Creator Economy Scoop: Creator likeness and partnership faux pas

Female creators lead the influencer marketing industry, WeightWatchers launched its own Ozempic hype house and images from social media aren't fair game for brands. Here’s the rest of this week’s scoop: 

Quick numbers 💯

• 59% of brands plan to increase their spending on influencer marketing [1]
• 93% - The number of UGC creators is up 93% year over year [2]
• 70% of the influencer marketing market share is dominated by women [3]
• 2.2 - The average number of platforms that an influencer is monetizing [4]
• 14 days - The average time to complete an influencer collaboration [5]

What you should know  ☕

Why you shouldn’t use a creator’s likeness without their permission

• Brittney Xavier sues a beauty brand, brand settles for undisclosed amount

How U.S. adults use TikTok

• The top 25% of US adults on TikTok by posting volume produce 98% of all publicly accessible videos from this group
• Around half (52%) of U.S. adults on TikTok have ever posted a video on the platform
• 56% of all US adults ages 18 to 34 say they use the platform

Female creators and UGC content dominate the influencer marketing industry

• UGC platforms generated $4.7 billion in 2022 and are anticipated to generate $71.3 billion by 2032
• Top 5 cities for influencers in the USA: LA, New York, Miami, Atlanta, and Tampa
• Top 5 cities for influencers in Canada: Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton
• The 10 most popular influencer niches: Lifestyle, Fashion, Beauty, Travel, Health & Fitness, Food & Drink, Art & Photography, Comedy & Entertainment, Modeling, Music & Dance
• 70% of the influencer marketing market share is dominated by women

Social platforms 📲

Meta 📸

• Instagram expands its Creator Marketplace making it easier for brands to discover and collaborate with creators (now available in Canada)

TikTok ⏰

• Tiktok is promising more reach for posting photo carousels versus video. This promotion claims that people can get 2.9x more comments, 1.9x more likes, and 2.6x more shares
• TikTok is testing Sub Space, exclusive conversation threads for LIVE creators to interact with their subscribers

YouTube 📹

• At the platform level, YouTube marked its 12th consecutive month as the top streaming service
• YouTube is rolling out new creator channel pages on the YouTube App for TV with a more immersive layout

Pinterest 🎨

• Pinterest is launching its first-ever streaming and fully shoppable show called “Deliciously Entertaining”
• 22-minute long episode will include on-screen QR codes linking to shoppable Pins
• the final episode will debut on Amazon Live for a special "shop the show" companion episode

Updates in tech 💻

More generative AI coming to social apps

• TikTok has AI profile images, AI effects tools, and AI song generation
• Instagram has generative AI image filters and background generation tools, and AI creation and editing options
• Facebook has an AI post creation tool, generative AI text and image creation for ads, AI chatbots based on celebrities

Notable partnerships 📓

Ozempic influencer hype house sponsored by WeightWatchers backfires

• WeightWatchers has been enlisting influencers to “help bust the misconceptions and stigma around GLP-1 medications”
• WeightWatchers offered her $750 to post about the GLP-1 Program. “They asked me to promote a product I’d never tried,” Alexis Clingenpeel said.

Creator spotlight 🔦

• TikToker Reesa Teesa uploaded a 52-part, 7-hour miniseries detailing the breakdown of her marriage
• It was a trending series after she pivoted to original audio following the UMG music ban and TikTok’s emphasis on long-form
• YouTuber Marques Brownlee is joining the brand, Ridge, as Executive Board Member and Chief Creative Partner

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