Authentic lands in your inbox every Tuesday, with the deals worth studying, the strategies worth stealing, and the shifts worth watching… all from the people building the brand-creator economy from the inside. If someone forwarded you this newsletter, you can find us at liveauthentic.io.
Trending The Market
Disney Wants A Dose Of TikTok
The biggest brands in entertainment
Disney has inked a content-sharing deal with TikTok that will bring creator-made vertical videos to Disney+.
The Big Pitch: Hollywood is increasingly realizing the power of vertical-video and user-generated content, which is why Disney, Warner Bros., Netflix, Peacock, and others have rolled out dedicated features. But Disney’s TikTok move is the biggest bet yet that the creator economy can keep its movies and shows in the cultural conversation.
The Fine Print: Disney is putting digital creators right next to Marvel superheroes and animated classics.
The “first-of-its-kind” deal will allow chosen creators to have their videos posted on both TikTok and Disney+’s Verts feature. Those videos will be “refreshed regularly,” according to Deadline.
Creators will also get access to Disney IP — including photos and videos of characters — that they can use in their content.
The companies will jointly launch the new Disney Creator Ambassador Program, which will “enable top-notch creators to unlock special rewards and provide them with increased profiles, access to exclusive events, and career development pathways,” per Variety.
Disney announced that the features will initially be available only to US-based creators before expanding to additional markets.
The Analysis: New Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro has made it a priority to tap into spaces that are the center of young people’s cultural world, including a wide-ranging partnership with Fortnite-maker Epic Games and a very short-lived deal with OpenAI’s Sora. But TikTok is the biggest coup of them all, especially considering a recent TikTok survey found that half of its users checked out a new film or show after discovering content about it on the platform.
Disney may be the most influential company in entertainment, but even the Mouse House knows that no one quite has the reach like a group of influential content creators… especially if they can help safeguard the next Star Wars from underperforming at the box office.
Together with Consumable
Audio For The Outcomes Era
Most media plans treat audio as a few line items: a streaming buy, maybe a podcast sponsorship. But the audio ecosystem is far bigger than that… and much of it is going untouched.
Mobile apps, addressable podcast audiences, and creator-led content extended across platforms — these are spaces where attention is intentional and trust already exists.
Consumable opens up that ecosystem.
The tool helps you reach 210M+ Comscore-verified monthly users across formats and channels.
It’s powered by listener intelligence, precision targeting, and modern identity infrastructure.
Every audio impression is measurable, addressable, and tied to real outcomes.
Consumable lets brands reach audiences wherever they listen, with the same precision and accountability marketers expect from their best digital channels.
Through immersive ad experiences that combine audio, visuals, and interactivity, brands can finally turn listening into engagement and business impact.
Building The Stack
ESPN Recruits Creators To Hype The Next Super Bowl
ESPN’s fourth annual “Creator Network” is gearing up to be its most important yet for one key reason — next year is the first time that the network will broadcast the Super Bowl. So, ESPN has tapped five football-focused creators to drum up excitement — Chase Murman, Isaac Rochell, Simone Scott, Diana Flores, and Leah Cammarano. They’ll be given near-unlimited access to every aspect of ESPN’s football coverage throughout the year, making content and building community in the run-up to the big game.
TikTok Shop Racks Up $100 Billion In Gross Merchandise Value
TikTok Shop has been exploding in influence since officially launching everywhere in the world in 2023. Its total gross merchandise value (GMV) is expected to hit $123 billion by the end of the year, according to market-research firm Momentum Works and live-commerce intelligence platform Tabcut. That’s a year-over-year increase of 92%, demonstrating that the demand for creator-curated products is only surging.
iShowSpeed Drops Into A Zumiez Near You
It’s not just online shopping that is getting all the creator attention. Retailer Zumies has struck a deal with major livestreamer iShowSpeed to stock his merch in its brick-and-mortar stores. Speed collaborated with merchandising brand Killer Merch on a collection of five T-shirts and a hoodie that will be available at over 500 Zumiez locations across the US. It’s a big bet that IRL shoppers are willing to splurge on digital talent.
Are you invested in the future of vertical video on streaming platforms?
Social Updates
YouTube is testing a feature for creators called “Research” that gives them more granular insights into what their followers want to see and what other videos their top followers are watching.
YouTube is also doubling the watch hours and total views creators need before being able to monetize their channels.
More YouTube: it rolled out a way for creators to practice live vertical videos before actually broadcasting.
Reddit is supercharging subreddit moderating with AI via a new suite of tools called “Rules Hub.”
X is replacing its current revenue-sharing program with a new one that rewards creators for posting more-original content.
Bluesky is letting users block retweets from specific followers.
LinkedIn rolled out a tool for people to report content that seems like AI slop.
Wrapping Up
That's the week in the brand-creator economy. We'll be back in your inbox next Tuesday.
One more thing before you go. We made it official: Authentic, the Brand-Creator Summit, is coming to New York on November 18th.
A single day of curated conversations with decision-makers across brand marketing, creator platforms, talent, agencies, and investment — all in direct conversation about what's driving the future of the brand-creator economy.
This is the first time we're bringing the community this newsletter is built for into the same room, and we intend to make it the kind of gathering worth coming back to every year.
Be the first to know when tickets go on sale by requesting a notification at authentic.aivanta.io
See you next week.
— The Authentic Team