Happy Tuesday...

Last week, we explored the current state🔻of celebrity beauty and makeup brands, noting the challenges some face in maintaining their status or even surviving. Despite the downward trend, it appears that not all celebrities have been deterred. Just this past weekend, Vanessa Hudgens took the beauty world by surprise with the announcement of her upcoming brand, 'Know Beauty.' While details are still scarce, we do know that the launch is just 7 days away. With eager anticipation, we look forward to discovering what sets this new brand apart and how it will make its mark in the industry...

Meta is testing a blue tick verification program called Meta Verification for creators in Australia and New Zealand. 

For a monthly fee of around $12 via the web or $15 on iOS and Android devices, users can join the waitlist to obtain the blue tick ✅. Meta advertises the subscription as a way to “grow your presence on Instagram and Facebook” and creators can currently join a waitlist for Meta Verify.

However, the program has raised concerns about its value and impact on content reach, as well as the potential devaluation of the blue tick's leverage and status. Instagram's head, Adam Mosseri, has addressed these concerns in a Q&A, stating that the program only marginally impacts content reach via comments, search, or in-app recommendations.

So our question still is, I guess, what’s the point? 🤔

Some creators are paid, some are not; some have millions of followers, others have smaller but highly engaged audiences in a demographic that the studio or event is seeking. All this is making for a complicated, competitive business that goes beyond posting a photo.

One of the latest media sectors where the creator economy is booming are film and TV red carpets which have transformed into two-hour-plus events, with portions devoted to influencers and their content, taking selfies, going live on social or filming dance videos and elaborate TikTok trends against the step and repeat for the first hour, followed by the project’s stars making their way down press lines for the second. 

There are two types of red carpet invites: those where an influencer is invited to attend without any requirement to post content (those are usually unpaid), and official partnerships where a creator will post sponsored content from an event. Take, Amanda Castrillo is a creator focused on film and TV who has more than 300,000 followers on TikTok. She has been invited to Netflix, Disney, HBO, Amazon, NBC and Sony premieres, and says her studio deals have ranged from $3,000 to $10,000 per partnership...

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Many creators, including myself 🙋🏻‍♀️, are shifting to YouTube for the first time this year, primarily to access the platform’s new revenue-sharing model, which incorporated Shorts into the YouTube Partner Program in February. The way we are experimenting with YouTube is often both with longer-form content, leaning into YouTube’s SEO-friendly platform, and repurposing their TikTok videos for Shorts.

Nevertheless, it must be noted that most creators aren’t giving up on TikTok. Some are focusing their efforts on making their content more discoverable and SEO-friendly, to help surface their videos in searches.

Email newsletters are another alternative creators are turning to in order to monetise content...

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