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The New Age of Brand Building: Navigating a Creator-Driven World

Overview

Our annual conference, Creative Effectiveness, returned on Oct. 16 for a day of insights and innovation as we examined the evolving definition and methods of building brands in today’s fragmented, creator-driven landscape. After, we celebrated research and insights-driven advertising at the ARF David Ogilvy Awards ceremony and reception.

Following the conference, the ARF David Ogilvy Awards were presented.

Conference Co-Chairs

Focus Areas

– Branding Without the Big Idea: What happens when traditional campaign architecture is substituted with tactical, episodic bursts of creator content?

– Creators vs. Creatives: Examining the tension between agency-driven narratives and creator-led storytelling.

– Short-Term Performance vs. Long-Term Brand Equity: How do new marketing strategies balance immediate ROI with sustained brand value?

– Measuring ROAS in Creator Marketing: New frameworks for assessing effectiveness across organic, paid, and hybrid creator executions.

Brands, agencies, media outlets, and research companies will showcase examples of how they are stimulating and measuring creativity using various approaches and tools.

Following the conference, the ARF David Ogilvy Awards will be held to honor research and insights-driven advertising. Learn. Be inspired. Honor your peers.

AGENDA

	Understanding the Creator Economy Unlocking the Forces Shaping Today’s Cultural and Commercial Landscape
9:00 – 10:00am	Registration & Breakfast
10:00 – 10:10am	Opening Remarks Scott McDonald, Ph.D. – President & CEO, ARF
10:10 – 10:30	Keynote Fireside Chat Creators x Brands in B2B: Authentic Influence, Real ROI, and Partnering in the Age of AI We’re in the midst of a creative reset. Corporate channels are losing traction, while creators are earning trust, attention, and ROI at a scale that brands can’t match. Becca Chambers—CMO and top LinkedIn creator—sits at the crossroads of both worlds. In this opening fireside chat, she’ll unpack why creator-led storytelling is outperforming polished brand campaigns, how authenticity is redefining “good creative,” and what it all means for marketers competing in an AI-driven attention economy. Becca Chambers – CMO, Scale Venture Partners & LinkedIn Top Voice Interviewer: Jamie Stenziano – EVP, Head of Technology, Media, Telecommunications Sector, Ipsos
10:30 – 11:00am	Panel Discussion Creators & Influencers – Spot the Difference and Unlock ROI   This fireside chat will level-set on the core differences between content creators and traditional influencers and their unique value propositions. It will unpack how to assess their value, how to work with them to drive engagement with consumers, and ultimately how they impact brand perceptions. Alyssa Ford – Beauty Influencer & Ad Sales, Google Tris Gates – Freelance Creative Director & Social Strategist Le French Husband – Creator & Public Voice Eden Jacqueline T. – Creator & Content Strategist Moderators: Kat Gates – Global Creative Director/Creative Effectiveness Lead, Google Ann Green – Founder/Owner, Greenlight Consulting
11:00 – 11:20am	Presentation The Insights Leader’s Playbook for Taming the Wild West of Creator Content The rise of creator content is transforming advertising—offering brands new levels of authenticity, reach, and influence. But with this shift comes a loss of control over messaging and execution, posing a major challenge for marketing, insights, and analytics teams: How do you maintain strategic rigor and meaningful measurement in a fast-paced, decentralized environment? In this session, Ipsos Creative Excellence will share a practical playbook for making insights an indispensable part of the creator content process. You’ll walk away with a framework for influencing creator work before and after it launches—ensuring your brand’s voice remains strong, your content performs, and your team leads with confidence in the ever-expanding creator economy. Because with the right tools and mindset, insights leaders can turn the Wild West of creator content into a well-mapped territory. Lisa Zielinski – Senior Vice President, Ipsos Creative Excellence Lisa Sobilo – Vice President, Creative Strategy Solutions, Ipsos Creative Excellence
11:20 – 11:40am	Presentation What Makes Creator Content Effective?  When done well, creator campaigns outperform digital advertising at delivering new information, building brand credibility and delivering enjoyment.  But can creator campaigns build brand equity and drive sales efficiently?  What makes some creator content work harder than others?  This session provides data-led insights into the power of creator campaigns and why they are growing in effectiveness.  Kerry Benson – SVP, Creative Strategy, Kantar Jaime Cohen – US Head of Media, Whalar
11:40am – 12:00pm	CMO Award & Interview with Mastercard Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Mastercard, will share how the company partners with influencers and celebrities to engage consumers, and how they measure the success of their most impactful campaigns. Raja Rajamannar – Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, Mastercard Interviewer: Scott McDonald, Ph.D. – President & CEO, ARF
12:00 – 1:00pm	Lunch
1:00 – 1:20pm	Panel Discussion The New B2B Playbook: How Creator-Led Advertising Builds Distinctive Brands In today’s competitive B2B landscape, building a memorable brand is more critical and challenging than ever. While B2C brands have long understood the power of distinctive assets, new data from Ipsos reveals a significant opportunity for B2B marketers to build and leverage their unique brand codes for long-term growth. LinkedIn’s B2B Institute will share its perspective on how content creators on their platform are not just a channel but a core, distinctive asset, fostering trust and building deep brand relationships in a way that traditional advertising often cannot. This panel, including a brand, will explore a powerful and underutilized distinctive asset for B2B brands: credible, expert creators. Pedr Howard – Head of Creative Excellence, US,  Ipsos Jessica Ji – Enterprise Influencer Relations Specialist, NVIDIA Vita Molis – Head of B2B Institute, NAMER, LinkedIn Liam Moroney – Founder, Storybook Marketing
