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. 

  1. 5 days ago

    What Every Brand Gets Wrong When Splitting a $100,000 Creator Budget - James Nord (Fohr)

    Influencer marketing is becoming a math problem, not a creative one. For years, brands have believed that great creative is what makes a post go viral. James Nord, founder and CEO of Fohr, says that's backwards. In this episode, he breaks down the data behind why distribution has almost nothing to do with the content itself — and everything to do with probability. James walks through how Fohr uses mathematical models borrowed from financial markets to predict campaign performance before a single post goes live, why the same video can get 1,700 views one day and 20 million the next with zero creative changes, and why brands should be spending far more time on the math side of their strategy than the art side. In this episode: Why "we have almost no control over who sees a post" — and the wild real-world case study behind that claimHow Fohr borrowed principles from hedge funds and financial markets to model influencer performanceWhy brands split their time 80% on creative and 20% on data — and why James thinks that should flipHow predictive modeling changes the way brands negotiate with and select creatorsWhy price and performance can't be separated — and what that means for how brands should think about creator ROIWhat changes for brands once campaign prediction becomes the norm instead of the exceptionTimestamps: 00:00 – Intro: We have almost no control over who sees a post 01:38 – How Fohr predicts campaign performance 04:04 – What led Fohr down the predictive modeling road 07:47 – Science vs. art: why the split should flip 10:16 – The cat video case study: 1,700 views vs. 20 million 14:59 – How predictability changes creator negotiation 28:19 – Are we killing the art of creator marketing? 33:41 – What brands should do right now to get ahead 35:55 – The one thing James would change as a CMO today James Nord is the founder and CEO of Fohr, an influencer marketing intelligence platform that helps brands predict campaign performance before launch. 🎧 Subscribe for more conversations with leaders across the creator economy. The Big Three by Influence Weekly: 3 Biggest Stories. 1 Essential Conversation.

    What Every Brand Gets Wrong When Splitting a $100,000 Creator Budget - James Nord (Fohr)

  2. 13 Aug

    Tinashe Chaponda (Sosani) - Stop Making the Creator the Hero: A Talent Agency Founder's Hype Check

    Follower count isn't dead. Brands are just using their biggest names wrong. Everyone in the creator economy has decided mega-influencers and celebrities are washed up — that follower count doesn't matter anymore. Tinashe Chaponda, founder of Sosani, says that's exactly backwards. In this episode, he breaks down why big names still move the needle, and why the real problem is brands don't know how to work with them. Tinashe pulls back the curtain on how top talent agencies actually negotiate celebrity rates, why "whitelisting" content is the difference between an organic post and a real sales driver, and why the industry's obsession with long-term creator partnerships might be doing more harm than good. In this episode: Why celebrities and mega-creators are catching up to (and sometimes beating) digital-native influencersThe real difference between top-of-funnel and bottom-of-funnel creators — and why brands mix them upHow to negotiate a celebrity rate down from $300K to $100KThe difference between renting a post and buying into a creator's businessBehind-the-scenes: how Sosani landed David Beckham, Alicia Keys, and Stephen A. Smith for a campaign without paying talent feesWhy Tinashe thinks the industry needs to stop making the creator the hero — and start talking honestly about the brand's role Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro: Is follower count really dead? 01:19 – Why celebrities are catching up to digital creators 04:59 – What changed Tinashe's mind on celebrity partnerships 08:23 – Top-of-funnel vs. bottom-of-funnel creators 12:40 – What brands should do differently with celebrities vs. everyday creators 20:26 – Buying a post vs. buying into a creator's business 23:14 – How Sosani got Beckham, Alicia Keys, and Stephen A. Smith for free 45:09 – What Tinashe wants the industry to stop doing Tinashe Chaponda is the founder of Sosani, a talent management and marketing agency working with celebrities, athletes, and creators on brand partnerships. The Big Three by Influence Weekly: 3 Biggest Stories. 1 Essential Conversation.

    Tinashe Chaponda (Sosani) - Stop Making the Creator the Hero: A Talent Agency Founder's Hype Check

  3. 12 Aug

    August 2026 Creator Economy News Recap - Why is Google Doubling Down on the Creator Economy?

