Creator Economy Scoop: The creative content that goes unseen

TikTok wants its own photo app, brands are mismanaging their budgets and musicians are taking action against the AI that they say replaces artistry. Here’s the rest of this week’s scoop:

‍Quick numbers 💯

1/3 - Users ages 25 to 54 will spend more than a third of their social time on TikTok this year [1]

10.5% - Store brand beauty products grew 10.5% in 2023, the highest of any other store brand categories [2]

52% of the core marketing assets are never activated [3]

18% of the media investment behind ads featuring women went to women with darker skin tones in 2023 [4]

What you should know  ☕

The unseen cost: How brands are mismanaging millions in content

• The average Fortune 500 brand is making $25m disappear annually on creative content that never reaches its audience
• 52% of the core marketing assets are never activated
  • sets the industry on a path to evaporate $100 billion yearly on content never getting used

Gender in advertising 2024

• Ads from 2023 featured women 56% of the time, compared to 42% of the time for men
• Women still appear most often in family settings (19%) and least in leadership roles (3.4%)
• Ads featuring women with darker skin tones received 18% of the media investment behind ads featuring women

Top takeaways from the Creator Economy Summit

• TikTok’s US troubles didn’t seem like a pressing concern
• There’s AI fatigue; creators and consumers are seeking analog experiences
• Community was the buzzword of the day
  • "There's more opportunity in niche communities. There are the tools for their communities to support them and buy things from them. Plus, now you've got advertisers seeing the value and pouring money into those communities" - Whalar co-founder Neil Waller

YouTube is the 3rd largest provider of subscription TV in the US

Social platforms 📲

Meta  📸

• Instagram released its updated brand identity

YouTube  📹

• Creators in the YouTube Partner Program with Channel Memberships can now create Members-only Shorts

TikTok ⏰

• TikTok may be close to launching its new dedicated photo app
  • “TikTok Notes, a new app for photo posts, is coming soon. Your existing and future public TikTok photo posts will be shown on TikTok Notes.”

Linkedin 🖇️

• LinkedIn has launched its own version of connected TV (CTV) ads, while also adding a new way to promote live events

Updates in tech 💻

200 artists signed an open letter to tech platforms

• Artists are accusing platforms of using AI to infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists
• List includes artists like Billie Eilish, J Balvin, Mumford & Sons, and Camila Cabello