From Vanity to Value: Genuine Influence and the Creator Economy’s New Era

The creator economy is at a tipping point. As creators play an ever-larger and more vital role in shaping what we buy, trust and believe, the way we define and measure influence needs to evolve.

Today’s consumer journey isn’t linear. It’s a loop of discovery, validation, and participation, with creators influencing every stage. Yet brands still rely on surface-level metrics that reward visibility over impact, and scale over substance. In this talk, Stevie Johnson introduces Genuine Influence, a new standard for what influencer marketing should be.

It’s a shift from vanity to value, toward campaigns built on trust, transparency, and tangible outcomes. By treating creators as strategic partners, grounding decisions in data, and measuring what really matters, marketers can unlock the true commercial and cultural potential of the creator economy.