Caliber

Caliber is reimagining how stories are created, shared, and valued by meeting audiences on their terms, in their tone, and on their time.

Using insights from its own success on social media, Caliber simplifies social to move brands forward—

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Marketing Brew

Ryan Barwick

marketingbrew.com

 X ad costs, engagement continue to fall, per report 

Data from Tracer provided a snapshot of the ad platform ecosystem.

 X ad costs and engagement continue to fall, per report 

Katie Hicks

Influencer at the center of a ring light being scanned

Deepfakes are spreading, putting creator and brand safety at risk

Michel Janse, who said her likeness was recently used without her consent, told Marketing Brew the experience was “violating.” 

How brands are thinking about a possible TikTok ban

Duolingo, Osea Malibu, and Truff are among the brands that tell us they’d turn to alternative short-form video platforms, like Instagram Shorts and YouTube Reels.

An @ symbol denoting social media and influencers

Social & Influencers

Jennimai Nguyen

Only a true fan could dream up the singularly effective combination of watching Edward Cullen and Bella Swan’s love story unfold in 

 with Charli xcx’s “Everything is romantic” as the soundtrack.

Thus goes one popular fan edit on TikTok, one of plenty dedicated to the film

series, and part of a seemingly endless stream of movies and TV shows that have inspired such social media artistry.

Fan edits are typically marked by quick-cut scenes overlaid with a popular song, the two mediums coming together to invoke an emotional connection to a film or TV show’s characters. They can be made by just about anyone who considers themselves a fan, and they can promote everything from vampire movies released more than a decade ago to anticipated new releases like the upcoming final season of 

. With entire accounts dedicated to the format, many with millions of followers and views, fans-turned-editors have created a flourishing online community for fandom across genres and eras.

They also happen to often be excellent marketing materials, and studios have taken notice—both in appreciation and as inspiration. Lionsgate is just one of the entertainment houses that has leaned into fan edits as marketing on their TikTok accounts, and they’ve seen big engagement numbers as a result.

“[Fan edits] make your job as a marketer so much easier,” Briana McElroy, head of digital for the motion picture group at Lionsgate, told us. “The true dream of the team, and I think marketers who do the creative side of the business, is that you give people something that they can 

Angel Bayer, an editor who runs the TikTok account @movi3archive that has posted fan edits of films like 

, says she prioritizes making her edits her own—not only to convey her personal perspectives on the movies, but also to protect herself from potential copyright infringement, an obstacle for any fan editor.

“I make sure to credit the original creators and keep my edits transformative,” Bayer told Marketing Brew in an email. “I stay updated on platform rules, and if anything gets flagged, I adjust the edit or change the music so everything stays safe to post.”

While fan editors foster community and engagement, they don’t always have permission to use footage and songs, and might even pull movie footage from 

. For Lionsgate, McElroy said, the value of fan engagement is clear, and the studio approaches its fans’ use of its footage similarly to how TikTok handles fans’ music use on the platform.

In terms of TikTok and music, she said, “I wasn’t in the room, but I imagine their thought process was, ‘It’s going to happen, and we can spend all of our time trying to police that, or we can get behind it and find, ultimately, new revenue streams and long-term revenue streams,’” she said, adding that her own experience as a self-described "Tumblr girlie" also colors her perception of fan activity. “I naturally grew up in a world where my expression of love for IP was through taking it and creating it and remixing it and turning it to something of my own. So we lean into that.”

The organic fan edit offers something that Bayer believes marketers should tap into: deeper emotional resonance and internet fluency.

“We approach the film with a fan’s emotional instinct for which moments and songs truly resonate with audiences,” Bayer said. “It’s not just about selling a movie—it’s about giving audiences a taste of the experience, capturing their attention, and building excitement in ways traditional marketing alone sometimes can’t.”

At Lionsgate, McElroy’s team has been making fan edit-style clips themselves for about two years, which can dip into surprising territory—like a 

 of scenes featuring Divergent character Four, played by Theo James—and often elicit comments from viewers like, “Love this edit—LIONSGATE?”