    In this August episode, hosts Ceci Carloni and Nii Ahene break down three stories that signal how seriously the broader economy—from tech platforms to universities to major retailers—is now taking the creator economy as infrastructure: 🔍 Google Gives Creators Search Data for the First Time: Google launched Platform Properties inside Search Console, letting creators see how their social posts perform in Google Search and Discover—no website required. It's the third creator-focused tool Google has shipped this year, and Nii reads it as a strategic move: Google knows it can't be a text-only search engine in an AI world where consumers are going straight to YouTube for answers. The real opportunity isn't just knowing what you rank for today—it's using that data to build content franchises around commercially valuable search terms before other creators catch on. 🎓 Arizona State Launches a Bachelor's Degree in Content Creation: ASU's Cronkite School of Journalism is offering a full four-year degree in content creation this fall, covering video and podcast production, audience analytics, and personal branding—with a graduation requirement to actually grow a following. The internet made fun of it immediately. Nii's take cuts through the noise: this isn't about minting the next Mr. Beast. It's the creator economy's USC film school moment. The degree is for the editors, the talent managers, the analytics leads, and the short-form specialists that every creator organization needs but has no systematic pipeline to hire from. 🔨 Lowe's Opens Product Co-Creation to 30,000 Creators: Lowe's Creator Into the Blue program invites creators to pitch product ideas directly to design, sourcing, and merchandising teams—with a real shot at getting on shelves. Applications open September 1, and ideas will be scored on virality potential and impulse-buy price point. Nii sees the promise but wants proof: 30,000 applicants and a contest format feels more like a sweepstakes than a genuine commitment to creator partnership. The model he actually finds compelling is Jordan Howlett's Chief Creator Officer role at Blenders—one creator in the room during executive sessions, shaping product and marketing decisions from the inside. From Google nudging creators toward search-driven content strategies to a university formalizing the creator economy's support workforce to a retailer testing whether co-creation can work at scale—this episode covers the infrastructure moments that matter heading into Q4. The Big Three by Influence Weekly: 3 Biggest Stories. 1 Essential Conversation.

  4. 15 Jul

    Kaleigh Moore (Context Window): AI Search Is in Its Billboard Phase

    Kaleigh Moore is an independent B2B content strategist and LinkedIn creator who helps SaaS companies improve their visibility in AI-generated answers. She publishes the newsletter Context Window, tracks the intersection of creator economy and AI search, and coined the Source Signal Stack framework to diagnose why brands rank in traditional search but still get ignored by LLMs. Ceci chats with Kaleigh Moore, writer and B2B creator strategist, to hear her perspective on three critical issues: why LLMs treat brand-owned content like a press release and why independent creator voices on LinkedIn, Reddit, and YouTube now carry more citation weight than company blogs or newsletters, how brands should structure long-term B2B creator partnerships to build AI search authority rather than running one-off campaigns that signal a cash grab to both audiences and algorithms, and why AI citation tracking is still in its billboard phase and what benchmarks brands should set now before measurement tools catch up. Tune in for a practitioner's framework on building B2B creator programs designed for AI search visibility. The Big Three by Influence Weekly: 3 Biggest Stories. 1 Essential Conversation.

    Kaleigh Moore (Context Window): AI Search Is in Its Billboard Phase

  5. 7 Jul

    July 2026 Creator Economy News Recap - CAA's $250M Creator Bet, Ruggable's Data-Driven Playbook & Forbes' Billion-Dollar Creator List

    In this July episode, hosts Ceci Carloni and Nii Ahene break down three stories that capture the creator economy's maturation—from institutional capital entering the space to brands cracking creator performance marketing to Forbes confirming the industry has officially crossed the billion-dollar threshold: 💰 CAA Bets $250M on Creator-Led Media: Creative Artists Agency and Integrated Media Company launched Compound Creative Holdings, a $250 million holding company built to buy, operate, and grow creator-led media businesses—separate from CAA's existing talent representation business covering 300+ creators. This isn't about representing creators; it's about owning their companies. Nii's honest take: the thesis is sound, but the question is whether there are enough scaled creator businesses to justify the investment size, and whether Compound operates more like private equity underwriting cash flows or growth equity helping smaller creator businesses build real product and media distribution revenue. 🛒 Ruggable Turns ShopMy Into a $3M Revenue Machine: Ruggable's CMO Lauren Sherman replaced spreadsheets and DMs with ShopMy, put half a million dollars behind creators, and generated $3 million in revenue in the first month. The secret: treating creator marketing like performance marketing—deploy broadly, let the data surface who's working, then build deeper relationships with the outliers. Food creator Dan Pelosi kept showing up in the data, which led to a full co-branded collection. Nii's read: this is creator marketing 101 in 2026, and the same volume-first strategy is what's working on TikTok Shop too. 🏆 Forbes' Top 50 Creators Cross $1 Billion for the First Time: For the first time in five years of rankings, the top 50 creators collectively earned over $1 billion—up 20% from last year. Mr. Beast leads at $300M, followed by Dhar Mann at $65M and Steven Bartlett at $52M. But the bigger story is what Forbes opens with: the creator economy is no longer trying to break into show business—it is show business. Backrooms and Obsession both beat Hollywood blockbusters at the box office on fractions of their budgets. Nii's biggest misses from the list: Mel Robbins, Joe Rogan, and IShowSpeed—a reminder that any ranking reflects whose lens you're looking through. From institutional capital placing its biggest bet yet on creator businesses to a brand proving performance marketing works with creators at scale to Forbes confirming creators have officially crossed into mainstream entertainment—this episode maps where the money, the data, and the cultural moment are all pointing at the same time. The Big Three by Influence Weekly: 3 Biggest Stories. 1 Essential Conversation.

