Your Weekly Creator Marketing Update🚀
02.06.2025
This week we review Publicis’s acquisition of Captiv8 - a clear sign of the continued consolidation that’s happening within the wider influencer industry, as well as its rising importance within the context of the wider marketing ecosystem.
We also review how PUMA is finding value in opting for a phased, community-first approach.
Both cases reflect important trends shaping the industry right now:
The need for smarter infrastructure and data integration to accommodate scale
The conversation around what it means to scale reach vs. scaling trust
📰 Publicis acquires Captiv8 as influencer marketing ambitions expand
📌 TL;DR
Publicis is acquiring Captiv8, adding to their previous $500M purchase of Influential. The aim is to integrate Captiv8's AI and creator tools with Publicis's Epsilon data infrastructure to deliver performance-driven creator marketing at scale across their media stack.
🔍 MY THOUGHTS
With scale comes responsibility - and with the increased demand for high-volume influencer marketing approaches, the big agencies need to firm up the ability to both execute and measure influencer-plays at volume. Acquiring existing influencer marketing measurement capabilities and linking them up with other sources definitely provides some interesting measurement angles. I’m very curious to see what the match up with Epsilon could mean in terms of being able to combine engagement metrics with purchasing behaviour.
However, I don’t believe this acquisition will provide Publicis with a true one-stop-shop/platform for all their influencer activities. In the short term, workflows will remain imperfect & fragmented, and I don’t envision a reduction in the number of “influencer admin” roles in favour of more strategic ones.
In a nutshell: I like the combined data approach - but I don’t see this acquisition as much of a (short term) game changer in the way that Publicis will be able to approach influencer marketing at scale.
📰 PUMA: Influencing the Influencers
📌 TL;DR
PUMA is showing what strategic influencer marketing approach looks like with their 3-phase cultural seeding approach: a 6-month incubation period with tastemakers, organic ignition through community buzz, followed by amplification when demand peaks.
🔍 MY THOUGHTS
This is textbook strategic influencer marketing. PUMA has a clear view on how influence is cultivated: slowly, through the right people, earning cultural credibility before amplifying it with data and budget.
What I love is that they’re first and foremost leaning into the identification of existing advocacy. Empowering tastemakers and letting momentum build organically before using performance data to scale what’s working - balancing authenticity & scale in the process.
I’m not a huge fan of shortcutting influence and cultural relevancy by heavy short-term investing and PUMA’s approach reinforces my position on the thought that you can't buy your way into communities & audiences.
🏭Industry Headlines
👨💻How IBM is looking to ‘enter the B2C conversation’ through influencers
IBM is expanding its influencer marketing strategy to engage broader audiences and humanize its brand. Since 2015, the company has experimented with influencer collaborations, but in 2019, it centralized these efforts into a standardized program. This approach includes partnering with external creators and empowering employees to act as brand advocates. By leveraging both external influencers and internal voices, IBM aims to bridge the gap between B2B and B2C conversations, making its brand more relatable and accessible.
💵How CMOs Use Influencer Marketing to Build Trust and Drive Revenue
CMOs are evolving their influencer marketing strategies to enhance trust and drive revenue. Key approaches include aligning with authentic creators, implementing structured programs for scalability, leveraging multichannel content distribution, and utilizing AI for workflow efficiency. Measuring ROI remains crucial for sustained investment and executive support. The U.S. influencer marketing spend is projected to exceed $13 billion by 2027, underscoring its growing significance in marketing strategies
🕹️ Study: Influencers dethrone ads as top discovery tool for gamers
A recent study by HypeAuditor highlights a significant shift in how gamers discover new titles: influencers have now surpassed traditional ads and trailers as the primary discovery channel. Streamers and short-form video creators on platforms like Twitch, YouTube, and TikTok are leading this change, particularly among younger audiences. TikTok excels in instant discovery, especially for mobile games targeting Gen Z, while YouTube remains the top platform for in-depth, evergreen content such as reviews and walkthroughs. This trend underscores the growing importance of authentic, creator-driven content in influencing gaming audiences.