1:20-1:40pm	Panel Discussion Turning Brand Passion into Powerful Advertising Marketing leaders from YouTube, BBDO, and H-E-B share how authentic creator content rooted in brand heritage creates strong connections. From highlighting real human impact to fueling community-driven fandom, they demonstrate how passion and purpose turn into campaigns that connect on a large scale. Learn how these brands collaborate with influencers to expand reach, balance short-term results with long-term value, and develop advertising that lasts. Giovanna Dimperio – Managing Director of Marketing, H-E-B Jenn Green – Group Strategy Director, BBDO Christina Pabst – Brand Strategist, Creator Brand Marketing, YouTube Moderator: Tina DeSarno, Chief IA Officer, MarketCast
	Measuring the Creator Economy From Influence to Impact: Quantifying Creative Value
1:40-2:00pm	Presentation Influencers Work: How RCT Pre-Testing Is Proving the Impact of Creator Content Influencer marketing is no longer just a vehicle for social media engagement—it’s a proven driver of brand lift. Influential has become the world’s largest influencer marketing agency by marrying this proof with its roster of top creator talent. Learn about a wide-scale meta-study of rapid RCT impact measurements powered by Swayable AI Analysis Factory. The data tell a clear story: influencer creative consistently outperforms traditional digital and social content throughout the funnel and across demographics. Gain insight into how multi-agent AI orchestration enabled this research, and how marketers can use creative testing to understand which content approaches work, justify media spend, and build a foundation for agile creator campaigns that persuade. Michael Baumer, Ph.D. – VP of Data Science, Swayable Tyler Montague – VP of Client & Research Success, Swayable Faön Mahunik – EVP, Strategy and Analytics, Influential
2:00 – 2:20pm	Presentation The Creator Paradox: Why Authentic Content Isn’t Enough The Creator Era presents a paradox: brands want to leverage authentic creator content, but can that content effectively build brand equity and drive sales? Why is so much media spend wasted on creator ads that fail to establish brand early or meet basic ad standards? This session offers data-driven answers, revealing why 45% of media spend on amplified creator ads is wasted. It demonstrates how fundamental digital advertising principles still apply and provides a framework for brands to borrow influence without losing their identity. Sarita Finnie – VP, Integrated Marketing, Bayer Consumer Health Anastasia Leng – CEO + Founder, CreativeX
2:20 – 2:40pm	Presentation Measuring the Message: Creative Effectiveness Without the Influence of Influencers As campaigns extend across retail media, digital platforms, and influencer content, one question remains: is impact driven by the creative or the creator? Out-of-home (OOH) advertising offers a rare, controlled environment—no algorithms, no personalities—just creative work and audience. The aim is not to downplay the influence of creators but to offer a clearer view of the creative itself—so we can better grasp how influence functions in today’s complex media landscape. This session features a case study on measuring creative in isolation. Garima Singal – Senior Data Scientist, billups
2:40 – 3:00pm	Afternoon Break
	Being Inspired by the Creator Economy Ideas, Innovations, and Icons Driving the Future
3:00 – 3:20pm	Conversation Making Finance Feel Human: Inside Experian’s Brand-Building Creative Strategy Experian is committed to its “Financial Power to All” mission. This session explores how the brand brings that mission to life—using influential voices like Sam Richardson in the “Big Financial Friend” campaign and partnering with creators such as Flau’jae Johnson—to make complex financial topics feel relatable. To achieve that, Experian tackles a core advertising challenge: developing creative that truly resonates. Through a 360° consumer feedback loop, the brand uncovers what matters most to audiences and infuses those insights across every touchpoint. It’s a process that harnesses the voice of consumers to power brand love. Nicole Dancel – Brand Insights Lead, Experian Steven Millman – Chief Scientist, iSpot.tv
3:20 – 3:40pm	Presentation “The Death of a Relationship” What Causes Influencer Unfollows Instapanel’s research shows strong trust in influencers: nearly three-quarters of people under 35 trust them, and almost half of those over 50 do too. This trust depends on perceived expertise and authenticity, which foster “parasocial” relationships. But the reasons people unfollow aren’t always tied to these bonds. Discover what drives unfollows, how misalignment appears, and how audiences navigate influencers’ commercial goals. David Ryan – Chief Strategy Officer, Instapanel
3:40 – 4:10 pm	Panel Discussion Amplifying Brands Through Creators: The Bose Playbook Bose shares how it balances traditional brand building with the power of creators and influencers—exploring when to lean into creator partnerships, how they shape brand relevance, and why the creator economy is redefining the future of advertising. Hear both Bose’s perspective and the creator’s own lens on their evolving role in brand building. Chris Brickley – NBA Skills Trainer, BlackOps Basketball Alex Koblenz – Founder, 7x Media Jack Daley – VP, Global Media & Partnerships, Bose Jim Mollica – President, Luxury Audio & CMO, Bose Moderator: Amy Fenton – CEO, MarketCast
4:10-4:40pm	Panel Discussion Beauty & The Influence: A New Fairy Tale of Marketing Success Explore the transformative role of influencers and content creators in the beauty industry. This session delves into the strategies that have reshaped brand marketing by connecting authentic voices with digital platforms to engage consumers more deeply. Learn the lessons from leading brands, publishers, and platforms: how they leverage the digital landscape and the effects of their collaborations on consumer engagement, trust, and brand loyalty. Caroline Anderson – SVP Marketing & Brand Strategy Jana Barocas – Global Client Partner Beauty, Roblox Leah Wyar – President, Entertainment, Beauty & Style Group, People Inc. Moderator: Lindsay Franke – Group President North America, Ipsos
4:40–4:45pm	Closing Remarks Scott McDonald, Ph.D. – President & CEO, ARF
4:45-6:00pm	Cocktail Hour
6:00-9:00pm	David Ogilvy Awards Honor insights-driven advertising with this year’s Award winners. Dress: Business Casual

