YouTuber Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson's content, filed a lawsuit against Toronto-based Media Headquarters Film and Television Inc. (MHQ) in Ontario Superior Court seeking the return of a $5 million advance payment. The payment was made on May 23, 2024, for production of "Beast Games" Season 1.
Donaldson's company dropped MHQ within a week of payment to relocate production to Atlanta, then attempted to re-engage after determining the U.S. location was not viable. MHQ declined the offer and countersued for an additional $5 million, arguing it was entitled to retain the original payment for location sourcing, personnel recruitment, and tax credit strategy work.
Despite the legal dispute, "Beast Games" became Prime Video's most-watched unscripted series with 50 million viewers within 25 days of its December 19, 2024 premiere. Amazon renewed the show for two additional seasons, with Season 2 premiering January 7, 2026.
Brianna Doe, founder of influencer marketing agency Verbatim and host of the "Stop the Scroll with Brianna Doe" podcast, outlined structural problems preventing successful brand-creator partnerships during an interview published May 5, 2026. Doe launched Verbatim in 2023 after 14 years in B2C marketing and tech roles.
Doe identified misaligned KPIs as the primary cause of program failures, noting marketing managers and CMOs often track different metrics without agreeing on primary success measures before campaigns launch. She attributed brand control issues to fear-driven decision making, where marketers minimize creative risks to justify budgets despite authentic content performing better than brand-written material.
The agency founder criticized brands for treating influencer marketing as isolated media buys rather than integrated partnerships. She recommended mixing creator tiers from nano to mega influencers and establishing clear creative briefs while allowing creator autonomy within brand safety parameters. Doe also noted B2B influencer marketing on LinkedIn faces attribution pressure as brands apply direct-response logic to brand-building channels.
Carlo Lupercio launched Lupercio Media in October 2025, a West Hollywood-based talent agency representing Latino, Latina, LGBTQ, and culture-led digital creators across more than 20 content verticals. Lupercio previously worked for nearly five years managing celebrity and influencer partnerships at fashion resale marketplace Poshmark.
The agency represents creators with engagement rates between 5% and 17%. Lupercio cited missed brand opportunities during Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime performance and Karol G becoming the first Latina headliner at Coachella, where Latino creator activations remained minimal. He argued that brands apply inconsistent "brand safety" standards, with creators of color facing stricter criteria than white creators.
Lupercio Media focuses on strategic career development beyond brand partnerships, including film and television opportunities. The company addresses what Lupercio identified as information asymmetry, where first-generation Latino creators lack knowledge of standard market rates. The agency plans a Los Angeles launch event and is actively pursuing brand conversations about diverse campaign strategies.
Industry News
SuperOrdinary, a Los Angeles-based creator commerce agency, launched a private investment program allowing creators and partners to become shareholders ahead of a planned IPO. The company offered shares with a 7% annual dividend and conversion option at a 25% discount to future IPO pricing, with a $5,000 minimum investment for accredited investors.
SuperOrdinary reported $244 million in revenue in 2025 and projected $300 million in 2026 revenue with 41% gross margins. The agency works with brands including Disney, OLAPLEX, and H&M across platforms like TikTok Shop and Tmall, serving over three million creators globally.
CEO Julian Reis positioned the move as aligning creator interests with company value creation. The company operates as a brand accelerator, helping businesses navigate creator-led commerce channels that have grown substantially on platforms like TikTok Shop, which generated $15 billion in U.S. sales in 2025.
Glorion Media launched in March as a New York City-based agency offering podcast production, influencer talent management, and digital advertising services. CEO Tsvetta Kaleynska, formerly of RILA Global Consulting, founded the company using a social listening intelligence model that tracks real-time audience signals across digital platforms.
The agency positions itself as performance-oriented rather than awareness-based, using social listening data to align brand messaging with existing audience demand. Glorion Media differentiates itself by surfacing consumer narratives and market sentiment shifts that traditional advertising models overlook.
The company owns and produces "The Money Signal: From Main Street to Wall Street," a podcast co-hosted by Kaleynska and Peter Tuchman, a veteran New York Stock Exchange floor trader. The show focuses on consumer data, economic signals, and business conversations. Glorion Media also represents Tuchman for media and strategic opportunities beyond the podcast.
Patreon launched network features in April 2026 designed to convert free followers into paying members and help creators grow audiences without relying on traditional social media. The subscription platform introduced Quips, a short-form post format appearing in a redesigned Home feed that reaches fans across Patreon's app and website.
