Credit: Dole777 via Unsplash
Just 6% of creator content delivers both strong platform engagement and strong brand-building potential, according to new research by Kantar.
Kantar's Creator Game Plan report analysed more than 15,000 branded creator assets on TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram, and found that high engagement rates alone were a poor measure for influencer success.
Irene Joshy, head of creative at Kantar in Australia and APAC, said the creator economy presents unique challenges in Australia and across the region.
"While around a quarter of creator content drives effectiveness, the brand itself is too often missed," said Joshy.
"Therefore, for our region, 'Cultural Power' is such an important measure in Kantar's new Creator Effectiveness framework. It helps unlock the right balance between creator authenticity and meaningful brand connection, ensuring content feels native to culture while still working hard for the brand."
Vera Sidlova, global creative director at Kantar, said their research was "a wake-up call that high engagement and genuine brand effectiveness more often than not do not align.”
"CMOs say they're under pressure to prove their return on investment. To do this, they need better signals and more rigorous metrics for testing to understand if their creator partnerships are the right fit," said Sidlova.
"Creative freedom isn't a courtesy. It's the reason why 61% of marketers say they will increase their investment in creator content.
"But for all the authenticity and personality that creators offer, there's no gain to be found in a campaign that lacks strategy, genuine audience insight and fails to add value to a brand's long-term game plan."
To address the effectiveness gap, Kantar introduced creator content testing within its LINK AI model, assessing brand building, short-term sales potential and engagement to give marketers a consistent measure of how creator content performs against creator-specific benchmarks rather than traditional digital ads.
Ligia Patrocinio, head of global Desperados at Heineken, said creator partnerships required a fundamentally different approach to traditional advertising.
"The moment you treat a creator like an ad placement, you lose the very thing that makes the creator content a true success with audiences: authenticity, cultural fit and personality.
"The most impactful collaborations happen when creators are empowered to tell stories in their own voice, with clear guardrails around brand values and audience alignment. The brands that understand that distinction are the ones seeing genuine results."
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.