For content creators, this is the wild wild west

This article is part of our special section on the DealBook Summit that brought together business and policy leaders from around the world.

Takeaways

• Authenticity is the coin of the realm, essential to the success of creators and brands alike, but turning it into a business undermines that identity; Unless that tension can be resolved, this entire structure will fail.

• Creators can’t rely on brands and platforms, so they need to evolve and diversify into what are essentially independent mini-studios, and ensure they bring their audience along by owning their data and contact lists.

• Brands must rely on creators’ ability to engage and understand their audiences and be very clear (and realistic) about their key performance indicators (known as KPIs). This means we need to think about creators in two ways: as macro-influencers with large followings whose work can increase a brand’s awareness and profile; and micro-influencers who can sell products to their specific communities.

The creator economy is powered by millions of individuals who build and monetize their online celebrity by signing deals with major brands and selling products to their followers. It may still be seen as superficial, but according to Goldman Sachs Research, the industry is expected to reach approximately $480 billion by 2027.

But between the creators, the brands they employ, the consumers who follow them, and the platforms that make it all possible, who has the real power? That’s what a 10-member task force discussed last week at the DealBook Summit in New York.

The assembled experts ranged from creators with millions of followers and brand managers to the founder of a financial startup that wanted to help creators perform more like the companies they are. All they agreed on was that it’s a wild, wild West – one in which there is no real sheriff, just new platforms and brands to work with, all vying for territory and none of whom are loyal to the creators that benefit (and benefit) them. theirs).

“I feel like the audience has the power, the creators have the medium, and the brands have the resources,” says Vivian Tu, the financial educator behind the social media accounts @your.richbff with millions of followers, the podcast “Networth and Chill with Your Rich BFF,” and the author of the upcoming book “Rich AF: The Winning Money Mindset That Will Change Your Life.”

Dara Treseder, the chief marketing officer of software developer Autodesk, said: “If you miss the audience and take your eyes off it, whether you’re a brand or a creator, you’re missing the point.” Ms. Treseder sees it as a virtuous cycle versus a vicious circle, “because by feeding our public we ultimately grow the economy.”

Talita von Furstenberg, the co-chairman of the fashion company Diane von Furstenberg, pointed out that the creative economy “has taken over the entire marketing industry, and it determines the entire purchasing power.” Today’s consumers have unprecedented power, she said, “because for the first time in history, they can actually hold makers and brands accountable.” In a world where thousands of creators and brands compete for consumers’ attention and money, people can now choose based on their values.

Stephen Dubner, a journalist and former editor of New York Times Magazine and host of “Freakonomics Radio,” said he believed the platforms rule today. “If you just look at the history of creation, the creators never win,” he said. “If the platform has the power, they have almost absolute power.”

What both creators and brands are looking for is authenticity: influencers build an audience because they seem relatable. Brands know that the best way to reach consumers is to seem real – or at least align themselves with someone who is.

“We strive for authenticity,” says Richie Shazam, an artist, model and photographer whose work, including the book “Shazam,” explores the intersection between art, fashion, gender and identity. “Like, now there’s a dollar sign for authenticity and genuineness, and it’s like, what is really real? Because I don’t think it’s really realistic for these things to be tradable.”

Audiences can tell when creators are following a brand’s script, but brands don’t seem to have gotten the memo. Marc D’Amelio, the former fashion executive whose teenage daughters Charli and Dixie became TikTok giants thanks to Charli’s dancing posts, recalled meetings with advertising executives who said, “Oh yeah. You are the TikTok dancing girl. Why don’t you just hold my product and do a TikTok dance?”

“So we did the opposite,” he says. Charli grew up with Dunkin’ Donuts and had a cup in every video, so, he recalls, “we went to Dunkin’ Donuts and said, ‘Look, we do all this stuff.’ It already started authentically.”

Eva Serrano, Calvin Klein’s Global Brand President, said learning to collaborate is the steepest part of the learning curve for brands. “It really takes a lot of effort to be translated into what you really want to say,” she said to the makers present.

In the creator economy, success threatens the very authenticity that made a creator successful. “You start in your living room and you’re just like everyone else and you make your videos: ‘Oh my God, so relatable,’” says Christina Najjar, aka @tinx, who in addition to 1.5 million TikTok followers, hosts the podcast ‘It’s Me, Tinx’ and wrote the book ‘The Shift’. “All of a sudden you start getting PR: ‘Okay, I’m happy for her.’ … Suddenly she has an agent and she gets makeup every day and this and that and then, all of a sudden you’re not recognizable anymore,” she concluded. “And people, they want that authenticity.”

The arc is getting shorter and faster, says Ms. Najjar, who notes that her numbers and engagement decline if she posts too many brand deals. “Can you survive the leap from being recognizable to unreliable? And second, once you get there, what are you going to do with it? It is a job: there is a lot of strategy involved.”

The assembled creators have used their 15 minutes of fame to diversify. (All three have written books.) Mr. D’Amelio compared the founding of D’Amelio Brands, which sells shoes and snacks at stores like Walmart, to Jay-Z’s founding of Roc-A-Fella Records, in which “the creator became the company.”

“From our perspective, for the creative economy to thrive, you need to help more creators understand that they are actually businesses,” said Sima Gandhi, co-founder of the financial services company. Creative juice, in which creators learn how to do things like bill and deduct expenses on their taxes – and report income on them.

The relative lack of contractual guardrails and government regulation surrounding this supercharged sector surprises everyone involved. The Federal Trade Commission requires influencers to disclose sponsored content, and the IRS keeps an eye on influencers who could benefit from it. “SAG AFTRA [the Screen Actors Guild] comes for the creators,” said Myisha Moore, vice president of influencer marketing at global PR firm Edelman.

“I think it’s very challenging to say that we need to put guardrails around creators, especially around money,” Ms. Tu said, “because I personally have the attitude that if I know I only have a certain expiration date , I’m trying to print as much money as I humanly can over the next ten years.”

Just like the influencers themselves, platforms can only remain so popular for a limited time. “It feels like every video I see on my TikTok feed is eligible for commission or it’s an advertisement,” Ms. Najjar said. Where will the wild wild west graze next? The panelists had some surprising favorites.

“I love Snapchat,” Ms. Najjar said. “They treat their creators very well.” And Ms. Treseder said LinkedIn is seeing a big revival.

This lack of stability and trust means that it is essential to make yourself a diversified company. Ms. Tu explained: “If you’re a traditional influencer and you don’t branch out, you’re an NFL player: if you take one big hit on the knee, you’re done.”

Moderator: Vanessa Friedman, fashion director and chief fashion critic, The New York Times

Attendees: Marc D’Amelio, CEO and Co-Founder, D’Amelio Brands; Stephen Dubner, author, journalist and host of “Freakonomics Radio”; Sima Gandhi, CEO and Co-Founder, Creative Juice; Myisha Moore, vice president of influencer marketing, Edelman; Christina Najjar, digital creator; Eva Serrano, president of global brand, Calvin Klein; Richie Shazam, artist, model, photographer; Dara Treseder, head of marketing at Autodesk; Vivan Tu, CEO and Founder of Your Rich BFF Media; Talita von Furstenberg, co-chair, Diane von Furstenberg