In her latest column for ExchangeWire, our Group Media and Influence Director Chloe Singleton looks at three headlines from the past few weeks that, taken together, point to the same conclusion: creators are no longer a channel in the marketing mix. They are becoming the infrastructure it's built on.
The first is Cannes. More than 500 creators took to the stage this year, not as entertainment between keynotes but as experts, strategists and business leaders, against the backdrop of a creator economy now valued at USD$1.35tn. For Chloe, the festival itself was a signal of where attention, investment and authority are moving. The industry has stopped asking whether creators belong in the media mix and started redesigning the media mix around them.
The second is happening inside organisations. Forbes has highlighted the rise of founders, CEOs and senior leaders building audiences as creators in their own right, through thought leadership, podcasts and social content. As AI makes content easier to produce, Chloe argues, expertise, personality and lived experience become the real differentiators, and trust keeps shifting from institutions to individuals. The question for brands is no longer which creators to work with, but who inside the organisation already has something worth following.
The third is Unilever's World Cup strategy: 50,000 creators, 120 markets, more than 35 brands. Chloe's point is that the numbers aren't the story, the mindset is. Alongside lifestyle and beauty creators sat sports superfans, former footballers, broadcasters and founders, a reminder that influence is no longer a single category. It's expertise, lived experience and cultural proximity.
Her takeaway for brands: rather than spending months crafting the perfect message, invest in the people who already understand the communities you want to reach. And don't forget to look inside your own organisation, because your most powerful voices may already be there.
Read the full column on ExchangeWire:
https://www.exchangewire.com/blog/2026/07/30/the-marketing-machine-of-expertise-led-creators/