  6. 15 Jun

    Leah Chaney (CYLNDR Studios): Every Revision Is a Tax on Creative

    CYLNDR Studios is a Los Angeles-based creative and production studio that operates at the intersection of strategy, design, filmmaking, and influencer marketing. The company serves brands looking to move beyond transactional creator partnerships by embedding creators into the creative process from the brief stage, treating influencer work as a craft discipline rather than a content assembly line. Ceci chats with Leah Chaney, Director of Influencer at CYLNDR Studios, to hear her perspective on three critical issues: why brands lose their most valuable creative asset the moment a brief passes through legal, brand, and accounts teams before a creator ever sees it, what it actually means to embed a creator at the briefing stage versus claiming early involvement while handing them a finished TV campaign to amplify, and why the industry's obsession with scale and output volume is producing stock content that audiences scroll past without sharing. Tune in for a practitioner's case for treating creator work as authorship, not distribution. The Big Three by Influence Weekly: 3 Biggest Stories. 1 Essential Conversation.

    Leah Chaney (CYLNDR Studios): Every Revision Is a Tax on Creative

  7. 9 Jun

    Matthew Lacey (Waypoint Partners): What the Whalar Deal Signals for the Creator Economy

    Waypoint Partners is a specialist M&A advisory firm supporting high-growth businesses at the intersection of creativity, technology, and intellectual capital. With over $2 billion in completed deal value across 40 transactions, the firm advises founders, buyers, and investors navigating critical strategic moments across creator economy, marketing, entertainment, and talent businesses—including advising on the Sister Group acquisition of After Party Studios. Ceci chats with Matthew Lacey, Managing Partner at Waypoint Partners, to hear his perspective on three critical issues: what Accenture's acquisition of Whalar signals about where enterprise consultancies see long-term value in the creator economy and who else might make similar moves, why the convergence of brand, entertainment, and talent worlds has taken longer than expected and what businesses like After Party Studios are doing right by operating fluently across all three, and how much runway remains when creator-native agencies are still small compared to WPP and global ad spend tells a very different story. Tune in for an M&A advisor's read on where the money is moving and what deals will define the next phase of the industry. The Big Three by Influence Weekly: 3 Biggest Stories. 1 Essential Conversation.

    Matthew Lacey (Waypoint Partners): What the Whalar Deal Signals for the Creator Economy

  8. 8 Jun

    Jo Wong (Pop.Store): Virality Is Not a Business: Inside POP.STORE's Big VidCon Bet

    Pop.Store is an agentic AI commerce platform built for creators, combining a social-first storefront where creators can sell digital products, bookings, and affiliate deals with an AI operating system that runs key business tasks autonomously. The platform serves creators of all sizes—from aspiring entrepreneurs to established talent—and is the title sponsor of VidCon Anaheim 2026, where it is launching Echo Me, its multi-agent AI platform. Ceci chats with Jo Wong, CRO and General Manager at Pop.Store, to hear her perspective on three critical issues: why virality is not a business and what it actually takes for creators to build recurring revenue and owned communities that compound over time, how Echo Me's five AI agents handle DMs, comments, deal monitoring, audience nurturing, and content creation so creators can stop spending 80% of their time on admin, and why VidCon's 15th anniversary marks a pivotal infrastructure moment for the creator economy. Tune in for a concrete look at what agentic AI means for everyday creators trying to scale without a team. The Big Three by Influence Weekly: 3 Biggest Stories. 1 Essential Conversation.

    Jo Wong (Pop.Store): Virality Is Not a Business: Inside POP.STORE's Big VidCon Bet
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About

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. 

Information

  • Creator
    New Monaco Media, Inc.
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    89
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Influence Weekly
  • Show Website
    Influence Weekly

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