Such edits have led to increased interest in older library titles like Twilight, The Hunger Games, and Saw, McElroy said, as the edits can help younger audiences discover movies for the first time while also stoking deeper connection with existing fans.

The Lionsgate team also uses edits to market new films, like the upcoming heist thriller 

. With active titles, McElroy said making sure the edit resonates can be more difficult since audiences don’t necessarily have existing knowledge about a film that hasn’t yet been released. Instead, it’s the marketing team’s job to introduce audiences to characters and scenes that can help build connection.

“It’s so much easier to do it for library content,” McElroy said “A different type of thoughtfulness has to go into the development of that [newer] content, because we are trying to create connection that doesn’t already exist.”

While Lionsgate’s social accounts are aimed at cultivating and enhancing the fan experience, McElroy said she recognizes that some of the brand’s fan edits have different goals than organic fan edits, which is why Lionsgate sometimes commissions work directly with fan editors to help bridge that gap.

“At the end of the campaign, they have to serve a conversion purpose,” she said. “[But] what we are setting out to do in our early-on content is really that engagement and that awareness from a very genuine place in terms of wanting to connect with fans…It’s our expression of our passion and joy for the IP.”

Screenshots from The Hunger Games, Twilight, and Now You See Me on a blue background with a film reel effect. 

Why fan edits are movie marketing magic 

The distinct social media content format is peak fan expression, and it also helps entertainment brands like Lionsgate drive awareness about its properties. 

A cartoon image of Kristina Monllos created by Morning Brew

Kristina Monllos

In late September, President Trump directed the FDA to warn those who are pregnant against use of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, citing an 

 between taking the medicine and rates of autism. (At the time, researchers said they needed more 

 published in the British Medical Journal 

 no link between use of acetaminophen and diagnoses of autism or ADHD.)

Following President Trump’s directive, bots seem to have driven and amplified the conversation, according to a new report from narrative intelligence platform PeakMetrics. Nearly a third of posts about Tylenol from September 19 to November 4 on X were likely bot-driven, according to PeakMetrics, which reviewed 437,131 posts across X.

According to Peak Metrics, 93% of the suspected bot activity was “reposting existing content, extending reach and lifespan of emotionally charged narratives.” More than half (65.8%) of the conversation on X about Tylenol was unfavorable toward the brand, according to PeakMetrics, which also noted that, across those posts, “themes of parental guilt, loss of trust, and frustration toward pharmaceutical companies” were prominent.

“The conclusion of this data, to me, is that by volume of conversation, it makes sense that the stuff that was unfavorable to Tylenol was the biggest share of the data,” Molly Dwyer, director of insights at PeakMetrics, told Marketing Brew. “Algorithmically, [that’s] how these things work, right? Something that causes outrage is going to get boosted, and therefore it’s going to incentivize bots to post about it.”

Tylenol did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Positive narratives around Tylenol didn’t gain nearly as much traction, according to the report, which also stated that the unfavorable posts seemed to serve as confirmation for those who are already skeptical of “mainstream medicine, pharmaceutical companies, and government health guidance.”

Dwyer advised that marketers looking to combat bot activity may need to do more than simply release “factual rebuttals” of the amplified messages.

“How can you lean into some emotionally driven narratives in what you’re putting out there,” Dwyer said. “Even if it is really meant to be like a factual rebuttal, I think the more that you can humanize it, [the better].”

Bots aren’t just a problem for Tylenol. Brands like Cracker Barrel and American Eagle have also recently dealt with marketing controversies that, according to PeakMetrics data Marketing Brew 

, may have been amplified and intensified by bot networks.

“There are a lot of bots out there operating on [X] and they’re gonna jump on whatever the thing that’s getting algorithmically boosted, the thing that’s the most emotionally charged,” Dwyer said. “In this case, that was the unfavorable stuff. I don’t think it means that there’s an anti-Tylenol bot network lying in wait. This is sort of the way that the internet functions now. Something like this happens, and a bunch of bots will just go boost it.”

