Media companies must stay agile and responsive to remain competitive. The changing landscape is providing new ways to think about media spaces and placements, how creatives and concepts to bring brands to life, and connecting with your target audience. As such, the economics of digital entertainment are being reshaped by independent creators, global social platforms, and the biggest tech companies. Studios and streamers may need to bulk up to compete.  

Independent creators are gaining influence and attracting large audiences through platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. These creators have direct relationships with their followers, allowing them to monetize content through sponsorships, merchandise and other revenue streams. Additionally, investing in creator-focused platforms and tools can support the growth of the creator economy and drive innovation in content production. For example, Gen Z consumers openly claim to be stressed or anxious from living so much of their lives online – one reason they prioritize self-improvement. Maybelline's Brave Together’ initiative for youth mental health was amplified by Pinterest creator ambassador content, highlighting different ways to find healthy and creative ways to tackle mental health challenges. 

Creator marketing is a top marketing investment option for brands

This insight from a study by LTK, the first and largest influencer marketing platform, reveals 93% of brands anticipate creators taking a higher percentage of budget or an increased role in marketing strategy in 2025, using it on average on four different channels outside of social media, including content marketing (56%) sponsorships (44%), CTV (43%), display advertising (43%), and affiliate marketing (31%). The same study revealed 82% of retail media networks are also using creators to build awareness, access customer data, and convert offline and online sales. And 58% of brands surveyed said that over the past year, creators helped increase their brand or product awareness.  

Creator collaboration can reach new audiences and enhance content offerings. Recent research revealed U.S.-based creators are the largest and fastest-growing job segment within the digital economy. In fact, analysts estimate the creator economy could reach $480 billion by 2027, almost double from its value at $250 billion in 2023.  As well-known media expert Evan Shapiro writes, “The corporate media industrial complex will continue to contract. As it does, the creator ecosystem will fill that void – taking over those audiences and those revenues.”  

Live shopping is fundamental to the creator economy

Marrying high engagement and real-time feedback with entertainment, live shopping allowing content creators to showcase and sell products directly to viewers in real-time via a social media app like TikTok, a marketplace like Amazon, or a platform like Talkshoplive.  

When Walmart first brought a shoppable livestream experience to U.S. TikTok users for the first time in 2020, it netted seven times more views than anticipated and grew its TikTok followers by 25%. It followed that with the ‘Spring Shop-Along: Beauty Edition’ on the Walmart TikTok channel featuring new creators and shoppable items. The creators revealed their favorite Walmart beauty picks and demo their skincare, makeup and hair routines using the items. During the 60-minute interactive tutorial, viewers shopped from an amazing assortment of beauty brands. 

Creating an influential future 

Creators are at the mercy of algorithms while AI is also threatening the sector. Creators can help advocate brand awareness and trust, so brands must be very careful in choosing who to work with. Influencer spend is increasingly going to micro and niche creators, and monetization beyond social platforms has become a bigger selling point for creators. 

Unilever has publicly committed to investing further into the creator economy, seeing influencer marketing as a key channel to deepen consumer and community engagement. It has capitalised on ‘#CleanTok’ with its Cif brand reaching younger shoppers who have turned to TikTok for cleaning advice. The ‘Satis-hack-tion’ campaign of real-life cleaning videos set to Italian DJ Benny Benassi’s track ‘Satisfaction’, re-recorded with Cif’s own lyrics showcases different hacks and uses for the product. It ran across ten markets, achieving over 300 million impressions and more than two million engagements, boosting visibility of the product and revitalising its image. In France, it was behind a particularly strong 17% increase in sales. 

We’re building a seamless, adaptive, always-on media ecosystem  

At Circana, we envision a media ecosystem where businesses collaborate with us to align consumer behavior intelligence with purposeful media plans. This involves closing the loop between media exposure and tangible sales results. By introducing real-time data integrations, we can anticipate changes in consumer behavior and act proactively rather than reactively. This brings efficiency and effectiveness to the forefront, activating campaigns in real time and meeting consumers at every stage of their experience. Circana’s verified data, intelligent automation and AI-powered insights are now critical tools for future-proofing strategies and budgets - learn more in the Circana Future of Media Outlook Report.