ICYMI: Inside CES's First-Ever Creator Space
I went to CES this week to bring you the details of their new, dedicated Creator Space, plus highlights of the conversations happening among creators, brand marketers and platform executives at the first big trade show of the year. Today’s newsletter condenses this week’s platform updates with news from the tech expo. Note: I left CES early to get home back home to loved ones in Los Angeles in case we needed to evacuate. If you’ve been following the tragic situation here and have the resources to help, please consider donating to one of these verified fundraisers for those affected by the California wildfires. ⏰ 1-SECOND SUMMARY
⚡️ INSIDE CES💡 What is CESCES (Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual tech trade show. This year, it introduced its first-ever dedicated Creator Space, presented by Sony and with programming sponsored by Pinterest. It’s part of a new creator track trend among tech and marketing conferences and festivals, such as SXSW and Cannes Lions, to acknowledge the creator economy. The CES creator lounge included meeting rooms, selfie stations and a speaker stage MC’d by What’s Trending co-founder Shira Lazar. Panels within the space included an overview of the State of the Creator Economy and a Roblox panel, titled The Power of Immersive Gaming, where Roblox VP Global Brand Partnerships Stephanie Latham had everyone stand to practice Pose 28 from Dress to Impress. While there were a lot of repeat faces at CES, there were new creators, platforms and creator economy brands who may not have previously attended the expo in Las Vegas. So, what were the big takeaways and does this mean you should add CES to your must-attend list as a marketer or creator? Let’s get into it! 🎟️ Who was thereConvention-goers seemed to be mostly a mix of brand and agency folks — Nvidia, Amazon, Netflix, Tubi, l’Oreal, Elf beauty, Ssense, Mastercard, Deloitte, Whalar, UTA, etc. There were also executives from most of the major platforms, though L.A. fires led to Snap founder Evan Spiegel’s keynote being cancelled. High profile names included traditional celebrity-entrepreneurs, including: FYI.AI tech founder will.i.am who spoke about his new LG partnership; supermodel and Kode With Klossy founder Karlie Kloss who had an official presence at the Female Quotient Equality Lounge; and Martha Stewart, who visited her Vegas restaurant, The Bedford, while I was there (!). Among the creators on hand, there was an emphasis on tech reviewers, entrepreneurs and analysts, including iJustine, Jacklyn Dallas, Jules Terpak, Dhar Mann and Brian Tong. There were also non-tech creators, such as beauty pros Cassandra Bankson and Audrey Boos, travel creators Fiona Chen and Juliana Broste, Medical Mythbuster Joel Bervell, health and wellness creator Gigi Robinson and the Washington Post’s Carmella Boykin. And those were just the ones I spotted. According to data from CreatorIQ, close to 1,500 creators had created 5,695 #CES2025 posts and posts mentioning CES across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and blogs since December 2024 to drive 182.5 million impressions and 6.5 million engagements. 💻 Platform roadmapAlmost every major platform had some sort of presence at CES, whether they were on the trade show floor, had executives participate in panels or hosted (invite-only) happy hours. A lot of the companies also used the opportunity to release updates and trend insights. 📲 YouTube Updates YouTube threw an opening night celebration Monday for its Creator Collective, hosted by tech YouTuber KhanFlicks. On Tuesday, the company announced a partnership with Delta airlines to make ad-free YouTube Premium and YouTube Music services available free on flights for SkyMiles loyalty program members. The same week, Creator Liaison Rene Ritchie shared that the Shorts creation tool in YouTube’s mobile app would allow creators to make up to 3-minute Shorts. And the YouTube team announced they were experimenting with a feature that lets creators easily cut out engaging segments from long-form videos on YouTube and instantly publish them as separate 16:9 videos. Related: Comcast and other TV streamers are now chasing YouTube’s ad dollars instead of the other way around
📲 Meta Updates Meta had a relatively light presence at CES, participating in panels on brand marketing and AI but they did not host any creator events. The company was clearly busy elsewhere. At the beginning of the week, Meta dialed back a statement that previously appeared in the Financial Times about AI users being incorporated onto its platforms alongside human accounts. Then Business Insider reported that Instagram shut down a program that paid creators for ads placed on their profiles. Finally, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta would end fact-checking in favor of community notes to combat censorship on its platforms. “The reality is that this is a trade-off. It means we're going to catch less bad stuff, but we'll also reduce the number of innocent people's posts and accounts that we accidentally take down.” Reactions to the news were mixed. “Meta Gone Maga,” read an email subject line from Axios while searches spiked for how to delete Facebook, Instagram, and Threads accounts. On the flip side, Fox News and X’s Linda Yaccarino celebrated the news. Related: How Mark Zuckerberg's Move Will Impact Meta and Creators 📲 TikTok Updates TikTok used CES to launch its What’s Next Trend Report 2025 and corresponding What’s Next panel, pointing out that consumers are having much greater influence on the products and services that are created and how they are marketed. But in a new legal filing, ByteDance confirmed TikTok would shut down January 19 unless the Supreme Court blocked or delayed the U.S. ban. As for the mood amongst creators at the event, most people didn’t seem alarmed. Opinions ranged from “the ban won’t happen” to a pragmatic approach of platform diversification. “There's a lot of fear around what's gonna happen with Tik Tok,” said creator Audrey Boos during a panel on niching in the creator space. “The audience is always going to be there. They're just going to move to a different platform. And we as creators just seem to be ready to change and diversify our platforms.” Related: What Happens When TikTok’s Trend Machine Shuts Down? 📲 Pinterest Updates Pinterest was the title sponsor of programming at the CES Creator Stage while company leaders also participated in panels across the conference. In a panel on How the Internet Creates Trends, VP of Global Marketing, Stacy Malone pointed out that Pinterest has an 80% success record on accurately predicting trends. She spoke of how advertisers could use trends by incorporating them in interesting ways: “Whether it's their styling in the marketing itself, it might be in the merchandising, in their physical presence, and ultimately product development.” Trends that Pinterest had previously highlighted for 2025, such as Cherry Coded and Rococo Revival, were also creatively incorporated into the decor at Pinterest’s pop-up party for partners on Tuesday night. 📲 X Updates X’s Linda Yaccarino took part in a keynote conversation on the future of digital communication, where she reportedly confirmed the upcoming launch of X Money payment system. She also joined a fireside chat about the evolution of X at the Female Quotient Lounge. 📲 Reddit Updates Reddit’s Global Head of Insights, Rob Gaige, was there for a panel on marketing to Gen Alpha to Z, “The Next Gen Marketing Revolution.” Gen Z actually prefers long form content on the platform, but “it has to be something they actually give a shit about,” said Gaige. The company also used the opportunity to roll out new marketing tools, including Reddit Pro Trends to help marketers track trends and communities in real time and AMA ads. 🤓 Voices from CESI asked several creator economy speakers at the expo — newbies and regulars — why they attended this year, plus what they thought of the new Creator Space and whether they see more opportunity for creator conversations at CES moving forward. Talkshoplive CEO and Co-Founder Bryan Moore is a CES regular who was there to introduce a new, shoppable video product, TSL Shoppettes, and discuss shoppable storytelling in a panel titled Connecting Creators, Content & Commerce as Walmart Live’s technology partner.
