TikTok's Local Feed, American Eagle and Urban Outfitters bet on micro-creators, "2026 is the new 2016" nostalgia wave hits brand marketing, and U.S. creator ad spend hits $37B

TikTok’s new Local Feed opens a discovery surface for brick-and-mortar brands and local creators. Two major retailers, American Eagle and Urban Outfitters, launched gamified micro-creator programs in the same week, signaling a shift from big-name placements to always-on peer content. Meanwhile, the IAB reports U.S. creator ad spend hit $37 billion in 2025, growing 4× faster than total media, and the “2026 is the new 2016” nostalgia trend is giving pre-2020 brands a second act.

Creator Economy Stats For March 2, 2026

$37B U.S. creator economy ad spend in 2025, per IAB—up 26% year over year from $29.5B in 2024. That's nearly 4x faster growth than total media. Creators are no longer a test-and-learn budget.

$10.52B U.S. influencer marketing spend in 2025, per eMarketer—crossing the $10B threshold a year ahead of projections. YouTube ($3.45B), Instagram ($3.17B), and TikTok ($1.19B) lead platform-level spend.

48% of ad spenders now classify creators as a "must buy" channel, per IAB—ranking third behind social media and paid search. Creators have moved from experimental to essential budget.

25M Snapchatters now subscribe to a paid Snapchat product. Snap's Direct Revenue hit a $1B annualized run rate. It's no longer just an ad business.

37M+ Instagram posts have used the #2016 hashtag. Brands tied to that era—Abercrombie, Juicy Couture—are watching closely.

900+ Creators joined American Eagle's AE Creator Community in its first 11 days. Gamified micro-creator programs are proving faster to scale than traditional ambassador deals.

What Should Marketers Know This Week?

Meta removed hundreds of ad targeting categories—audit your campaigns now.

Meta pulled targeting options tied to health, religion, and social causes from Ads Manager this month. If campaigns in those niches have stalled or stopped delivering, the targeting category was likely removed.

Brands must shift affected Saved Audiences to broader settings or Advantage+ to resume delivery.

TikTok is now the #1 news platform for U.S. adults aged 18–29, ahead of YouTube and Instagram.

That ranking cements TikTok's role not just as entertainment but as a primary information source for the generation brands most want to reach.

Captions, titles, and on-screen text are now effectively headlines—and they're indexed by Google.

Two major retailers launched micro-creator programs the same week—the pattern is the story.

Urban Outfitters launched Me@UO (under 10K followers, affiliate rewards, brand trips) and American Eagle launched AE Creator Community (1K+ followers, points-for-product-credit, monthly challenges) within days of each other.

Consistent micro-creator content at scale is replacing high-follower placements as the default retail playbook.

The "2026 is the new 2016" nostalgia wave is a real brand opportunity.

The #2016 hashtag has surpassed 37M Instagram posts and 1M TikTok posts, with John Legend and Reese Witherspoon among public figures participating.

CNBC reports retail brands synonymous with that era—including Abercrombie & Fitch—could see a revival. Brands with pre-2020 equity should be activating it now.

Threads ads are live globally, and daily active users now exceed X.

Meta's global Threads ad rollout is complete. Early-mover advantage is measurable: CPMs are lower before inventory gets competitive.

The audience skews toward the engaged, text-forward users brands spent years cultivating on Twitter.

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What Changed on Social Platforms Last Week?

Meta

Instagram rolled out "Your Algorithm" controls to all English-speaking users globally—a slider in the Reels feed that lets people tune recommendations by topic. Users who engage with it will see less content they didn't seek out.

Meta launched a Facebook Partnership Ads API, letting brands identify creator content and turn it into partnership ads at scale—a significant unlock for always-on creator programs.

Meta integrated Manus AI directly into Ads Manager for audience research, report-building, and campaign analysis.

TikTok

TikTok launched a Local Feed in the U.S. on February 11—an opt-in tab surfacing nearby restaurants, events, shopping, and small business content based on location. A new discovery surface for local creators and brick-and-mortar brands.

TikTok launched Shared Feeds inside DMs—a combined "For You Page" built from two users' interests, generating 15 shared videos per day inside a one-on-one chat.

YouTube

YouTube is testing photo carousel posts inside the Shorts feed—up to 10 images in a side-scrolling format. Static content is returning to short-form surfaces.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn opened Reserved Ad Slots to all managed advertisers—letting brands book the first Sponsored Content placement in the feed for a given day at a fixed rate. Early data shows 75% higher dwell time versus standard inventory.

Snapchat

Snapchat's subscription ecosystem—Snapchat+, Lens+, and Premium tiers—surpassed 25 million subscribers, with Direct Revenue hitting a $1B annualized run rate.

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Which Brands Are Working with Creators Right Now?

Urban Outfitters

Urban Outfitters launched Me@UO on February 25—an always-on creator program exclusively for micro-creators with under 10,000 followers. Members earn affiliate revenue and brand experiences by responding to weekly content prompts. The launch campaign, "Add to Story," stars pop icon Zara Larsson and runs through April 24; the top 100 participating creators win a two-day brand trip to Joshua Tree.
Digiday

American Eagle

American Eagle launched AE Creator Community in February—a gamified, in-house ambassador program open to any creator with at least 1,000 followers. Members earn points for posting content, completing monthly challenges, and participating in campaigns; every 1,000 points converts to $1 in product credit. The program attracted over 900 creators in its first 11 days, built explicitly to reach Gen Z shoppers through authentic peer-level voices.
Marketing Dive

NFL

The NFL named YouTube creator Dhar Mann its first-ever Chief Kindness Officer during Super Bowl LX week. Mann—who reaches 163M+ followers—fronted a "Be Kind to Your Rival" campaign donating $1 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital per qualifying post tagged #KindnessWinsBig, up to $100K. Creator Robert Irwin was also activated on-the-ground, part of the NFL's systematic push to reach younger fans through creator content.
NFL Newsroom

Redken

Redken was named official hair care partner of the 2026 Grammy Awards, spotlighting its new Acidic Bonding Concentrate Hair Bandage Balm across Grammy Week activations. The brand extended its footprint by sponsoring viral boy band Boy Throb at Grammy events—a creator-first play layered on top of a traditional awards sponsorship.
PR Newswire

Sonic

Sonic partnered with The Traitors Season 4 fan-favorite Rob Rausch as the face of its "Break Up With Your Burger" campaign, built around the chain's $6 All-American Smasher meal. The activation taps Rausch while audience interest from the season is still peaking—a reminder that reality TV creators have a narrow but high-value window.
Yahoo