Influence Weekly

New Monaco Media, Inc.

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Join us as we dive deeper into the latest trends, insights, and stories from the world of influencer marketing and the creator economy. Our podcast brings you exclusive interviews with industry leaders, in-depth analysis of key topics, and a behind-the-scenes look at the stories that matter most to our community.

17 hr ago

June 2026 Creator Economy News Recap - Lenovo's Creator IP Playbook, GM's Big Bet & VidCon vs. Cannes

In this June episode, hosts Ceci Carloni and Nii Ahene break down three stories that reveal how brands are thinking about creator investment—and where the line is between genuine cultural impact and expensive noise: 🎨 Lenovo's Creator Odyssey: When a Campaign Becomes IP: Two years, three chapters, fifty million views. Lenovo and agency Portal A built a creator program around a simple but powerful brief—don't make it about the product, make it about art and creativity. By chapter three, two of the original creators had evolved into creative directors, helping design the brief and co-hosting a live showcase in Mexico City around the FIFA World Cup. The result is a blueprint for what happens when brands extend genuine creative trust and give partnerships enough runway to grow into something bigger than a campaign. 🎬 GM Creator Lab: Big Production, Real Questions: General Motors built five Hollywood sound stages, themed to different vehicles, and invited creators to compete for a car—generating 150+ submissions, 200 pieces of content, and 50 million earned views in the first month, double their target. But Nii isn't sold. His take: this is old advertising strategy dressed up as creator marketing—bringing creators onto the brand's turf instead of meeting them in the spaces that actually influence purchase decisions. The auto creator community on YouTube already exists. The real question is whether GM is showing up in the right places at the right moment in the buying journey. 🎪 VidCon or Cannes? The Industry Weighs In: A Net Influencer roundtable asked 18 industry professionals which festival they'd send their team to. Cannes advocates say that's where the senior buyers and big budgets are—the Coachella for B2B. VidCon advocates say that's where you stay close to creator culture before everyone else catches on. Nii's honest read on Cannes: too many agency pitches, not enough decision makers, and real risk of losing the pulse of actual creator culture. Net Influencer is heading back to VidCon for the fifth year running—and Nii explains exactly why the three-floor layer cake of community, creator-to-creator learning, and industry conversations is still hard to beat. From a two-year creator IP program to a splashy activation that raises real ROI questions to where smart teams are actually investing their conference budget—this episode cuts through the noise on what creator marketing looks like when it works and when it doesn't. The Big Three by Influence Weekly: 3 Biggest Stories. 1 Essential Conversation.

11 min
2 days ago

Eddie Pietzak (CESD): The Creator Economy Needs a Mailroom

CESD Talent Agency is one of the leading talent representation firms operating across both Hollywood and the creator economy, with offices in Los Angeles and New York. The company's digital department represents content creators across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and podcasts, applying traditional Hollywood representation principles to building sustainable creator careers. Ceci chats with Eddie Pietzak, SVP of Digital at CESD Talent Agency, to hear his perspective on three critical issues: what the Hollywood mailroom-to-agent mentorship model built over decades that the creator management space still hasn't replicated at scale, why creators who refuse to diversify beyond one platform or one revenue stream are running a one-to-three year business at best, and how the always-on service model that defined legacy talent representation became a competitive advantage in a space where most managers go dark after 6pm. Tune in for a practitioner's framework on what professional creator representation actually looks like when it's done right. The Big Three by Influence Weekly: 3 Biggest Stories. 1 Essential Conversation.

27 min
18 May

Andy Cloyd (Superfiliate): Automate Everything Except Relationships

Superfiliate is a creator-led growth platform helping thousands of D2C brands run and scale creator partnerships across Shopify, Meta, and TikTok Shop. The platform provides unified affiliate and creator management, automated gifting workflows, creator storefronts, discovery tools, and performance visibility—consolidating what used to require 12 different tools into one system. Ceci chats with Andy Cloyd, Co-Founder and CEO of Superfiliate, to hear his perspective on three critical issues: why creators have become the new creative production house replacing quarterly high-budget shoots with volume testing where brands kiss a lot of frogs to find the prince worth $100K in paid media spend, how the operational chaos of managing 100+ creator partnerships causes brands to miss their best-performing relationships while wasting money on usage rights the paid team never activates, and where AI creates real value versus hype—automating everything except relationship building while human authenticity becomes more valuable in a world of indistinguishable content. Tune in for tactical frameworks on scaling creator programs without scaling headcount proportionally. The Big Three by Influence Weekly: 3 Biggest Stories. 1 Essential Conversation.

40 min
11 May

Nick Jacklin (Underscore Talent): Why Single-Platform Creators Don't Last

Underscore Talent is a premier creator economy management company representing diverse talent across creators, comedians, athletes, and thought leaders. The company's division, Shorthand Studios, provides editorial services, editing, digital strategy consulting, and production support to help creators build sustainable businesses across social platforms, CTV, paywalls, and original content development. Ceci chats with Nick Jacklin, Partner at Underscore Talent and President of Shorthand Studios, to hear his perspective on three critical issues: why creators must shift from posting content to building IP that works across 25-50 episodes instead of chasing one-off viral moments, how the economics of creator businesses have grown 10-100x in the past decade but the infrastructure to support multi-platform monetization still requires specialized teams most creators can't build alone, and which platforms are being seriously underestimated right now—YouTube for podcasts, CTV for premium placement, and paywalls like Substack where creators need marketing and pricing support to unlock exponential growth. Tune in for operational frameworks on what it actually takes to run a creator business like a media company. The Big Three by Influence Weekly: 3 Biggest Stories. 1 Essential Conversation.

