VidCon 2025: What’s Next for Creators, Brands & Platforms
Greetings from Anaheim: I’m going to split the VidCon coverage into two emails. You’re reading the first one — a straight recap of Day 1. I’ll be sending out another newsletter on Monday with more comprehensive VidCon coverage and analyzing the most important platform updates we’ve seen over the past two weeks. ⏰ 1-SECOND SUMMARY
🗂️ INFLUENCER MARKETING REPORT
Here’s what most brands don’t realize about working with creators: You’re not just getting reach — you’re getting real influence on how people shop. Among the insights revealed in Sprout Social’s new State of Influencer Marketing Report, this one really stood out: 41% of consumers send product feedback to creators, not brands! If consumers are turning to creators instead of your customer care team, that’s a signal — and a strategic opportunity. Partnering with creators shouldn’t stop at promotion. It’s time to treat them as part of your feedback loop, product testing strategy, and even customer research. The smartest brands in 2025 won’t just amplify through creators — they’ll listen through them, too. *Sprout Social Partner 💻 ROADMAP📲 YouTube Updates
📲 Meta Updates
📲 TikTok Updates
📲 Pinterest Updates
📲 Adobe Updates
📲 Patreon Updates
📲 Amazon Updates
📲 Reddit Updates
🎥 INSIDE VIDCON 2025
VidCon kicked off its 15th annual conference for fans, creators and industry folks on Thursday. While Cannes Lions may have grabbed some of the spotlight, the conversations on the ground in Anaheim offered valuable signals for where the creator economy is headed next. Here’s a breakdown of the people, platforms, and ideas shaping the back half of 2025 — hour by hour:
This was a panel of people who have excelled in creating educational content to attract massive audiences, like Dr Pimple Popper, Astro Alexandra and Etymology Nerd. Favorite quote: “The role of a good educator should hopefully always be to entertain while they're educated,” says Adam Aleksic. “However, you do have to strike that balance of not just making spectacular content that deviates from your mission and what you're trying to do.” Takeaway: Education and entertainment aren’t at odds — the most effective content blends both.
Flvr is PepsiCo Foods’ entertainment marketing program aimed at Gen Z, including a partnership with Smosh’s Culinary Crimes series with recipes like Flamin Hot Cheetos ramen noodles. Favorite quote: “There’s a movement called ‘chaos cooking,’ and it describes what we’ve seen across a number of platforms where consumers are getting experimental with their food,” said James Clarke, Sr. Director Digital & Social at PepsiCo. “There are no rules. It’s leveraging unorthodox ingredients and combining them to create new dishes.” Takeaway: PepsiCo is moving away from push-based advertising and leading with content that adds to the consumer experience.
Video podcasting is unlocking growth — but measurement is still a mess. Favorite quote: The podcast industry needs to move away from downloads, said Jonas Woost (Co-founder at Bumper). “A download is just a file transfer, it doesn't actually mean that anyone listened. Downloads don't represent people or time or engagement. We need to measure what's important, which is audiences.” Takeaway: The next era of podcast analytics will focus on the amount of people reached, the podcast plays initiated and the time people spent listening.
I took a break in the speaker room where I ran into Jerry Won and Jim Louderback. Snap’s Brooke Berry was taking calls and etymologist Adam Aleksic chatted with a fan. There were supercharged Flvr cookies packed with Lay’s Wavy Potato Chips and Rold Gold Tiny Twist pretzels. The concept was good but the execution was mid. A better baker could have rocked a potato chip - chocolate chip cookie.
This was my favorite panel format. Each speaker had 10 minutes to share tactical, data-backed YouTube growth tips — all focused on the viewer lifecycle. Favorite quote: “This year, your mantra should be Connected TV” said Gwen Miller. Sr. Director, Creator Growth at Mythical Entertainment. “Because more YouTube users watch on TV than mobile now. This is the predominant way people are consuming YouTube on their Connected TVs with their families.” Takeaway: Optimize your content for TV-viewing audiences. (I’m zero’ing in on Miller’s advice because there was just too much shared across six people to do justice in a sentence.)
Cassey Ho, of Blogilates and Popflex fame, runs a multi-million dollar DTC and licensing business; operates as a partner and vendor to sell her Blogilates lifestyle brand at Target — and she still edits all her own social content. Favorite quote: “Nobody touches Blogilates (social) content. People always get surprised with this, but I am still filming and editing all of my content. Nobody answers my comments for me. Nobody gets to log into @ Blogilates because I am terrified of someone hijacking me.” Takeaway: Ho’s product development still starts with social listening. “I'm always ready to listen and ready to solve problems,” said Ho.
LTK and Northwestern University shared new research on retail marketing, followed by a panel on partnership dynamics with creators and brand leaders. Favorite quote: “I'm starting to see my worlds come together,” said actor-creator Adam Rose speaking to the blurring between traditional entertainment and creator-led media companies. “I'm really excited that now we're going to get the opportunity to actually leverage my audience for stuff that I'm making on other platforms and other mediums.” Takeaway: Creators are now a top digital marketing investment for 2025. On average, their content is repurposed across four channels beyond social.
This panel featured creators who evolved into business operators — launching products, building teams, and scaling IP-driven ventures. Favorite quote: “IP ownership is going to be a big conversation for creators,” said Hunter March, founder Poppies Studios. “If you have a passion project, IP ownership is remarkably valuable.” Takeaway: The next phase of the creator economy isn’t just about reach — it’s about ownership. As creators grow into operators, controlling and monetizing their IP will be key to long-term sustainability. And that’s a wrap on Day 1 at VidCon. Tomorrow, I’m moderating a panel with LTK and Warner Bros on how entertainment is powering the next wave of social commerce. Then on Monday, I’ll send a full VidCon recap — plus a platform index highlighting the most important announcements from both VidCon and Cannes. Stay tuned. 👀 ICYMI: JUST THE HEADLINES
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