Prior to purchasing the platform in 2022, Elon Musk 

 to eradicate the bots, although he has yet to deliver on that promise.

Bot activity amplified unproven link between autism and Tylenol on X: report

PeakMetrics found that 93% of likely bot activity reposted existing content, “extending reach and lifespan of emotionally charged narratives.”

Kelsey Sutton

Each week, we spotlight Marketing Brew readers in our Coworking series. If you’d like to be featured, introduce yourself 

Sophie O’Rourke is senior director, influencer marketing, Dialogue New York. She has also worked at Full Picture and at d2 publicity.

 One of my favorite and most creative campaigns I’ve worked on was for our five-year client, Little Spoon. Leaning into the nostalgia of the ’90s, we developed and executed a viral influencer program in support of their Lunchers launch (a build-and-eat array of healthy meals and snacks for big kids) that blanketed social media, driving home the overarching message that you’ve changed since the ’90s, why hasn’t your kid’s food? Our multi-tiered strategy engaged iconic ’90s celebrities, traditional macro influencers, and parent tastemakers via a range of personal, strategically timed partnerships, including paid campaigns, UGC content collaborators, and widespread gifting.

 I loved what the team at Crown Affair drummed up for their launch of the Finishing Spray. From the ode to ’90s New York to the newspaper PR mailer and movie-night screening of 

 in NYC, this campaign was creative, inspiring, and most importantly, stayed so true to their identity. They leveraged custom photography, graphic design, comic writers, and original artwork to deliver a 360-degree campaign that touched editorial, digital/social and OOH activations, effectively flooding the feeds of their target consumer and driving huge swell at launch. Such brilliant work.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile:

 I’m currently taking French lessons! While I studied it throughout my early schooling, I’m more determined than ever to speak fluently after spending a summer in Paris last year (and realizing how much of the language I’d forgotten in the years of disuse).

What marketing trend are you most optimistic about? Least? 

The influencer space has grown at such a colossal rate, and because of that, we’ve begun to see “influencer fatigue,” which is an indicator that real change needs to happen—and I’m excited for that change. At Dialogue, we’ve always believed in authentic storytelling and building impactful relationships with influencers, agents, clients, etc., but I’m excited to see more creator-led content driven from an authentic love for the product and mission over traditional “hashtag ads.”

I’m not pessimistic about any of the current trends, but I’m a little wary of AI-generated influencers, or virtual influencers, and the impact that could have on the industry. Talk about the wild, wild West!

What’s one marketing-related podcast/social account/series you’d recommend?

Coworking with Sophie O’Rourke

She’s senior director, influencer marketing, Dialogue New York. 

Coworking with Sophie O’Rourke 

If you can’t beat ’em, entertain ’em.

 this year, first releasing the sketch comedy series 

 in the spring to promote the release of its GetSet Blush. Now, the makeup and skin-care brand has followed it up with a series on Instagram and TikTok that encourages people to join a casting call to become one of its models for an August 2026 product launch campaign, as well as other potential future campaigns. The casting call, as well as the series promoting it, focuses on people with skin conditions like eczema, acne, and psoriasis, and the series shows characters going through the audition process much like the real-life applicants.

With the final episode of the latest series now out and applications for campaign auditions closed as of November 1, Alex Kalatzis, director of marketing and communications at Tower 28, told us that the brand saw more than 4,000 sign-ups, which exceeded its goal fourfold. The applicants, she said, will hear back on final decisions by the end of the year.

We spoke with Kalatzis about the brand’s latest social campaign and why it’s continuing to go all-in on scripted comedy as a marketing vehicle.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

 influenced the decision to make another scripted social series with this latest campaign?

 What we saw back in March was that our audience really resonated with this high-production content trend. We had never done anything like it before, and I think it had strong entertainment value; the characters, the humor, it all hit. Some of the performance we saw from that exceeded our expectations. We were 37% above our average engagement. It was the most-shared content of that period and also the most-viewed content of that period, so that was definitely a key driver in our decision to test skits again.

