In this week’s episode of Earned, we’re sharing conversations with some of our amazing speakers from CreatorIQ Connect 2024.
On this special episode of Earned, we’re sharing Conor Begley’s onsite interviews with creator economy experts and speakers at CreatorIQ Connect 2024. To start, Conor and Danessa Myricks dive into how leveraging micro-communities and tailored messaging can drive authentic connections and build brand loyalty. Then, Kim Larson discusses the innovative ways platforms are using new tools to amplify engagement with emerging creators and enhance audience connections. Milani Cosmetics CMO Jeremy Lowenstein emphasizes the importance of aligning influencer voices with brand values to build genuine and impactful partnerships. AT&T Lead Product, Creator Intelligence Emanuel Macias shares how centralizing influencer strategies can maximize ROI, streamline creator partnerships, and enhance brand consistency. With BeatBox’s Apphia Castillo, the conversation shifts into why prioritizing creators' unique styles fosters authenticity and connecting with diverse audiences more effectively. Finally, the growing importance of valuing creator engagement and meaningful content over follower count is broken down by Lloyd D'Souza, SVP Global Head of Central Video at Condé Nast.
Check out highlights from the episode below, or or tune into the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen!
The following interview has been lightly edited for concision.
Danessa Myricks on Building a Brand For All: “When I think about our brand and what we stand for, it's a for everyone brand”
Conor Begley: So you're one of the best influencer-founded brands in the world. What does next year look like? What are you guys focused on? How is it different from last year?
Danessa Myricks: For me, it's really about digging deep into segmentation. When I think about our brand and what we stand for, it's a for everyone brand. There's so many micro-communities that we haven't even touched. I've been doing tons of social listening to understand who we are talking to, who's resonating, and who hasn't discovered us. All of our strategies, actually starting from now, are going to be about thoughtfully segmenting our audiences and speaking to them very specifically in their own voice. That's been a unique project for us, but a really good one to do, because it keeps you honest, and it makes sure that you're being who you say you are.
AT&T’s Emanuel Macias on Creating an Enterprise Creator Marketing Program: “We're working on getting smarter—thanks to some great tools that we have like CreatorIQ—on how we contract and really vet our creators”
Conor Begley: What is the thing that you hope to talk about and learn from the other panelists the most? What do you hope to learn from it?
Emanuel Macias: I'm excited about learning about what's going on, but also about the future and trends that where we see influencer marketing evolving to. More and more companies, even of my size, are leaning into this tactic as something that's delivering the ROI that we're looking for. So what does the next year in the creator influencer marketing space look like for AT&T?
We're working on getting smarter—thanks to some great tools that we have like CreatorIQ—on how we contract and really vet our creators. It's something that we need to lean into a little bit more. We're a large enterprise and we're still discovering certain teams that are off doing their own thing, so it is important for us to really bring that in, centralize it, give everybody the intelligence that they need to make sure that they put out their best work.
Lloyd D'Souza on His Biggest Learning at CreatorIQ Connect 2024: “The biggest thing I learned is we're all sort of approaching creators the same way, despite the fact that we're using them very differently”
Conor Begley: So you just finished up a panel. What was it like? What did you learn?
Lloyd D'Souza: What I learned was Fandom is very different from Condé Nast. What RJ does at Paramount is very different from what we do at Condé Nast, or our audience that we serve versus what he serves. The biggest thing I learned is we're all sort of approaching creators the same way, despite the fact that we're using them very differently. As far as prioritizing authenticity, prioritizing trust, prioritizing letting the creators create versus fitting them into storytelling techniques that we have or forcing them into a brand aesthetic. All of us are pushing our creators and our brands to work with creators the way they create.
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