Where are the Creators? 🤔

Hi! 👋🏻

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been gorging over the aftermath of the illustrious Super Bowl, which was expectedly the most talked about event on social media over the weekend. 🏈

Usher made the crowd (which included Apple chief Tim Cook) swoon. Travis Kelce shouted at his coach and later won the Bowl. Ice Spice looked confused.

And I wanted to soak it all on my daily scroll.

That’s precisely when I came across this tweet.

Mr. Beast, clearly a Chiefs fan, was seen hanging with Travis Scott and Michael Rubin.

(Apparently, he also gifted them a Feastables bar each other but that’s a story for another time)

The more important creator-related tweet I actually came across was by none other than Jack Appleby.

This was particularly interesting because I was expecting more creators to be at front-and-centre of these tentpole ads too. I don’t know if mom wants movie stars though. 🤷🏻

But the overall thought made sense.

Faces like Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, or even Jennifer Lopez have a much wider appeal and have been around for quite a while.

Incidentally, they all starred together in an ad for Dunkin’ this year.

The Addison Rae Factor

Perhaps the creator who raked in the big bucks was Addison Rae.

She starred in the NERDS’ Super Bowl spot, whose teaser featured Rae teaching a dance routine to a mysterious character.

That mysterious character turned out to be a huge Gummy Cluster candy dancing to ‘What A Feeling’ from Flashdance. Too cute.

Now, of course, it can be argued that Addison has gone ‘post-platform’, implying that she’s not just a creator anymore.

But I’d argue that starring in a Super Bowl commercial anyway makes you a star.

Why Addison is a particularly interesting choice can be summed up by this quote by Magen Hanrahan from NERDS’ marketing team.

I want to double-click on this: “A recognizable talent who is active on the channels where they are most engaged.”

This basically implies that, at least in the minds of marketers, most creators still haven’t been able to break the social media mold.

The framing of this is so interesting, right? Because we never say, “We partnered with Matt Damon because millennials love going to the movies every Friday night”

We love Matt Damon because Matt Damon is… Matt Damon.

Creators have come a long way.

But there’s a long way to go too.

We need to recognize and nurture creators who’re not just talking to ‘those young kids who watch dance videos on TikTok but are speaking to a myriad of people, across ages, demographics, lifestyles, and consumption patterns.

Interestingly, The Information reported that the NFL worked with a record number of creators to make the sport more accessible and fun for its younger audience. This is also in line with the partnership that the League got into with YouTube recently.

So, you can expect a bright future for creators and the big sports leagues.

Because after all, influencer marketing is no child’s play.

What are your thoughts on influencer marketing and the latest Super Bowl? 🏈

I’d love to hear them @shreevz or @tf_dao on X!

That’s it for this week! We’ll be back with another story next Tuesday. 👋🏼

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