Hot off the heels of Cannes Lions 2024, recipient of the prestigious Lion of St Mark’s award to designate a lifetime of contribution to the industry, Jacques Séguéla, a celebrated ad-man who cannot stop pitching, leaves the audience with one pertinent message, “Money has no ideas. Only ideas make money”.
In addressing the decade of change, a shifting focus to vocal creators at the core of brand campaigns and in the fast-evolving world of content creation, brands and companies have distinguished themselves by driving innovation by fostering talent that shapes how we consume and create media. Here’s a look at some of the top creator platforms in 2024 that are making waves in the industry, such as Patreon, YouTube, Discord, Substack and more.
With a focus on scaling the reach and virality of such voices, Changer, a creator accelerator company founded by Ant McCormak together with co-founder, Farhad Meher-Homji, in conjunction with platform, YouTube, has worked with some of the biggest and brightest minds in the market, such as, notable names Cleo Abram, a genuinely optimistic former Vox journalist who made crypo kitties popular, gets people hooked on nerdy topics that delve into nuclear fusion, quantum computing alike, Typical Gamer, a Fornite gaming geek and more.
Matt Woods, founder of AFK Creators, a full-service global creator marketing agency, transitioned into the creator economy more by chance than by design. In 2019, Matt started making gaming content on YouTube and Twitch to help others understand how to play games and share his knowledge. This endeavour led him to connect with fellow gaming content creators who needed assistance navigating the commercial side of being a creator.
Creators are using AI in a number of ways to support their content creation and distribution. The biggest trend we see today in 2024 is creators having multiple channels across different platforms simultaneously. It is almost considered a ‘must’, now that people are active across multiple social media platforms, not solely for the purpose of social posting but actually creating bespoke custom content of different formats.
Matt Woods, on future trends in the Creator economy
Back in Asia, another creator tool, BandLab Technologies is supercharging creator journeys. It provides free, innovative tools that democratize music production. This allows anyone, regardless of their background or resources, to create and share music. The availability of these tools lowers the barriers to entry in the music industry, fostering a more inclusive environment that paves the way forward for creators.
Reflecting on the creator journey so far, which Changer began in an era where being an ‘influencer’ could not counted on as a job, Ant shares, “Almost 10 years ago we noticed that content creators were generating the most value for the creator economy, but not capturing it themselves. Rather the platforms, brands and agencies were. There also wasn’t a strong network and community to share knowledge and help creators rise up together. We wanted to fix this by being the best conduit for information creators as well as connecting the creator community.”
To bridge this gap, Changer aimed to be the best conduit for information and community connection. They began by organizing community meetups and events, and opened their studio to creators for free. In 2018, via the inaugural YouTube Creator Accelerator, Ant has provided comprehensive support and resources to help creators grow their channels and achieve sustainable success. A pay check too.
His successful bets so far include, key players, Dami and Self Sufficient Me.
Dami Lee – link, focused on Architecture and joined Changer’s “Women’s Voices Accelerator” program in the middle of 2023, has an affirming message for everyone and expressed deep gratitude for the program: “It’s really hard to believe how much it has grown. This program actually changed my life in a big way.”
Self Sufficient Me – link, a gardening platform who signed on when trying to find growth. Starting with 70,000 subscribers in 2019 upon joining Changer, this platform has thrived and grown to one of the largest channels, on we kid you not, green fingers, with 2.2 million YouTube subscribers.
I was lucky enough to attend Changer’s first YouTube Accelerator and since then Changer has played a big role over the past 6 years helping me to grow my YouTube Channel into a flourishing and successful business.
Self Sufficient Me, on the Changer accelerator program
Changer is on a constant look out to sign Creators that are looking to create content of value for an audience, possess the willingness to take on advice, have commitment and take a longer term approach to career building. Definitely the way forward to amplify your brand’s footprint and cut through the noise of an increasingly fragmented media landscape.
Empower your Creator or Brand journey with Changer, BandLab Technologies and AFK Creators.
