For an influencer, going on a trip with a brand used to feel like the ultimate status symbol. For brands, it was a way to generate buzz, loyalty and social content at a relatively low cost. That was until these trips started going awry and generating disastrous headlines.
Now, it seems companies are swapping trips for in-person events that give them many of the same benefits, but with less risk of going viral for the wrong reasons. More than half (53%) of enterprise brands worked with creators on live events last year, up from 34% in 2024, according to influencer marketing firm Linqia’s annual report.
Just in the past few weeks, Spotify hosted a Galentine’s Day party for female podcasters where they made custom jewelry while a Polaroid photographer snapped candid photos. Substack, meanwhile, put on a spelling bee event emceed by Cazzie David featuring celebrities and other newsletter writers. In the fall, Ocean Spray invited creators to its annual bog harvest outside Boston.
Several high-profile controversies helped push brands in this direction. Shein, for instance, in 2023 flew US influencers to China on an all-expenses-paid trip, which included a factory tour. The influencers praised the working conditions in short-form videos, with one creator going viral for saying workers “weren’t even sweating.” Then there were the many lavish trips hosted by Tarte and Revolve, which were criticized for not including diverse women, as well as feeling out of touch for the average consumer, especially during a time of economic uncertainty.
While these trips haven’t completely ended, extravagant one-off trips have become less common in the past few years. Tarte, for example, invited creators to Turks and Caicos last December, while Kiehl’s sent a group of creators to Finland in early 2024. But Kiehl’s has also entered a partnership with Ikon Pass and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort to be its official skincare partner, bringing creators to the resort to create content as part of this larger campaign. We’re calling them “low-lift” influencer trips.
The shift coincides with IRL events roaring back to life in the years since Covid lockdowns eased, from major conferences and more intimate dinners hosted by brands to creators themselves going on tour. It also fits in with the broader marketing trend of bringing online experiences to life in physical locations, including at shopping malls.
At last year’s South by Southwest in Austin, Gorton’s took over one of the buildings for a cookout, music and recipe demos. The legacy seafood brand invited many influencers to the event, including local Austin food creators including Jane Ko. (More on this year’s SXSW below.)
Ditching trips comes with a tradeoff for brands. They could generate a ton of attention as dozens of influencers posted from the same place to their combined millions of fans. While creators post content from these smaller events, they don’t have the same propensity for virality as an exotic trip to Bora Bora or St. Barths.
But these in-person events bring much better optics and more control for brands. They often bring together creators, customers and others in a more controlled setting, while still allowing creators to share their experiences.
“Sometimes that works hardest for us because it’s not manufactured. We’re not dictating what they say or don’t say. We just invite them into our world and let them tell those stories,” Eliza Sadler, Ocean Spray’s head of brand elevation, told us about the bog harvest event.
Such events can also be logistically easier and cheaper to coordinate, especially when brands don’t have to fly a group of creators somewhere—and if they were planning to host an event anyway.
We’ll be on the lookout this weekend for interesting examples in Austin.
In related news…
🤠What to Expect at SXSW
For the first time in more than 30 years, the annual arts and tech festival SXSW will take place outside of the Austin Convention Center.
The convention center is being rebuilt, forcing the organizers to get creative and map out the major event across the city, including at hotels and physical “clubhouse” spaces themed around topics. In the past, SXSW scheduled music programming on separate days from tech, with films running throughout the week. This year, everything is combined into a shorter, seven-day program. “We’re doing everything together all at once,” Greg Rosenbaum, head of programming for SXSW, told us.
The move is a reflection of how much the lines are blurring between entertainment industries and tech, much of which is driven by the rise of the creator economy. “It touches so many industries. Artists and filmmakers are creators in their own right, and are learning so much from a traditional content creator,” said Katie Perera, SXSW’s conference director. Creators are also being included as expert voices on panels outside of creator economy topics, like health.
We’re excited to be back at SXSW, especially because the idea for Scalable came after we hosted a panel together there last year. (We talk more about that on Thursday’s podcast episode!)
One year later, we’ll be recording a special live version of the Scalable Podcast at the Podcast Movement Evolutions event this Friday at 7:15 pm local time. We’ll be joined by special guests: Spotify podcasting exec Jordan Newman, as well as Cherie and Jean Luo, the co-hosts of “Tiger Sisters,” a top business podcast.
You can register for free here, regardless of whether you have a SXSW badge. The Podcast Movement Evolutions will also include appearances by actress Maya Hawke, singer Andy Grammer and “Gossip Girl” star Penn Badgley.