36 min
4 May

Brianna Doe (Verbatim): Stop Treating Influencer Marketing Like Paid Ads

Verbatim is a boutique marketing agency that helps SMBs and startups grow through influencer marketing and speaker sourcing, specializing in SaaS and eCommerce brands. The agency focuses on helping businesses tell compelling stories that drive measurable results rather than just creating content for visibility. Ceci chats with Brianna Doe, Head of Influencer Marketing and Founder at Verbatim, to hear her perspective on three critical issues: why SMBs and startups approach creator marketing differently than enterprise brands and what infrastructure gaps prevent smaller companies from scaling programs effectively, how the rise of B2B influencer marketing has changed what types of creators and partnerships make sense for SaaS companies versus traditional consumer brands, and what brands at the SMB level misunderstand about building sustainable creator programs when budgets are tighter and every dollar needs clear attribution. Tune in for practical frameworks on making creator marketing work at startup scale. The Big Three by Influence Weekly: 3 Biggest Stories. 1 Essential Conversation.

28 min
30 Apr

May 2026 Creator Economy News Recap - Creator Tier Strategy, Target's Gamified Shift & Instagram's Commerce Play

In this May episode, hosts Ceci Carloni and Nii Ahene unpack three stories revealing how brands are rethinking creator program structure, compensation models, and platform commerce strategies: 🎯 Does "Make It Cool First, Scale Second" Actually Work?: A Net Influencer roundtable asked industry professionals whether brands need a macro creator to anchor credibility before scaling through micro creators. The consensus? The logic works in theory, but you don't always need a celebrity—just the most trusted voice in a niche, regardless of size. The real insight: treating macro and micro as separate budgets breaks the entire system. Nii argues the anchor doesn't have to be a creator at all—cultural events like the Grammys, NBA playoffs, or F1 Miami can serve as the universal touchstone that smaller creators triangulate around. 💳 Target Drops Commissions for Gamification: Target is replacing its commission-based creator program with challenges, rewards, gift cards, and products—part of a broader retail shift toward gamified programs that scale creator marketing at lower cost. Nii's take: only a handful of brands have enough cache to pull this off. Target is ubiquitous enough that creators will participate without cash, but most companies still need actual financial incentives. This model works when you're a household name that looms large in American consciousness—not when you're still building brand equity. 🛍️ Instagram's Shoppable Reels Rollout: Instagram launched a feature letting creators tag up to 30 shoppable products directly in Reels, including affiliate links, with in-app checkout. Facebook followed with a similar update launching Amazon first, then Temu and eBay. Meta says tagged content will appear in partnership tabs for brand discovery. Nii's verdict: too little, too late. While Meta focused on the metaverse for three years, ShopMy and LTK built giant creator commerce networks that now dominate boutique curation and creator-led shopping. Instagram's new features help creators not on those platforms, but the zeitgeist already shifted. From rethinking tier strategy beyond celebrity anchors to compensation models that only work for household brands to Instagram playing catch-up in creator commerce—this episode captures the tactical and structural shifts brands are navigating in mid-2026. The Big Three by Influence Weekly: 3 Biggest Stories. 1 Essential Conversation.

10 min
26 Apr

Bryan Barletta (Sounds Profitable): Podcasting Needs to Stop Talking to Itself

Sounds Profitable is a media property covering strategic and tactical changes in the podcasting business through newsletters, podcasts, and industry research. The company produces educational content, conducts quarterly research series, and provides advisory services to keep companies informed on the state of podcasting. Bryan Barletta also serves as President of Podcast Movement, the world's largest conference for podcasters. Ceci chats with Bryan Barletta, President of Podcast Movement and Partner at Sounds Profitable, to hear his perspective on three critical issues: how the podcasting industry's infrastructure and measurement capabilities compare to where creator marketing sits today and what brands need to understand about attribution differences, why the convergence of podcasting and the broader creator economy creates opportunities for brands to think about audio creators as part of their overall influencer strategy, and what the shift from experimental podcast budgets to core marketing spend means for how the industry must mature its tooling and standards. Tune in for strategic context on positioning podcast creators within enterprise marketing programs. The Big Three by Influence Weekly: 3 Biggest Stories. 1 Essential Conversation.

34 min
17 Apr

Christian Liquigan (Spotter): Creators Are Networks Now

Spotter is a platform that provides creators with capital, community, and AI-powered tools to accelerate growth. The company has deployed over $940 million to YouTube creators for reinvestment and operates a premium catalog generating 88 billion monthly watch-time minutes, offering brands a scaled media solution that's transparent and brand-safe. Ceci chats with Christian Liquigan, Director of Brand Partnerships at Spotter, to hear his perspective on three critical issues: how brands can move beyond transactional influencer campaigns to build partnerships where creators and brands tell authentic stories that actually drive results, what the shift from traditional advertising to creator-led content means for how media buyers allocate budgets and measure success, and why the combination of creator capital and brand partnerships creates opportunities that neither side can unlock alone. Tune in for practical guidance on designing campaigns that leverage Spotter's unique position connecting top YouTube creators with enterprise brands. The Big Three by Influence Weekly: 3 Biggest Stories. 1 Essential Conversation.

21 min

Join us as we dive deeper into the latest trends, insights, and stories from the world of influencer marketing and the creator economy. Our podcast brings you exclusive interviews with industry leaders, in-depth analysis of key topics, and a behind-the-scenes look at the stories that matter most to our community.

Creator

New Monaco Media, Inc.
Years Active

2023 - 2026
Episodes

81
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© 2026 Influence Weekly
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Influence Weekly