The update included Collaboration posts allowing two creators to co-author content and reach both audiences simultaneously. Patreon reported fan engagement increased more than five times when posts received creator interactions like collaborations or comments. A dedicated Memberships-only feed lets fans filter content from creators they already support.
Patreon delivers more than one million new members monthly to creators through its network, according to VP of Product Drew Rowny. The platform hosts more than 300,000 creators and nearly 80 million fans who pay creators more than $2 billion annually. Free memberships reached 165 million, nearly double from early 2025, while podcasters earned nearly $630 million in 2025, up 33% year-over-year.
Twenty-one industry experts examined frameworks for reducing creator businesses' founder dependency while maintaining audience trust. The core strategy involves separating personal rights from business IP early through licensing agreements rather than ownership structures.
Benjamin Woollams from TrueRights emphasized establishing clear separation between what creators own personally (name, likeness, voice) and what businesses own (formats, characters, product IP). The business licenses personal rights with defined terms and clear exit strategies.
Successful examples include Ali Abdaal building transferable frameworks, Pat Flynn creating the passive income category, and SKIMS expanding beyond Kim Kardashian through other creators and celebrities. Morning Brew transitioned by introducing new newsletter voices while founders stepped back gradually.
The transition typically requires 12-24 months with creators actively endorsing new talent and appearing alongside them to transfer trust. The strategy fails when implemented too quickly or when audiences perceive it as monetization-driven rather than growth-focused, causing followers to leave before the business adapts.
U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Amy Klobuchar sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on May 1, criticizing the company's removal of attorney advertisements seeking plaintiffs for social media addiction lawsuits. Meta removed more than a dozen ads from Facebook and Instagram following court verdicts in New Mexico and California that found the company liable for negligence in platform design.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone confirmed the removals, stating the company would "not allow trial lawyers to profit from our platforms while simultaneously claiming they are harmful." The senators argued the removed ads did not violate Meta's Advertising Standards and contradicted the company's January 2025 policy changes promising to "allow more speech."
The senators noted Meta's internal estimates show its platforms display 15 billion scam ads daily, with approximately 10% of 2024 revenue coming from ads for scams and banned goods. Meta faces thousands of lawsuits alongside Google, Snapchat, and TikTok alleging platforms contributed to youth mental health issues.
Instagram announced it will no longer recommend content from accounts that regularly repost other users' photos and carousels across the platform. The Meta-owned company said the policy change took effect to ensure original creators receive proper credit and distribution.
The restrictions extend existing protections that were already in place for Reels to photos and carousel posts. Instagram defined original content as material creators wholly created or that reflects their unique perspective, including photos they took or content they designed. The platform also classifies materially edited third-party content as original.
Low-effort edits do not qualify as original content. Instagram specified that adding watermarks, changing video speed, or uploading screenshots of others' posts with visible usernames all fall outside the originality threshold. The policy targets aggregator accounts that re-upload posts without transformation.
The restrictions apply only to recommendations across feeds and the Discover tab, not to content visibility for existing followers of aggregator accounts.
Syracuse University launched a creator economy minor beginning fall 2026, marking the first formal academic credential from its Center for the Creator Economy. The program requires three core courses covering industry fundamentals, business tools for creators, and entrepreneurship, plus three electives spanning topics like electronic retail and sports content creation.
The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and Martin J. Whitman School of Management jointly developed the curriculum. The minor is available to students from all university schools and colleges.
Syracuse established its Center for the Creator Economy in November 2025, positioning itself as the first university-based center dedicated to the creator economy in the United States. The center opened a physical space at Newhouse in January 2026 with professional equipment and flexible workspaces.
Goldman Sachs Research data cited in the announcement showed 67 million people globally work as creators, with the sector potentially worth $500 billion by 2027. The center has hosted events in New York, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles since launch.
Instagram introduced "AI creator" labels for accounts that regularly use artificial intelligence tools to generate content. Creators can toggle the label in their profile settings, which displays on both their profile and posts with a disclosure about AI tool usage.
The feature builds on Instagram's existing "AI info" labels that appear on individual AI-generated posts. When both labels apply to content, the "AI info" label takes precedence. Instagram said the feature would expand to all users "in the coming weeks" after its initial rollout.
The launch follows warnings from Instagram head Adam Mosseri in January that AI tools would soon produce content indistinguishable from human-made posts. Mosseri argued that authenticity was becoming a scarce resource as synthetic content floods social feeds.