In this case, the goal and KPI were a little bit different. 

 was about announcing a new product franchise and really speaking to the POVs of the product, whereas this skit was meant to drive sign-ups to our first-ever nationwide open casting call. Essentially, we needed a vehicle for mass reach and word of mouth to spread, so we took a pretty big swing with our first-ever full-page 

, and then to amplify it further, the second big swing was testing our hand with another content series. The intention here was to use entertainment to take a somewhat basic announcement and turn it into something fun…It was an opportunity to deliberately evolve the format…We tried to make the content feel a little bit less produced than the first round, which had more of a commercial value. This was meant to feel a little more iPhone, but it wasn’t [shot on] iPhone. [The skits] are a bit shorter in length. Humor-wise, we took a lot of inspiration from 

…but there was more of an emotional connection to the audience here. More wholesome, sweet, come-as-you-are, step-outside-of-your-bubble message.

What do you think it is about this serial, comedic, highly produced content that is resonating with your audience?

 We had never done anything remotely like it [with 

], so I think that was new and different, which caught our community’s attention. Everyone’s looking for entertainment more than being sold to directly, so I think from that perspective, it hit.

The premise of the latest social series is about a character auditioning for Tower 28’s casting call for a product launch campaign next year, which is actually happening. Tell me about the real casting call and what that looks like.

 We tried to use a lot of the parameters for application within the skit. We made fun of the fact that one of the characters in the second skit was applying a ton of makeup, thinking that’s what she needed to do in order to submit her application. But in our New York Times ad and in the qualifying notes, it says, “We want to see you as you are. We want to see bare-faced, natural skin.” So it is meant to explain how to apply within those skits.

Are you capturing content as part of the actual casting call and putting out any reality-type serial content as part of the campaign?

 We haven’t figured out Part 2 yet…but I would love to do some sort of MTV [style] behind-the-scenes, “making of” [content], showing the journey of the people that we end up casting in our future campaigns.

Do you have any indication of what’s driven the most sign-ups of those 4,000+ applications?

 We do, because one of the application questions asks where they found out about the casting call, so we saw that around half of our audience came through Instagram and the other half was email, SMS, etc. Then a scattering of people came from the New York Times, word of mouth, that sort of thing.

What do you see as the benefit of recruiting talent from the general public, as opposed to taking the traditional route and working with professional models?

 One of the biggest inspirations for launching this initiative was that we have a really challenging time casting models that have real skin conditions, and that’s something that’s really important to us in terms of brand DNA and authenticity…We actually worked with an influencer named Jada [Jones], who we met at the National Eczema Association Expo last summer, and she was going through topical steroid withdrawal. When we launched our most recent product, our GoGo Shimmer sticks, we 

 in the campaign because she has active eyelid eczema. The response from our community was so strong…we’re sure that what we’re doing right now is going to really resonate.

 and this other series, what are your next big aspirations in scripted content?

 We’re actually cooking up a series right now that we think could be a through-line in our marketing next year. Essentially, we’ll be introducing a suite of characters that you’ll see throughout the year and use them as a way to debut new launches, whether it’s merch, [or] interesting brand campaign moments. We’re figuring out what that might look like and what the cadence of that would be, but that would be an opportunity to even bring in bigger names or faces.

For marketers interested in doing scripted, comedic social content of their own, what would you say are the best use cases?

 For us, I would never want to overuse this. I think it’s best used sparingly for those moments you really need to cut through. In the case of 

, we were launching during a very competitive time, there were a number of blushes launching at Sephora, some even in very similar packaging, so we knew we needed to do something really different. In this case as well, we’ve seen casting calls before, but we wanted to do something that really captured the attention of the sensitive-skin community. We use this as a tool when we really need to stand out.

Do you see this as the future of reaching people as social media audiences become more savvy and averse to branded content or traditional ads?

 Ultimately people will stop and watch whatever speaks to them. If you have perfect skin or you are incredibly camera-shy, you probably didn’t stop and engage with this content, which is totally fine. It was meant for a very specific subset of people, but I think no one really wants to be marketed to in a traditional way anymore. Everyone’s seeking entertainment value.

