B2B? In this economy?

Creators as Vision Amplifiers.

When Balenciaga’s chief marketer took the stage, it was unclear how much she would divulge about why the luxury brand decided to embrace Substack as a new media channel, and how. But Drieke Leenknegt offered great insight into the platform’s value, especially in relation to the brand’s heritage.

“Our brand is avant-garde,” Leenknegt said. “Our brand pushes things forward. We are a brand for the instigators of today. We are a brand for the instigators of tomorrow, and so the partnership with Substack allows us, as a brand with this definition and this attitude, to create meaningful relationships with the entire global community that’s part of the ecosystem.”

And Substack is offering new ways for brands to tap into this ecosystem of independent voices: The Upgrade, which gives free Substack subscribers access to paid content for a month; The Unlock, which gives a brand “credit” for unlocking a paid post; and The Masthead, which gives brands the literal masthead to promote a digital zine of curated and commissioned work.

We covered the brand opportunity for Substack on Insiders.

Don’t Knock the Hustle.

One session shared a valuable secret to a room full of creators: there’s a lot of money in B2B. But many creators in this space, like April Little and Tameka Bazile, manage both creator work and full-time employment, which is both a challenge and an opportunity for differentiation, especially for the brands that partner with them.

“As opposed to other areas, like UGC in the B2B world, you can’t just pick up a phone and talk about what accounting software you’re using as a 10-year seasoned veteran as a CPA,” said AJ Eckstein, Founder and CEO of Creator Match. “You could say it, but there’s no trust. In this B2B category, it’s all at a practitioner level, so you have to practice what you preach. You have way more trust and credibility if you’re still doing what you’re talking about through your content. So brands have to work with these creators in a different way.”

From the Feed to the Registry.

Babylist dropped in the comments and turned it into a meaningful partnership. After Alex Cooper announced her pregnancy, the company saw an opportunity to engage with a culturally relevant, resonant figure. Together, Babylist and Unwell turned Alex’s idea of “clearing out registries” into a viral sensation, helping expectant parents get everything they need to start their families.

Jill Cress, Chief Marketing and Experience Officer for Babylist, said the partnership aligned perfectly with the company’s mission, which is to streamline and simplify the registry process. She said that starting a family is “so overwhelming, and one of the things that makes it really overwhelming is it's not cheap to bring home a baby.”

“She was tackling it in a way that was so empathetic,” Cress said. “And registries from a place of generosity, so we were like, all right, let's do this. From there, the thing just snowballed and took off in a way that I think, in this moment we're in, gave me such faith in humanity.”

The New Brief.

An overarching theme of the creator-focused sessions was that brands need to “break the brief.” One session got a bit more tactical, though, explaining how brands make that change. The foundation of it all is to bring creators in earlier. Include them in shaping the vision and approach based on your goals. By moving collaboration “upstream,” everyone is aligned early on and then creators can tap into a more flexible “sandbox” for testing and creating.

Throughout the campaign process, brands should then focus on preserving the expertise and creative integrity of their partners. All stakeholders, including sponsorship and paid media, should then fold in their tactics so everything ladders up to the core story.

The Power of the Hang.

Haircare brand TRESemmé has focused on bolstering its community. That means expanding their creator network to include micro- and nano-influencers (not just celebs like Law Roach), and creating spaces where they can gather during major cultural moments. Lauren Baker, the brand’s Head of US Marketing, put it simply: “We just like to kick it. Turn the music on, give us some bites and some drinks, and let’s just hang out.”

For example, during F1, TRESemmé created an activation where creators and community members could gather, test products, and shop. “We have to think about how she would naturally engage in this space, and then show up in a way that is that’s fun, that’s exciting,” Baker said. “We are not really at F1, right? So it was a moment for us to say no. Our consumer is here. Our community is in Miami. She deserves to have something to do that’s curated to her experience and her hair care.”

Synthetic Influence.

One of the more compelling conversations was hidden in Thursday’s afternoon agenda. Two tech creators, Aria Kim (Tech with Aria) and Arjay McCandless, discussed how the rise of virtual influencers is changing what it means to be successful.

McCandless, who specializes in content for software engineers, noted that “these AIs are super knowledgeable about all the topics I cover, and every time I have a viral video, there are five or six accounts that are 100% AI-generated that will make the same video. It’s a direct copy of my script, my delivery, my visuals every time, and it’s scary.”

Kim added that these synthetic influencers are so realistic they’re hard to tell apart from flesh and bone. “It's not just the older folks that are not getting it. It’s our generation too.”

Maggie Reznikoff, Chief Client Officer of Open Influence, shared the agency perspective. She explained that while there are risks, artificial creators will only place a premium on real people with real points of view.