Instagram updated its algorithm in December 2025 to prioritize original content and reduce distribution of templated or automated material. The AI creator label rollout coincides with these algorithm changes designed to boost human creators.
The New York Times reported digital advertising revenue increased 31.6% year-over-year to $93 million in the first quarter, exceeding company expectations. CEO Meredith Kopit Levien attributed the growth to the company's diversified content strategy beyond traditional news coverage.
The Times expanded its podcast offerings by launching a Sunday edition of "The Daily" focused on culture and debuting a new true crime podcast. The company does not release podcast-specific financial results but said the broader content mix helped attract advertisers who previously avoided news-related placements.
The company invested in video content across its portfolio, with most podcasts now offering video options. The Times added a "Watch" tab to its mobile app in October to improve video content discovery.
Total company revenue grew 12% to $712.2 million in Q1, while digital-only subscription revenue increased 16.1%. The company reached 13.08 million subscribers and targets 15 million by end of 2027. Print advertising revenue declined 9.8% year-over-year during the quarter.
Influencer marketing platform Refluenced released a study in May 2026 showing that 40% of 1,068 consumer brands scored zero visibility across all TikTok search keywords. The firm analyzed brands across seven industries in the UK, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, tracking 52,649 keywords and 159,451 videos. Refluenced provides TikTok search optimization services for brands.
The report found 82% of brands scored below 10 on Refluenced's 0-100 visibility scale, with a median score of 1.2. Only 135 of the tracked brands had any search presence from their owned accounts, while 99.67% of ranking videos came from independent creators.
German accessories brand Kapten & Son demonstrated improved results after briefing creators to include specific keywords in the first eight seconds of videos. The brand's visibility score increased 136% and generated 11.2 million impressions over 24 days. Of 151 videos produced under the new strategy, 73% ranked in search results compared to 6.3% from previous campaigns.
James Murdoch's Lupa Systems entered late-stage discussions to acquire Vox Media's podcast network and New York Magazine properties, including Grub Street, Intelligencer, The Cut, and Vulture. Vox Media acquired New York Magazine in 2019 and has explored selling assets in pieces since November 2025 to maximize shareholder value.
Vox Media's board discussed spinning out its podcast network after receiving interest from strategic and financial sponsors. Penske Media Corporation, Vox Media's largest shareholder, showed interest in digital publishing assets. Versant, the cable spinout from Comcast/NBCUniversal, also reportedly pursued the podcast network.
Murdoch founded Lupa Systems after leaving 21st Century Fox and resigning from News Corp.'s board over editorial disagreements. The firm has invested in media brands including Tribeca Enterprises and Vice Media. Vox Media's podcast network could serve as distribution for Murdoch's experiential investments.
The potential sale reflects broader consolidation trends among digital publishers. G/O Media sold virtually all websites including The Root, Jezebel, Quartz, and Kotaku. BuzzFeed divested Complex and First We Feast as companies narrow their focus.
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University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers is launching Platypus Economics, an independent media company aimed at translating economic policy for mainstream audiences. The 53-year-old professor, who became a cable news fixture explaining President Trump's tariff moves on CNN, MS Now, and the BBC, is self-funding the venture using textbook royalties.
Wolfers is partnering with Initial Digital, the digital arm of TPG-backed Initial Group, paying a monthly fee plus a cut of ad sales rather than giving up equity. Initial Digital, whose roster includes Peyton Manning's Omaha Productions and Colin Cowherd, is expanding beyond sports content. Wolfers already has 60,000 YouTube subscribers and is launching a Substack alongside his video series. The Interactive Advertising Bureau projected US creator ad spending hit 37 billion dollars in 2025, up from 13.9 billion in 2021.
Men buying beauty products are taking cues from athletes, barbers, and dermatologists rather than traditional glam creators, reshaping how brands target male shoppers. The global male grooming market is projected to roughly double from 55 billion dollars in 2021 to 110 billion dollars by 2030, fueled by TikTok and Instagram content where hashtags like #groom have drawn tens of billions of views.
Athletes normalize skincare through performance framing. Barbers convert through transformation videos and tutorials. Dermatologists drive high-trust purchases by reframing beauty as health. Gen Z men increasingly buy through Amazon and TikTok Shop rather than specialty retailers, turning creator content into a direct path to purchase. Brands are responding by recruiting expert voices and male creators over traditional beauty gurus to reach hesitant shoppers.
