Jimmy Donaldson, aka Mr Beast. (File photo)
How is it possible that a YouTuber’s staged boxing match can draw almost as many viewers as the Super Bowl?
Jake Paul and Mike Tyson recently raked in a combined $60 million from a Netflix event that attracted 120 million viewers — so many that the streaming platform struggled to handle the demand.
This moment highlights a profound shift in media consumption habits over the past few years. To see where things are going in 2025, we need to take a step back.
Then: TV, print and radio were the dominant channels.
Now: Social media, YouTube and podcasts are the primary platforms for influence.
For decades, demand generation followed a familiar script — brands dictated the terms, controlled the narrative and funnelled billions into traditional advertising to capture consumers’ attention. But traditional media consumption, such as TV viewership, is now in secular decline.
At the core of this disruption is the rise of the internet and the explosion of online information and content, which brings entirely new advertising opportunities with it.
Social media has opened the door to highly targeted advertising, attracting a growing share of spend, and we are now entering a new phase of media and consumption where creators are responsible for aggregating an audience to generate demand.
In this emerging “shared economy”, those who adapt will thrive. Those who cling to old models risk fading into irrelevance. From the Webfluential camp, we’ve been watching the curves on the creator economy closely and creators and marketers should be too.
Here are the heat-seeker creator trends you need to know in 2025.
Creators are the new titans of demand
Then: Corporate-controlled media dictated demand and influence through traditional networks.
Now: Creators drive massive demand, surpassing traditional media’s reach and influence.
The era of corporate-controlled demand is over and the era of creator-driven influence is here. Consider this: Tucker Carlson’s first post-Fox show on X attracted 120 million viewers, compared to his Fox News audience of just 4 million.
American YouTuber MrBeast, one of the most influential creators today, has a following larger than the audiences of Reddit, Pinterest and X combined.
Trust and authenticity are the new currency
Then: Brands controlled the narrative through polished, traditional advertising.
Now: Creators drive the narrative with authentic, relatable content that resonates more deeply with audiences.
In a world of misinformation, audiences crave authenticity. They want truth from people they trust, not marketing messages from detached corporations. Micro and nano influencers and creators are thriving because they offer what brands can’t — genuine human connection.
These creators, no matter how niche their followings, wield immense influence because their audiences believe in them. Trust is the new currency and it’s priceless.
The death of one-off deals
Then: One-off influencer deals with minimal long-term collaboration.
Now: True partnerships where creators get a stake in the brand’s success.
Brands that think they can simply “hire” creators to post and pray for conversions are missing the point. Creators are no longer satisfied with transactional relationships (and they’re building their own brands, too, which we’ll discuss in the next section).
Smart brands are adapting by offering creators a stake in their success. In this shared economy, brands and creators win together.
The rise of creator-backed brands
Then: Established brands dominated new product releases with huge marketing budgets.
Now: Creators launch products that disrupt markets and challenge corporate giants.
Logan Paul’s energy drink Prime, for example. According to Venture capital firm Social Capital, the drink hit $1.2 billion in sales in just one year.
Monster Energy took 12 years to reach that mark. The reason? Logan Paul isn’t just endorsing a drink; he owns the audience drinking it. By tapping into their audiences, creators are rewriting the rules of commerce and launching brands that outperform long-established corporate giants.
MrBeast’s Feastables snacks shook up the sweets industry, even affecting Nestlé’s share price. Reed Duchscher, MrBeast’s manager, took to LinkedIn to share a clip where he explained the reason for Feastables’ success: “We don’t have customers, we have fans.”
Creators and news agencies are shaping what’s next
As creators become more powerful, new agencies are emerging to connect them with brands in innovative ways. These intermediaries facilitate entire product lines for their clients through collaboration with manufacturers, allowing even small players to challenge giants.
Imagine a niche cereal brand partnering with a creator to compete with a brand like Kellogg’s. In the shared economy, size matters less than strategy.
The creator economy isn’t a side hustle or a fad. It’s real and it’s here to stay. This is the future of demand generation and it’s built on collaboration, trust and shared success.
Creators, this is your time to tap in and hold agency with your audience — and marketers — it’s your time to reach back with a change in your thinking. As a global economy, we’re needing to embrace the shared economy, not compete against it. Because the power is back with the people, for the people — and creators are teaching us why.
Albert Makoeng is the managing director of Nfinity’s influencer division, overseeing two of Africa’s leading creator brands, Webfluential and theSalt. His job focuses on connecting brands with creators across the continent.