A screenshot from a Tower 28 TikTok video advertising a "Sensitive Skin Casting Call," next to a still image of four women in a wood-paneled room waiting for a casting call, and anothr image of a person holding a New York Times featuring a Tower 28 ad advertising a casting call for "Your (Sensitive) Face Here"

How Tower 28 is using scripted comedy to break through

Alex Kalatzis, director of marketing and communications at Tower 28, shared how the beauty brand strategically uses skits to drive results.

How Tower 28 is using scripted comedy to break through on social

In 2024, Binoy Zachariah, a musical artist and tennis coach living in LA, said he experienced an attempted home invasion. Luckily, he thought quickly, fighting off the invaders until they left.

How did he fend them off, you ask? He grabbed the nearest weapon he could find: an Owala water bottle.

In October of this year, Zachariah recounted the rather unbelievable story in detail on his TikTok and Instagram accounts, with the videos on TikTok racking up 13.7 million and 19.4 million views. The posts caught Owala’s attention, too, and within a week, the company sent Zachariah a custom PR package featuring a safe filled with Owala water bottles (dubbed the “Sipcurity Safe”) as well as an all-expenses-paid weekend trip to a destination of his choice.

It was a scenario neither party could have ever predicted, but one that Owala’s marketing team felt they had to respond to, according to Chad Sorensen, brand director for Owala.

“We recognize that this is truly wild,” Sorensen said. “So we wanted to recognize the human side of things and not just something for the brand to take advantage of.”

Sorensen credited Owala’s social team’s social listening efforts for catching wind of Zachariah’s story and bringing it to the larger marketing team’s attention, paving way for them to brainstorm ways they could get involved.

Sorensen said his team crafted their response to toe the line between being “fun and playful…and helpful.” While the giant safe made for good social fodder, the weekend trip was meant to help Zachariah “decompress [and] get out of that environment for a little bit,” Sorenson told us.

Wild as it may be, this is not the first time a water-bottle brand has been involved in a customer’s personal traumatic event. In 2023, a woman 

 a story of her car being destroyed in a fire via a video that showed the charred remnants of her vehicle—plus her Stanley cup, largely intact, with ice still inside. That video brought in more than 60 million views.

Stanley, which did not provide an on-the-record comment, also got involved at the time, gifting the Stanley cup owner new cups and a new car. Other brands and founders, like 

, have also found themselves mentioned in moments of unpredictable personal traumas, and responded in their own ways.

Commenters on Zachariah’s video were quick to reference the car-fire incident, with one calling his response to the break-in attempt “better marketing than the Stanley cup fire.” Sorensen said his team was “familiar with the hydration landscape,” but ultimately, he said, Stanley’s viral moment didn’t factor into how Owala responded to Zachariah’s video.

“[We’re] not looking for any sort of competition or anything like that, just legitimately looking at individuals and trying to find ways to, honestly, blow their minds,” Sorensen said.

On the whole, Sorensen said that Owala approaches gifting and customer stories on a case-by-case basis, and while some opportunities, like Zachariah’s, might be apt for a bigger response designed to be memorable, other moments are handled more quietly.

“If it felt private, we’ll respond privately,” Sorensen said. “If it was obviously posted on social media with millions and millions of views and the person who posted seems like they would respond well to something like that, then we would probably match it in a very different way.”

That could help explain the fact that, according to Zachariah, after he sent Owala an email describing what happened in 2024 after the break-in attempt happened, he received a 15% off coupon in response. According to the company, its customer service team handled his initial email, and the larger team wasn’t aware of the break-in story at that point.

The break-in story didn’t only serve as marketing material for Owala. Zachariah told us he made the videos about the experience as part of an effort to build his own social following, suspecting that it could be useful content for the company as well as himself.

“At the start of this year, I was really committed to just posting more on TikTok. I am a musician, an artist by profession, and it’s obviously a huge part of being in the music industry,” he said. “That comes with the pressure, the expectation, to post multiple times a day and try and figure out what your voice is.”