Speakers

SEE Who Attended In 2025

C-Suite executives, senior and mid-career leaders and young professionals hailing from marketer, media, agency and research companies will benefit from the breadth and depth of content shared. Industries include automotive, beauty, CPG, finance, food and beverage, hospitality, pharma, retail and technology.

Ad Council	DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc.	Lopez Negrete	The Kantar Group
Affectiva	Droga5	MarketCast	The New York Times
AstraZeneca PLC	Dynata	MASB	TikTok
Bank of America	Estee Lauder Companies, Inc.	Mattel, Inc.	Toyota Motor Corporation
Bayer	Forethought	Mobile Marketing Association	Tracksuit
BBDO Worldwide	Further & Further	National Research Group	Trajectory
BBH	Genius Steals	NBA	Travelers Insurance
Best Buy Company	Goodby, Silverstein & Partners	Nielsen	Unilever
Betty	Google	Olson Zaltman Associates	UnitedHealth Group
Cashmere Agency	Hyundai Motor America	Paramount Pictures	Universal McCann
Charter Communications Operating, LLC	Instapanel	Procter & Gamble	Verizon
Chemistry Agency	Ipsos	Samsung Ads	Visa
Coalition For Innovative Media Measurement	ISpot.tv	Sports Innovation Lab	VML
Coca-Cola Company	IW Group, Inc.	Swayable	WARC
Colgate-Palmolive Company	Jaguar Land Rover	SXM Media	Whirlpool Corporation
Columbia University	JP Morgan Chase & Company	The Home Depot	Wieden+Kennedy

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