It was creator Cassandra Bankson’s first time at CES. She was there to livestream from the show with TikTok Shop and cover new trends and innovations as part of CES Live.
Mind Chatter Media CEO Adam Wescott was a return attendee who was there to lend his expertise to the kick-off Creator Space panel, State of the Creator Economy, as an investor and advisor in the space.
It was creator commerce platform LTK’s first official presence at CES, with Head of Creator Success Katie Melton leading a panel on Growing Your Channel and Business.
It was influencer marketing platform CreatorIQ’s first official presence at CES, with CMO Brit Starr leading a panel on Niching in the Creator Space.
 📋 Common themesThere were certain topics and keywords that were repeated over and over again during panels and after-hours conversations. Expect to see more around the following terms this year: 🙌🏻 Creators as collaborators Young people are interested in the creator economy because they want autonomy, said Jules Terpak during the State of the Creator Economy panel. But they’re not all entrepreneurs. “They want to help within businesses, not necessarily start their own,” explained Terpak. That sentiment of partnering with or employing creators was echoed by fellow panelist, Deloitte Digital’s Kenny Gold. “If you actually have them advise on the future of your product line, your research and development, you start to get an interesting perspective that is rooted in the true insight of your customer.” Across several panels, creators were hailed for their value as corporate advisors and storytellers, not for being influencers. “We can't go and make all the content for them. We need them to be completely self-sufficient,” said Therabody CMO John Solomon during a panel titled The Creator-verse: Are Marketers Just Living In It? “I think traditional influencers, you’re paying for an endorsement,” said Solomon. “I see creators as people who are able to make content on your behalf and explain to their audiences how your products work and how it benefits them.” ✨ Brands love AI “I’m obligated by CES law to incorporate AI,” joked Variety Intelligence Platform’s Andrew Wallenstein during a panel titled: Powering Personalized Digital Media Experiences. AI technology was the star of CES, credited with driving everything from personalization and creation to data insights. Overall, the attitude toward AI reminded me of a recent IAB report that pointed out 80% of ad executives thought consumers viewed AI-generated ads positively, but only 48% of Gen Z and Millennials agreed. 🥰 Embrace the niche “Niche is expertise and really building your expertise within the content, the community, and the subject matter that you're talking about,” explained CreatorIQ’s Starr during a panel on Niching in the Creator Space. It wasn’t the only time niche came up. “Niche is the new mainstream,” said NowThis CEO Sharon Mussalli, during the panel From Gen Alpha to Z: The Next Gen Marketing Revolution. She pointed to the term as one of the main trends the company has seen from its Gen Z and Alpha advisory board. Young people are looking for inclusive subcultures and communities where they can connect over their deeper interests. 🪞 Make it relatable Brands and creators need to create content people can connect to on a raw and relatable level. “Perfection is over. It’s the era of relatable,” said creator Fiona Chen during the panel How the Internet Creates Trends. Being relatable came up again during The Creator-verse panel. “The role of the brand is to continue to drive aspiration,” said Therabody’s Solomon, adding, “But we found creators drive a lot of relatability and accessibility.” 📳 Storytelling as a major buzzword Storytelling is the basis of any good marketing or influencing, said Pinterest’s Stacy Malone during a panel on How the Internet Creates Trends. “It just shows how creators are becoming more mature in the way that they're telling their stories and bringing consumers on the journey.” The term resonated throughout CES, including during the opening State of the Creator Economy panel. Storytelling is a big way that creators have connected audiences, said moderator Carmella Boykin. “Storytelling is the job. That's literally what a content creator is," agreed Wescott, noting that smart creators leverage data to refine their content and engage audiences effectively.  Go or don’t go?CES requires credentials: you have to be an industry professional within the consumer technology industry. It could be a good fit if you’re a mid- to senior-level corporate marketer with a conference budget who wants to try to network with leadership or hear what they’re thinking about. But you’re probably not going to make a lot of creator connections at the expo unless they expand the invite list. If you’re a creator, the opportunities seem to be: get yourself invited as a panelist for a brand or agency session or go as a guest as one of the social networks. 👀 ICYMI: JUST THE HEADLINES
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