There was a time when the term ‘creator economy’ made people roll their eyes. It sounded like a fad for hobbyists with ring lights, free time, and fast Wi-Fi. Fast forward a few years and those same ‘hobbyists’ are now powering an industry worth over USD 250 billion globally, one that Goldman Sachs expects to nearly double to USD 480 billion by 2027. What began as a space for influencers has evolved into the backbone of how brands build trust, loyalty, and long-term growth. The creator economy is no longer niche marketing; it’s the new engine driving how businesses connect with audiences and shape culture.

Social media has given everyone a voice, and people trust those voices more than traditional ads. A Sprout Social study found that 61% of consumers trust creators more than brand advertising, especially millennials, Gen Z, and even Gen Alpha. These generations don’t just want to be sold to; they want to relate, connect, and be part of something real. Creators bring that authenticity and niche expertise that help brands cut through the noise.

And obviously, brands are now trying to play catch-up. The one-post partnership, the transactional campaign, that whole model doesn’t really work anymore. What’s working is collaboration. Long-term thinking. Building things together. Some brands are even helping creators set up storefronts, test products, fund ideas. How exciting!

And nowhere is this more visible than in India during the festive madness. According to a QuruzFestive Season report, brands are expected to increase their influencer marketing spend by over 700 crores. As festive ad spends peak, influencers are becoming central to driving engagement and conversions, with leading commerce platforms like Flipkart, Myntra, BIBA, and Swiggy Instamart leaning heavily on their reach. Meanwhile, some traditional ads are still out there showing perfectly lit families passing mithai and pretending that it's relatable! 

So creators aren’t just participants in this ecosystem; they are leading it. They possess an intimate, real-time understanding of tone, nuance, and emerging community language. This is not just an executional advantage; it’s a strategic superpower. Brands and strategists need to move beyond seeing creators as executional partners and start valuing them as strategic inputs, influencing not only how we communicate, but also what we communicate and why.

Take Aishwarya Mohanraj’s collaboration with Airtel. She turned something as dry as an AI spam detector into a piece people actually watched. Or OML’s #DuckLips campaign for Pringles which made an old meme feel brand new again. These things work because they don’t try too hard. They come from creators who understand how their audiences think that help transform simple moments into viral social media trends. 

Here’s what I’ve learned watching these campaigns : creators are no longer just amplifiers; they are strategic co-drivers of brand storytelling. They bring agility, narrative intuition, cultural fluency, and audience trust, making brands more responsive, human, and relevant..The brands that will actually top this shift aren’t the ones just hiring creators to post once. They’re the ones sitting with them early, building with them, and treating them like partners instead of billboards. Because new audiences can spot ‘performative authenticity’ from a mile away.

Creators don’t just amplify ideas, the portrayal of their lives are the ideas! They bring instinct, humor, and an inherent understanding of nuance that most decks will never capture.The brands that get it already act like creators. They move fast, they take risks, they experiment. Everyone else is still chasing relevance on a delay! And maybe that’s the real difference between a boardroom and a creator’s room. One talks about culture, the other is already making it.

The author is EVP - creative, Only Much Louder.