Alex Cooper launched a creative agency (Google's already a client)

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🎯 Alex Cooper Just Launched a Creative Agency (And Google\'s Already a Client)

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The "Call Her Daddy" host isn\'t just taking brand deals anymore. She\'s launching Unwell Creative Agency—and landed Google as her first client, producing ads for Pixel and T-Mobile.

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This isn\'t a vanity project. It\'s a structural shift in how top-tier creators capture value.

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💰 The Economics

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Cooper was reportedly making $60M annually from Spotify plus brand deals. Now she\'s positioning to capture production fees, strategy retainers, and agency margins—not just her personal appearance rate. One industry source estimates agencies take 15-20% on campaigns. If Unwell produces $50M in work annually, that\'s $7.5-10M in margin before Cooper even appears in content.

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📊 Why This Matters for Brands

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Creator agencies understand platform mechanics better than traditional shops. Cooper knows what works on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube because she\'s tested thousands of content variations. Traditional agencies are still learning.

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Built-in distribution advantage. When Cooper\'s agency creates content, she can amplify it to 6M+ followers across platforms. Traditional agencies pay for that reach.

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Talent relationships are pre-built. Cooper can recruit creators for campaigns with one text message. Traditional agencies negotiate through agents and managers for weeks.

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🚀 The Pattern Accelerating

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Emma Chamberlain launched Bad Habit Productions. MrBeast operates multiple production entities. Charli D\'Amelio\'s family runs a management and production company. The creator-to-agency pipeline is becoming standard for anyone earning $10M+ annually.

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For brands spending $500K+ on creator campaigns: Test working with creator-owned agencies. Yes, you lose some negotiating leverage. But you gain platform expertise and built-in amplification that traditional agencies can\'t match.

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For traditional agencies: This is your competition now. Creators with 5M+ followers and strong business teams will increasingly compete for the same budgets. Your advantage: cross-platform strategy and brand safety infrastructure. Their advantage: platform fluency and distribution.

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Threshold question: When does a creator launch an agency vs. just taking deals? Pattern shows $20M+ annual earnings, established business team, and desire to work past age 40. Below that threshold, deal-taking remains more profitable.

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💡 Prediction

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By end of 2026, at least 10 creators with 5M+ followers will operate production agencies competing for Fortune 500 budgets. Traditional agencies will respond by acquiring creator shops or hiring creators as partners (not just spokespeople).

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🌏 Publicis Just Validated the Southeast Asia Creator Economy Thesis

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Publicis Groupe acquired Singapore-based HEPMIL Media Group today, signaling where global holding companies see structural growth: localized influencer expertise in emerging markets.

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This isn\'t opportunistic. It\'s strategic.

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💰 Why Publicis Paid Premium for a Regional Shop

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• Southeast Asian influencer spend grew 67% in 2024 (vs. 12% in North America). Publicis looked at that gap and decided organic growth was too slow.
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• Local creator networks take 2-3 years to build. Western brands expanding into Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Philippines need those relationships now—not in 2027.
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• Cultural nuance matters more than follower count. A US mega-influencer promoting to Southeast Asian audiences delivers 1/4 the engagement of local micro-creators. Brands learned this through expensive failed campaigns.
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📊 The Broader Pattern

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This follows similar acquisitions in Latin America and India over 18 months. The thesis is consistent across regions: Global brands will pay premium prices for agencies with established local creator relationships in high-growth markets.

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For brands expanding internationally: Partner with regional influencer agencies before building in-house. One CPG brand spent $400K and 18 months trying to build direct creator relationships in Southeast Asia. Result: 12 signed creators, inconsistent content, poor performance. They pivoted to agency partnership, got 50+ creator relationships in 90 days, and 3x\'d engagement rates.

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For mid-sized influencer agencies: Geographic specialization is now more defensible than platform specialization. If you have strong networks in Latin America, Africa, or Southeast Asia, expect acquisition interest from holding companies. Valuation multiples: 8-12x EBITDA for agencies with exclusive regional relationships vs. 4-6x for generalist shops.

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What\'s next: Watch for Omnicom, WPP, or IPG to make similar moves in Latin America (likely Mexico or Brazil) within 6 months. The consolidation wave is just starting.

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🎬 How UGC Made Pork Cool (Yes, Really)

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If influencer marketing can reposition pork for Gen Z, it can reposition almost anything.

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A major campaign targeting Gen Z and millennials used creator-led cooking tutorials and lifestyle content to shift perceptions. The challenge: younger consumers saw pork as "outdated" and "not health-conscious."

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🎯 The Approach

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Recruited 40+ food and lifestyle creators (20K-200K followers) to create authentic cooking content featuring pork. No scripts. No brand talking points. Just: "Here\'s how I actually cook with this."

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Focused on preparation methods, not product attributes. Instead of "pork is lean protein," creators showed quick weeknight dinners, meal prep, and budget-friendly recipes.

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Let creators own their platforms. No requirement to post on specific dates or use branded hashtags. Result: content felt native to each creator\'s feed, not like an ad campaign.

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Results: Significant engagement lift and positive sentiment shift among target demos. Comments shifted from "I don\'t really eat pork" to "I need to try this recipe."

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💡 The Lesson for Legacy Brands

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If your product is perceived as outdated, boring, or "for older generations," creator-led content works better than traditional advertising. Why? Creators reframe the product in contexts their audiences already trust—weeknight cooking, budget meals, quick recipes.

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Threshold for this strategy: Minimum 30-50 creators to achieve meaningful reach. Budget: $60K-150K depending on creator tier. Timeline: 3-6 months to shift perception metrics.

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Categories this works for: Canned goods, legacy food brands, household products, financial services targeting younger demos. Doesn\'t work well for: Premium positioning (requires more control), regulated industries (compliance issues), or products with fundamental quality issues (creators won\'t authentically recommend).

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⚡ Quick Hits

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Micro-influencers (1K-50K followers) continue dominating ROI metrics — Recent analysis confirms smaller creators outperform on conversion despite lower reach. The shift is complete—reach is no longer the primary metric. Engagement rate and conversion tracking win. For DTC brands: allocate 60-70% of creator budget to micro-tier, 30-40% to mid-tier for awareness.

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TikTok Shop processing $20B in US sales this year — Up from $4B in 2023. That\'s 5x growth during an economic slowdown. The mechanism: creator posts product → embedded TikTok Shop link → viewers buy without leaving app. Average time from discovery to purchase: 14 minutes vs. 3-7 days for traditional e-commerce. If you\'re not testing TikTok Shop, you\'re missing the fastest-growing commerce channel.

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Instagram engagement down 23% for brand accounts, up 12% for creators — The platform didn\'t break. The audience rejected brand content specifically. Algorithm now prioritizes creator content at 2.4x rate vs. brand posts. Translation: Stop posting from your brand account. Pay creators to post about you instead. Shift 80% of Instagram budget from branded posts to creator partnerships.

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YouTube Shorts now monetizable below 1K subscribers — Massive for new creators. Only need 10M Shorts views in 90 days to qualify. This lowers barrier to entry and will flood the creator market with new talent. For brands: opportunity to partner with emerging creators before rates increase.

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