The idea to post about the attempted break-in story came to him as he tried to hold himself to a daily posting quota, and it quickly took off. As the comments rolled in, Zachariah said he was “amazed” to see the number of comments from people writing that they were learning of the brand for the first time or expressing increased loyalty to Owala. By the time the Sipcurity Safe package arrived, he said, he recognized the marketing gold he had helped create.

“As I was filming [the unboxing video], I just thought to myself, I’m gagged by this, so surely anyone seeing this would be equally as gagged,” Zachariah said.

While the viral videos helped bring Zachariah a surge of TikTok followers, he said he is looking for ways to convert his newfound following to engage with his music, too. For now, he’s continuing to feed the Owala-fueled hype while keeping an eye toward longevity.

“I almost view it as a really crazy and lucrative side quest that I sort of decided to step out on,” he said. “At the end of the day, I am just ultimately grateful for it all. I just don’t want to be the water-bottle guy, you know?”

Side by side screenshots of the broken glass door to a home and a dented green Owala water bottle

How a home invasion turned into marketing gold for Owala

Binoy Zachariah, an artist and content creator, said he found an unexpected use for his Owala water bottle—and the brand sent him an out-of-the-ordinary PR package.

There’s nothing unwell about leading a media company, a beverage brand, and an ad agency—unless, of course, Alex Cooper is the one doing it.

Earlier this month, the podcast host and internet personality announced Unwell Creative Agency, a new advertising outfit offering services like creating content, developing campaigns, and strategizing events, according to Unwell’s chief brand officer, TJ Marchetti. The agency’s unveiling was announced alongside a multiyear partnership with Google that includes Unwell’s use of Google devices and a new ad for Google Pixel and T-Mobile called “Get Lost.”

Cooper’s not the only well-known entertainment figure to dip into the advertising world in the past few years (see: Kristen Bell’s Dunshire Productions or Ryan Reynolds’s Maximum Effort), but she does straddle an interesting line between full-blown celebrity and internet-native influencer. The company is positioning Cooper’s understanding of her chronically online Gen Z audience as a strength that will allow its work to uniquely cut through the noise. Amid a growing field of celeb-led advertising expertise, the fledgling agency is framing Cooper’s unique perspective as the edge that sets Unwell apart.

“Alex is involved in everything we do. Some people think that, given all of the demands of 

 and being the co-CEO, that she would be a figurehead or something. That’s not the case,” Marchetti told Marketing Brew. “This company is built on that DNA.”

Marchetti told us he believes the marketing funnel and traditional agency approach are “broken,” and that Unwell Creative Agency can help fix it and reach younger audiences that may be wary of other forms of advertisements.

“In this demographic, they don’t really trust brands that can’t relate to them,” he said.

While Marchetti said that Cooper aims to be as hands-on as possible, and Unwell’s first spot with Google stars Cooper, Unwell will create ads that don’t all star Cooper, who recently told the Wall Street Journal that she 

 to be the face of every campaign produced by the agency. Marchetti said each project will require different degrees of Cooper’s involvement, and the agency’s work will carry her approach while relying on a “roster of creatives” to help ideate and produce campaigns.

For brands, working with celebrity-fronted agencies can be one way to cut through in culture. Alyson Griffin, head of marketing at State Farm, said that tapping into a celebrity’s perspective and personal network is a common value proposition that celeb-fronted agencies have approached her with, and she personally appreciates when a celebrity has “skin in the game” and works directly on a campaign. The insurance company has previously worked with Reynolds’s Maximum Effort on everything from viral stunts to shifting media spend from linear TV to digital advertising, and Griffin said State Farm has also explored working with other similar agencies.

“They bring this cultural fluency, credibility and relevance, and I think therefore some brands can look at it as the fastest path to a virtual front page of the internet,” Griffin told us. “We don’t do it all the time, but [working with celebrity agencies] will get some interest.”

