Brand Marketers Are Starting Creator-First When They Want Fandom

CeraVe is measuring whether people want more content.

Kimeko McCoy reports for Digiday that marketers are defining fandom as audiences spread across more platforms and communities. Agencies described networks of casual fans, highly committed fans, and people who influence others inside those communities.

Creators give brands a way into that structure. Alice Woo, chief creative officer at New Engen, told Digiday that marketers pursuing fandom are increasingly starting “creator-first” or “persona-first” because the creator already has a trusted position in the community.

Save the demand for another installment

CeraVe evaluates fandom through engagement, awareness among new audiences, sales lift, and what the company calls “appetite for more content.” AT&T tracks brand perception and consideration, then looks over time at purchase intent and customer acquisition.

That appetite measure fits the work behind a recurring creator format. The audience sees one installment, understands the premise, and asks for another version.

For my recurring formats, I can save faithful public responses that document that behavior. A comment asking for another episode belongs in that record. So does repeat audience behavior or another documented signal that people recognize the series.

Those responses add behavioral context to the audience demographics in a pitch. The manager can see that people already have a relationship with the format before a product enters it.

Show the relationship around the work

A follower total describes potential reach. Audience responses can document whether people recognize an inside joke, return to a series, quote its language, or know how a recurring character behaves.

A pitch can show how the audience already participates in the format. Then the brand and I have something concrete to use when deciding whether the product belongs there and how another installment should be built.

The same evidence can help protect the choices that make the format recognizable once production starts.

I’m going to keep a small set of representative audience responses with each recurring-format pitch. They will document whether people understand the premise and want the next version.

Thanks to Kimeko McCoy at Digiday for the reporting.