China market strategist Julie Zhu organized tours for global influencers including TikTok creator Khaby Lame and German fitness influencer Pamela Reif to help them reach Chinese audiences. Zhu, based in Shenzhen, coordinates visits that connect creators with Chinese social platforms including Douyin, Bilibili, Kuaishou, Rednote, WeChat Channels, and Weibo.
During tours, Zhu facilitates brand partnerships and commercial opportunities while helping creators adapt content for Chinese platforms. Each platform requires different content approaches, pacing, and storytelling structures rather than simple translation or reposting of existing material.
Pamela Reif gained popularity in China during the pandemic when Chinese women followed her workout routines, earning her the nickname "Devil Pamela." Her post-pandemic China tour included visits to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou with events at cultural sites like the Great Wall and Forbidden City. Khaby Lame, known as "Speechless Brother" in China, experienced traditional Chinese massage and Cantonese opera during his visit, creating content around cultural experiences and local cuisine.
Travel agents, rebranded as travel advisers, are staging a comeback as consumers grow weary of sponsored reviews and AI-generated content. A 2023 survey found 38 percent of Millennial and Gen Z travelers now book through traditional agencies.
The new model fuses social media influence with affiliate revenue. Alexandra Taylor of Where to Wander generated mass inquiries from a single Instagram post about a Sifnos cottage that drew 700,000 likes, then redirected clients to premium properties where she earns commissions.
Advisers collect 3 to 15 percent on hotels, 8 to 15 percent on activities, and up to 35 percent on tour packages. Networks like Travel Leaders are rolling out tools such as Social Share Pro to help advisers monetize personal brands and compete with platforms like Expedia and Airbnb.
EMARKETER forecasted that brands will spend equally on creator content and paid amplification in 2027, with each receiving $14.2 billion in the US. By 2028, amplification spending will reach $16.1 billion, surpassing the $15.71 billion spent on sponsored content creation, excluding YouTube.
The shift reflects declining organic reach on TikTok and Instagram as algorithms became more personalized. James Nord, founder of influencer marketing firm Fohr, said brands increasingly use paid boosting to extract return on investment from influencer content that underperforms relative to cost.
Joe Perello, CEO of performance marketing agency Props, attributed the change to platforms restricting organic reach for sponsored content, starting with Meta's Facebook and Instagram. His firm works with brands like AAA to promote creator content through paid amplification rather than relying on follower counts.
Industry executives said some increased ad spending reaches creators through separate fees, though most flows to platforms. Anders Bill from influencer platform Superfiliate noted creators can negotiate for larger cuts of amplification budgets.
A divide is forming in the creator economy as brands split between cheap AI matching tools and high-touch casting agencies. The middle market is automating fast, with creator matching platforms ranking talent on scraped metrics for clients seeking volume. The top of the market is moving the opposite direction. Casting agencies like BPCM, which handles influencer work for CeraVe, TAG Heuer, and ECCO, are positioning themselves as the moat luxury brands need.
Sam Fukushima, who leads BPCM's Los Angeles influencer practice, vets creators by analyzing friendship pools and organic brand mentions, not just engagement data. The agency's 2024 CeraVe campaign with Michael Cera engaged 55 creators screened for prior connections to the brand. The creator economy is projected to approach 480 billion dollars by 2027, with most volume running through algorithmic placements.
Herbal medicine brand Apothékary generated 1 million dollars on TikTok Shop in a single month under chief marketing officer Tina Shim, who joined the 35 million dollar company in May 2025. Rather than hiring a costly agency, Shim built the channel in-house with one full-time employee and a part-time director starting November 2025.
The team first raised the brand's store performance score above four out of five, which unlocked features like sample seeding to affiliate creators. Apothékary then offered 20 percent commissions to attract affiliates, above the standard 15 percent, and retained them through Discord communities, educational sessions, and milestone bonuses. The team identified Blue Burn, a 39 dollar metabolism supplement, as its hero product after it outperformed sleep aid Wine Down with both creators and customers.
Meta is developing a consumer AI agent called Hatch, modeled on the popular OpenClaw tool, alongside a separate agentic shopping feature for Instagram launching before the fourth quarter. Internal testing of Hatch begins by the end of June.
The shopping tool will let users tap items in Reels or feeds, view product details, and complete purchases without leaving Instagram, positioning Meta to challenge TikTok Shop.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg is pushing these products to justify capital spending of up to 145 billion dollars on AI infrastructure this year. Hatch currently runs on Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.6 and Sonnet 4.6 models but will switch to Meta's Muse Spark at launch. Meta tried acquiring OpenClaw earlier this year before OpenAI hired its creator.