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Each week, we spotlight Marketing Brew readers in our Coworking series. If you’d like to be featured, introduce yourself here.
Victoria Bachan is SVP, creators, at Wasserman, a sports marketing and talent agency. She was previously president of Sixteenth, the Whalar Group-owned creator talent management company, and she has also worked for the producers of the Vans Warped Tour, Coachella, and Governors Ball.
Favorite project you’ve worked on? One of my favorites has been launching Nonipup, the wellness brand from internet sensation and client Doug the Pug. Expanding the world’s most famous pup into a pet lifestyle and wellness brand was such a meaningful challenge. We spent over two years in R&D, and Doug tried every single product we put out, so it was a launch journey full of love and personal experience, and we hope every single customer feels that when they are buying the product for their four-legged family member.
I’ve had the privilege of building alongside other incredible creators, too, like helping Ashley Alexander bring her DTC matcha brand Nami Matcha to market, which now has over $2m in sales and is available in 139 countries. It has been the honor of a lifetime to be an AAPI executive working alongside an AAPI client to launch an AAPI-founded brand.
What’s your favorite ad campaign? Maybelline’s “Face the Difference” just goes to show that, even within communities, there is such vast diversity, and it is so important to welcome that. Maybelline did a beautiful job bringing such a diverse group of AAPI trailblazers together. As a young girl, I would’ve loved to have this, and I am grateful the next generation does—and that brands, when taking an intentional opportunity to connect, can truly nail it.
One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile: Since starting my career on the Vans Warped Tour to now, I have been to all 50 states and six continents. Travel awakens our ability to appreciate culture in ways you can never think of, and I genuinely feel it has made me a better leader and talent representative to take myself out of what I “know” and to be open to learning every day. While you can probably tell from my LinkedIn that I’ve worked on some of the biggest festivals and brands in entertainment, what it doesn’t show is how much those experiences taught me about resilience and problem-solving in unconventional settings, like troubleshooting backstage at a festival with tens of thousands of people counting on you.
What marketing trend are you most optimistic about? Least? I’m most optimistic about the fact that the creator economy has fully stepped into entertainment. Creators are now talent, producers, and often platforms themselves, with communities that rival traditional media. I see this firsthand working with clients who have built direct-to-fan businesses that feel as powerful as traditional entertainment and consumer brands.
I’m least optimistic about the obsession with short-term metrics. Constantly chasing clicks or trends can dilute storytelling. Longevity comes from consistency and deeper brand building, not just the latest viral moment. We always tell our clients to strategize remaining on trend without being trendy. Stick to your voice and your foundational pillars and ride the waves, and ultimately the vision will win out over the ever-changing trends.
What’s one marketing-related podcast/social account/series you’d recommend? For books, I love When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead by Jerry Weintraub, Sellout by Dan Ozzi, Good to Great by Jim Collins, and Start With Why by Simon Sinek. For newsletters, I recommend Tubefilter Daily, Taylor Lorenz’s User Mag, Lia Haberman’s ICYMI, Natalie Jarvey’s Like & Subscribe, and Casey Lewis’s After School. As for podcasts, I’m listening to Diary of a CEO (duh!), How I Built This, You’re Wrong About, Plain English, Search Engine, and Horses.
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