{"id":23169,"date":"2026-03-17T18:38:50","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T18:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=23169"},"modified":"2026-03-17T18:38:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T18:38:51","slug":"creators-were-all-over-sxsw-what-does-that-mean-for-the-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=23169","title":{"rendered":"Creators were all over SXSW. What does that mean for the industry?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The line between creators and traditional Hollywood is so blurry these days that even those with perfect vision are squinting.<\/p>\n

At SXSW this year, creator chat wasn\u2019t hard to come by. Whether it was at the Creator Academy activation hosted by Sam\u2019s Club (a major sponsor of the festival), on a panel about creators in Hollywood with Recess Therapy<\/em> host Julian Shapiro-Barnum, or at any of the many brand events catered toward creators complete with Instagram-ready photo ops, internet stars are mingling with A-listers.<\/p>\n

The speed at which the creator economy has grown is a reality that both the entertainment industry and brand world are reckoning with. \u201cIn the last year and a half, two years, creators and digital shows became the press cycle,\u201d Shapiro-Barnum said during the panel discussion. \u201c[My show] went from like a thing where we were like, \u2018Oh my God, we\u2019re so excited to have one [celebrity] on\u2019 to something where we\u2019re constantly turning people down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shapiro-Barnum was only the second creator the Golden Globes invited to interview celebs during its official red-carpet preshow, following in the footsteps of Chicken Shop Date<\/em>\u2019s Amelia Dimoldenberg and setting the stage for comedian Mary Beth Barone, who appeared this year. Inviting creators into traditional and often prestigious Hollywood spaces is just one way brands like the Globes are looking to modernize their relationship with viewers and younger audiences\u2014one that, if many of the comments under this year\u2019s videos hosted by Barone are any indication, seems to be paying off.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen brands are getting involved, we\u2019re always thinking about, \u2018What\u2019s that behind-the-scenes moment? What\u2019s that memeable moment that can really get amplified and matter?\u2019\u201d Amanda McArthur, SVP of client strategy and brand partnerships at Doing Things, said during the same panel. \u201cThat\u2019s where events are really serving a dual purpose, because you get that one-on-one for the creators and the fans that are actually there, but then it also needs to translate to an online audience as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Large and in charge<\/h2>\n

This year, SXSW is a bit shorter than in years past, with the music, innovation, and film and TV tracks all happening concurrently. That mishmash of industries is only allowing the creator economy to show up basically everywhere, which Kenny Gold, managing director and head of social, influencer, and content at Deloitte Digital, told us is happening at nearly every industry conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a festival that’s so steeped in the heritage of music and art and comedy and film, it\u2019s natural that creators would want to be a part of the cultural zeitgeist that exists in a place like South By,\u201d Gold said. \u201cSmall-business owners or midsize-business owners or even large-scale business owners themselves are looking to see the way that brands activate here and the way that cultural properties activate.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Get marketing news you’ll actually want to read<\/h5>\n

Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

And the brands are activating. Over the weekend, Marketing Brew stopped by the Unwell County Fair, where Alex Cooper brought her hydration brand to life while announcing the premiere of Love Overboard,<\/em> a reality show she\u2019s executive producing. The crowd seemed chock-full of influencer and creator types, with many taking photos to capture their experiences, Unwell bottles in hand.<\/p>\n

<\/span>\"Polymarket\"Polymarket<\/span>
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Marketing Brew<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other brands had stations, too: local chain Torchy\u2019s Tacos served up nachos, while prediction market Polymarket asked attendees which film they thought might win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. (Sinners<\/em> was by far the crowd favorite when I stopped by, but Polymarket odds favored One Battle After Another<\/em>, which ended up winning on Sunday night.)<\/p>\n

Experiential is a big part of SXSW, and creators are a big part of those experiences, according to Gold, who had only just arrived at the festival when we spoke but had already seen brands getting set up to cater to the creator crowd. What brands most often get wrong when it comes to creators, he said, is going for mass reach rather than aiming for a niche.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe average consumer follows 13 creators at six brands, so how are we ensuring that we\u2019re having brands partner with the creators that are going to drive actual results and impact?\u201d Gold said. \u201cWhy overspend on mass creators when you can invest in more micro-niche creators?\u201d<\/p>\n

Creator at heart<\/h2>\n

Meanwhile, Sam\u2019s Club seems poised to broaden its creator approach. The national brand was all over Austin, and when we stopped by its Creator Academy, it was just in time for an intimate concert with singer-songwriter Ashe. She played a couple of songs, including the TikTok-beloved \u201cMoral of the Story,\u201d before a Q&A with Sam\u2019s Club\u2019s head of social and influencers, MacKenzie McCarver.<\/p>\n

It was an interesting moment to happen upon, and McCarver\u2019s recognition of Ashe as an internet-native artist further demonstrated the convergence of traditional celebrity and internet stardom. It\u2019s true that Ashe is a well-known recording artist, especially as part of the newer band The Favors. It\u2019s also true that she\u2019s an internet baby, which has undeniably contributed to her success.<\/p>\n

Across SXSW, another predictable theme emerged: Whether brands are finding a partner or TV writers are pitching a story to studios, a focus on \u201cauthenticity\u201d remains omnipresent\u2014and of course now includes the creator set. In fact, our last official event of the weekend was Morning Brew Inc.\u2019s own brunch, called Let Them Cook, focused on the power of letting creators do their thing. While that can be easier said than done for some nervous brand marketers, there\u2019s an undeniable push to let creators take creative control in partnerships and content, wherever they might be showing up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The line between creators and traditional Hollywood is so blurry these days that even those with perfect vision are squinting. At SXSW this year, creator chat wasn\u2019t hard to come by. Whether it was at the Creator Academy activation hosted by Sam\u2019s Club (a major sponsor of the festival), on a panel about creators in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail"],"yoast_head":"\nCreators were all over SXSW. 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