Introducing Next in Creator Media

Chronicling brands and media companies navigating a massive consumer shift

Something big is going on in media and advertising.

We all know that creators are huge. We’ve all seen the massive growth in social video - people using TikTok for hours a day along with the ongoing takeover of TV by YouTube.

But to date, advertising budgets and strategies have been stuck. That may be on the verge of changing.

It won’t be easy. That’s the shift we want chronicle with this newsletter.

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What’s going on right now?

• We know that generationally, consumers view creators differently. YouTube and TikTok are not side diversions, but primary forms of entertainment for many.

  • “57% of Gen Zers want to be influencers” - CNBC

  • “Content creators surge past legacy media” - Washington Post

• We know that creators are professionalizing, pumping out high-production shows and series with regularity, delivering predictable, TV-like audiences.

  • Back in April, Dude Perfect raised $100 million in funding.

  • Mr. Beast made $82 million last year

  • Shows like Good Mythical Morning deliver millions of views regularly

Despite some hiccups in the broader creator economy, money keeps pouring into what I’d call Creator Media - the intersection of advertising, media dollars and creators.

• The YouTube-focused ad company Spotter raised another $7 million last month, adding to its $200 million-plus pile

• The creator-focused tech startup Passes pulled in $40 million in Series A in February.

• Roblox is pushing into advertising, while launching a $35 million creator fund

Now, consider what’s happening in the ad world specifically

• In July, Publicis acquired Influential for $500 million

• Also that month, Stagwell acquired the influencer agency Leaders

The Publicis deal in particularly might be the canary in the coal mine. As we’ve seen in search and mobile and commerce, big brands and agencies often leave new sectors to smaller startups , then buy their way in when things get serious.

At the same time, you’re also starting to see a slew of new companies forming - media businesses built on platforms which echo the MCN era, but are launching with sounder models and economics.

Still, none of this will be easy for brands to navigate. That’s the journey I’m hoping to cover with Next in Creator Media - in partnership with my launch sponsor VuePlanner.

To be sure, we know that the creator economy has had no shortage of coverage. However, this shift within the media and advertising industries toward a marketplace dominated by platforms (YouTube, TikTok, Reels) and creators (the new moguls, per YouTube CEO Neal Mohan) is arguably less understood and under covered.

That’s what this newsletter - and accompanying podcast - will attempt to remedy. I’m going try to play translator for brands and top media agencies as they look to evaluate this ever-changing, ever-important space.

I want to thank my launch partners VuePlanner for helping to get this started.

A few housekeeping notes:

Initially, I’m sending the new newsletter and podcast out to my entire audience to help get thing off the ground. In a short while, my hope is to establish Next in Media and Next in Creator Media as two distinct products, and you’’ll be able to subscribe to one or the other, or both

Some questions:

-Is the name Next in Creator Media going to stick? I really don’t know!

-Could this turn into a full on publication at some point? Maybe??

-What are you going to do about covering YouTube and TikTok, etc, on your main newsletter? That’s going to be a balancing act, but I’m thinking one is broader, one should go much deeper.

-Is this a bad idea? Could be!

Anyhow, my first podcast episode for Next in Creator Media went live today, featuring Gaz Alushi President, Measurement and Analytics at Whalar.

Gaz and I talked about what I think is one of the biggest challenges in creator media, if not the biggest: how to measure this stuff, and whether it can be treated as the same as other media in the eyes of brands, media planners, etc.

Because when we talk about creator media, what constitutes advertising can mean so many things:

-video ads on YouTube and TikTok

-Brand mentions in creator videos

-Creator produced branded content

-Shoppable videos

And so on.

So what should brands and agencies do? Use a whole new set of metrics? Jam Creators videos into TV numbers? Something else?

Well, Gaz has a very strong take:

“There is literally no reason not to measure it the same way,” he said. “My belief is a big part of the confusion that came to play is a lot of people have rushed into the vacuum that has been the creator economy and came up with arbitrary metrics…like earned media views.

“Like there is no CFO that's looking at earned media value say, well, let's add that to our balance sheet. That's not happening. Exactly. And so it always comes back down to if you want it to be measurable, measure it the same way you're measuring everything else.”

That makes sense. But there is sure to be pushback in the agency world, as some ad buyers won’t necessarily see creators as being on the same playing field as traditional media. And the lack of standards in this space isn’t making things any easier.

“Oftentimes the biggest mistake is when brands throttle the creator's creativity because that plays out in the measurement,” Alushi said.

Hey -thanks for reading!