Elsewhere at SXSW, Kaya will be moderating a panel about why creators are flocking to podcasting with creator Tefi Pessoa and executives from YouTube and Vox Media. She’ll also sit down with long-time YouTubers Rhett & Link and Agentio CEO Arthur Leopold to unpack next-generation creator brand partnerships.
Jasmine will discuss the future of newsletters and how to turn small audiences into a big business with Beehiiv CEO Tyler Denk (who has also promised to drop some news!) She’ll also moderate a conversation about how creators are reshaping Hollywood both on screen and on the red carpet with Julian Shapiro-Barnum, host of “Recess Therapy” and executives from Doing Things Media and Dick Clark Productions. Let us know if you’ll be in town—we’re getting our cowboy boots ready!
The Round Up
Uncensored, the independent media company founded by Piers Morgan, raised capital and appointed former MSNBC president Rashida Jones as CEO. The amount of funding wasn’t disclosed, but came from investors including Raine Ventures, Antenna Group and Reuben Brothers.
YouTube will expand a tool aimed at identifying deepfakes to a group of politicians, political candidates and journalists. The company first launched the feature last year for creators in its partner program.
X is testing a new type of ad that shows a recommendation directly under posts mentioning a company or its products, TechCrunch reported. The company’s head of product Nikita Bier confirmed the test, writing on X that it’s “trying to make an ad product that isn’t an ad.” (We’ve heard that one before. Ahem: Make TikToks, not ads).
Wasserman Agency rebranded to “The·Team” amid its sale process following founder Casey Wasserman appearing in the Epstein files. The agency, which represents digital creators, has recently lost several high-profile clients.
Beehiiv, the newsletter publisher, rolled out on-demand ads that writers can include in their newsletters. These new ad opportunities refresh every hour, while previously writers had to wait until Sunday for new offers each week.
Regulatory Woes (And Wins)
The teen social media bans keep on coming. The latest: Indonesia and Karnataka, a state in India that includes the tech hub Bengaluru. Both have decided to ban social apps for those under 16. Their decisions follow Australia’s historic teen social media ban in December, which has had ripple effects across the world. Democratic Senator Cory Booker told us recently he’d support such a ban in the US.
President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi are being sued over violating the TikTok ban. “By flaunting the law so publicly, I think the president is trying to send a message that he is quite literally beyond the reach of the courts, beyond the reach of Congress, beyond the reach of the rule of law,” Brendan Ballou, CEO of The Public Integrity Project, the new nonpartisan firm behind the lawsuit, told NPR. The White House hasn’t provided a comment to media outlets.
TikTok is allowed to operate in Canada again, the country’s government said Monday after it completed a national security review. In November 2024, Canada told TikTok to wind down its operations in the country citing national security risks. Despite this, the TikTok app, which has 14 million users in Canada, was still allowed to operate in the country.
Creator Moves
“Paul American,” the reality TV show on HBO Max following YouTubers Logan and Jake Paul and their family, was not picked up for a second season, according to Logan Paul. In a podcast clip, the older Paul brother said he spent $4 million on his wedding thinking it would make for a good season finale but he ended up “eating that cost.”
Jay Shetty’s three-year deal with iHeartMedia for his popular wellness podcast “On Purpose” is ending after the two parties couldn’t agree on renewal terms, Variety reported.
Talent Tracker
Billy Parks is the first head of FOX Creator Studios, a new division of Fox Entertainment launched earlier this year. Parks will be responsible for identifying talent, developing new formats and shows for linear, streaming and other digital channels. He will report to Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade.
Previously, Parks was a partner at Slow Ventures where he invested directly in creators and their businesses. Before that, he was executive vice president of production and programming at The Chernin Group. His background suggests more M&A is coming at Fox, which also owns streaming service Tubi and podcasting firm Red Seat Ventures.
Darren Chait is the first chief marketing officer at newsletter publisher Beehiiv. The move comes as the company has been working to position itself as more than a newsletter company, expanding into video and paid digital products. It’s also competing against Substack, which has become synonymous with newsletters. Most recently, Chait was vice president of growth at Calendly, the meeting scheduling software.
Simon Pompan is stepping down as co-CEO of Fanfix and chief product officer of its parent company SuperOrdinary. Dylan Harari will become the sole CEO of the fan membership platform for creators. Popan co-founded the company with Harry Gestetner in 2020.
