Looking forward: what brands that don’t adapt will lose
Gen Z isn’t just rejecting traditional advertising, they’re actively building brand relationships that bypass traditional marketing entirely. They’re creating communities where trusted voices shape purchasing decisions faster than brands can influence them.
The brands that continue treating creator partnerships like media buys will find themselves increasingly locked out of these conversations. Gen Z won’t just scroll past inauthentic content, they’ll actively warn their communities about brands that feel manipulative or performative.
Here’s what’s coming: Gen Z creator communities are becoming closed loops where brand discovery happens through trusted recommendations, not advertising exposure. Brands that haven’t established genuine creator relationships now will struggle to break into these trust networks later.
The opportunity window is narrowing. Gen Z is building their brand loyalty foundations right now, and they’re doing it through creator relationships that feel authentic and valuable. Brands that earn their place in these relationships today will benefit from compound trust building over years. Brands that wait will find themselves competing for attention in increasingly expensive and less effective traditional channels.
At , we’re building the infrastructure that enables brands to participate in trust-driven marketing. Measuring authentic engagement, facilitating genuine creator relationships, and tracking the long-term value that comes from community building rather than audience targeting.
Key Takeaways for Brands:
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Stop over-scripting creators – Trust their cultural expertise over your brand guidelines
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Invest in relationship depth, not reach breadth – Quality engagement consistently outperforms large audience reach
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Measure trust indicators, not just engagement metrics – Track sentiment, retention, and advocacy
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Budget for quarters, not campaigns – Sustained relationships create compound ROI
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Accept that authentic content feels different than advertising – That’s exactly why it works
The broadcast era didn’t end gradually, it ended suddenly when audiences found better alternatives. The same shift is happening now with traditional influencer marketing. According to our research, creator marketing now represents almost 20% of total marketing budgets, the second-largest allocation after traditional advertising. Brands that understand this evolution will build sustainable creator strategies. Brands that don’t will keep wondering why their Gen Z acquisition costs keep rising while their competitors’ keep falling.
Ready to build creator partnerships that actually drive Gen Z conversions? Book a call with ‘s services team to develop an influencer marketing strategy rooted in authenticity, not vanity metrics.
Methodology
This article draws from ’s proprietary 2026 Creator Economy Trends Report, based on internal research including surveys of 609 creators and 862 brands (525 qualified), along with anonymized platform performance insights.
Findings are supplemented with independent third-party industry data from eMarketer, Statista, and SociallyIn to contextualize broader creator marketing trends.
Survey estimates carry an approximate margin of error of ±4% for creators and ±4.3% for brands, reflecting sentiment and planning behavior entering 2026.
