Next in Media spoke with Conor McKenna, partner at Luma Partners, about what's held ad tech back from exploiting the creator economy, and why creators themselves - along with a new competitive dynamic among the tech platforms - may lead the industry in a whole new direction.

💡Takeaways:

Creator Economy's Spending Gap 🤯: Despite excitement and increased brand activity, there's a significant gap between time spent with creator content and advertising spend in that area.
Media Consumption Convergence 📺📱: Major platforms like Spotify, Meta, YouTube, and CTV are increasingly converging around video formats and distribution, with creators at the core. YouTube is a prime example, competing with both TikTok (YouTube Shorts) and traditional TV (YouTube app on smart TVs).
Shifting Platform Dynamics 💪: Creators, especially mega-creators, are gaining more leverage over platforms as platforms compete for their presence. This reduces the ability of platforms to control creators as much as they once did.
Creators as Cross-Platform Marketers 🌐: Creators are strategically moving their audiences across different platforms and monetizing them in various ways, using short-form content as a top-of-funnel strategy to drive engagement on other channels like podcasts or Substack.
Challenges in Creator Ad Buying ⚖️: Buying creator content at scale is difficult due to workflow complexities, the need for authenticity, and challenges in measuring ROI compared to traditional ad channels.
AI's Role in Creator Measurement 🤖: AI is expected to create more opportunities to measure creator spend in unique ways, such as tying it to user acquisition costs or understanding content context for better value.
Evolution of Creator Monetization 💰: Creators are increasingly demanding a larger share of monetization directly, rather than relying solely on platform payouts, which could drive demand for new tools and technologies.
Brands Driving Change 📈: Major brands like Unilever are significantly increasing their investment in social and creator content, pushing the industry to figure out better measurement and integration for these channels.

🎙 Guest: Conor McKenna
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: VuePlanner
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative

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