The creator economy is booming with brands chasing viral trends to monetize cultural moments online.
In response, creators behind those viral moments are increasingly looking for ways to stretch their 15 minutes of fame, including launching their own podcasts, product lines, e-courses and talent agencies. There’s money at stake: the creator economy is expected to be worth $480 billion by 2027, according to Goldman Sachs’ calculations.
Consider Logan Paul’s Prime drink, Mr. Beast’s Feastables snack brand or Emma Chamberlain’s Chamberlain Coffee, which have become real industry category disruptors, experts say. It’s not a new phenomenon, per se, but there are a few reasons the trend shows no signs of slowing, according to three agency execs Digiday spoke with for this story.
“It’s a really, really big question that’s happening in the greater economy about [intellectual property] and who the IP holders are and who can get credit for it,” said Allison Yazdian, svp of creator growth and success at LTK, a digital marketing platform, which allows creators and influencers to monetize their content via shoppable images. Her advice? Capitalize in any way possible.
Just last week, writer and actress Natasha Rothwell announced a TV adaptation of “Who TF Did I Marry?,” a viral TikTok series from Tareasa “Reesa Teesa” Johnson. Around the same time, Haliey Welch, better known as “Hawk Tuah Girl,” filed to trademark her signature phrase and announced that she was launching a podcast called “Talk Tuah.” At the end of August, Jools Lebron, the creator behind the “very demure, very mindful” trend filed a trademark on the catchphrase. (Neither Johnson nor Lebron’s agencies responded in time for publication.)
Welch’s path from viral internet meme to media personality hasn’t been easy — with misinformation about her background smattered alongside criticisms to her rise to fame. Back in June, she was spotted in a man on the street-style video, offering a raunchy response to a question about bedroom etiquette. Since then, she has racked up more than 4 million followers across TikTok and Instagram, made a guest appearance alongside country star Zach Bryan at a recent concert, signed with management firm The Penthouse, and launched her own company, which is cheekily named 16 Minutes LLC as nod to extending her 15 minutes of viral fame, Welch told Digiday in an email.
“Being called a creator sounds strange to me,” she said, noting that she wasn’t on social media before that viral moment. “When I decided it was go-time, my team asked me a bunch of questions about myself, what I like, brands I use, and my passions.”
Welch, Lebron and Johnson join an ever-growing list of viral celebrities pushing to monetize their virality and try to become long-standing media personalities. There are several variables.
Creators, especially those from marginalized communities, have long rung the alarm on brands co-opting viral cultural moments for their marketing campaigns without crediting or paying the original creator as creators are increasingly recognizing the need to take ownership of their intellectual property.
This is while influencers and creators have been working to divest from relying on social media platforms, citing elusive algorithms and lacking creator fund payouts.
“This is not an easy way to make money,” Danielle Wiley, founder of influencer marketing shop Sway Group, said, flicking at the aforementioned plight of a content creator. She added, “When people see there’s something’s happening and there’s this opportunity to jump on it and push themselves forward a little bit more, they’re wanting to take advantage of that.”
In other words, content creators don’t have an easy gig, making any opportunity to grow their followers, exposure and potential earnings an opportunity worth taking to keep the dollars coming in.
But, according to Wiley and other agency execs, the creator economy isn’t a cash grab. There’s a difference between someone who “gets lucky with a viral moment and then tries to capitalize on that luck” and a content creator who has been working for their big break, according to Brad May, vp of creative and strategy at Reach Agency, a creative agency that specializes in influencer marketing. The former, he added, could lead to less authentic partnerships, brand deals and product rollouts, making it obvious that it’s a cash grab that consumers see right through.
Take Lebron’s story. Lebron was a beauty content creator even before the “demure” trend took off. But, May added, there was an emotional element to her story as a trans-content creator, who earned enough from said viral moment to pay for her gender transition. That narrative gives Lebron, “a better shot of lasting long term as long as she doesn’t lose that authenticity and emotion that is her brand.”
Experts say that 15 minutes of virality can be a make-it-or-break-it moment when it comes down to talent and the ability to build something sustainable out of a fleeting cultural moment. For a former beauty content creator like Lebron, the transition to media personality may make sense. On the other hand, sometimes 15 minutes of fame is just that. Brands flock to tap into the cultural moment, the influencer racks up some deals and dollars and everyone goes their separate ways.
“Once you get past that moment of virality, where’s the depth?,” asked Michael Calvin Jones, svp of creators at Wasserman, a global sports marketing and talent management company. “It’s a crowded space today. You have to have depth in the format, the content, in the storytelling to have a lasting career in this.”
As for Welch, that’s still being determined. Her “Talk Tuah” podcast launched on Tuesday, but she’s still figuring out what this newfound career path as a media personality looks like, she said.
“Where this road goes, nobody knows,” she said in an email to Digiday, “But it feels good to buy Granny a new vacuum and things like that plus having the ability to give back to needy animals through my Paws Across America Fund, what more can a girl ask for?”
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