When State Farm worked with Maximum Effort to place Jake from State Farm 

 of a Philadelphia Eagles game next to Travis and Jason Kelce’s mother, Donna Kelce, Reynolds’s involvement generated its own 

, mostly focused on the virality of the stunt. Griffin said that virality was only made possible because of speed (the whole stunt was developed and executed over a Friday-to-Sunday timeline), and that speed was only possible because of a sense of trust State Farm had already established with the agency—a requirement whether an agency partner is celeb-led or not.

Unwell is similarly looking to establish those trusted relationships with brands, and is aiming to build off of any virality for longer-term results.

“Our agency is about building long-term relationships with brands and helping them build relationships with the audience,” Marchetti said. “It’s not through a one-off. It’s through creative that truly connects.”

As Unwell builds out its client roster, Marchetti said his team is looking to stay selective, and will emphasize its experience in live events and distribution channels as a way to stand out.

Meanwhile, Griffin is keeping an eye on influencers and their advertising offerings, too, particularly as some of them prove adept at building distribution networks around themselves.

“Creative influencers,” she noted, “are like a cultural media ecosystem—much bigger than celebrity.”

Alex Cooper poses with a Google Pixel phone.

What Alex Cooper’s creative agency is bringing to the celebrity advertising world

As celebrity-led agencies continue to proliferate, Cooper’s team is looking to connect with audiences beyond viral moments. 

An Unwell addition: What Alex Cooper’s creative agency is bringing to the celebrity advertising world

When it comes to affiliate sales, Sephora is going straight to the source.

Last month, the beauty retailer launched My Sephora Storefront, an affiliate program where creators can display their favorite products on the Sephora website, generate shareable, shoppable links for social media, and earn sales commissions.

It’s the latest sign of growth for the creator commerce and affiliate space, which is set to be 

 by 2028 and is currently dominated by third-party affiliate platforms like 

, and TikTok Shop, as well as retailers like Amazon with Amazon Storefront. Last month, 

 announced it was developing a creator storefront of its own called Vette, which is set to be released next year.

As creators’ influence continues to grow, Brent Mitchell, VP of social media and influencer marketing at Sephora, told us he sees the retailer’s opportunities to offer monetization options to creators is also expanding. Already, he said, Sephora has 1,000 live creator storefronts, exceeding the company’s initial projections for the remainder of the year.

“We really see ourselves as being additive to this ecosystem,” he said.

Mitchell said the timing of the Storefronts release is to align with its annual Sephora Savings event later this month, which he called “UGC-palooza,” and to prepare for the holiday season, which is ripe for gifting and shopping based on creator recommendations.

Sephora began marketing its Storefronts two weeks ago at an event in LA, where Mitchell said more than 200 creators signed up on the spot. Right now, Sephora is restricting applications to creators with more than 3,000 followers on either Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, which Mitchell said are the brand’s platforms of interest; it’s also looking for creators who can “represent Sephora well” while driving sales conversions.

“They’re not brand ambassadors the way our Sephora Squad program is,” he said. “But they do get to have the Sephora.com URL, which is a pretty major thing.”

The plan, Mitchell said, is to eventually scale the program and open it up to an even broader audience that meets the application criteria. The idea is to engage with creators who have never worked with Sephora before, or who applied but perhaps didn’t make the cut for the Sephora Squad paid partnership program, which has produced a lineup of more than 300 creators and alums who regularly work with the retailer.

“We have so many creators that are already tagging us in their hauls, in their store visits,” he said. “Now we’re giving them the opportunity to get paid for that content.”

Sephora is offering a 15% commission on Storefront sales, putting it in line with commissions on ShopMy and LTK, which, per the platforms’ websites, tend to range between 10%–30%. Mitchell said he also hopes to roll out “IRL rewards” and additional incentives for creators as the program scales, as well as bring more third-party brands into the Storefront ecosystem.

“We already have a waiting list of brands that are wanting to get involved in this program,” he said. “That is definitely one of our biggest priorities for 2026.”

Despite the competition in the affiliate space, Mitchell said he thinks there’s enough space for everyone.

“We’re able to bring in new creators that would never have thought about this before,” he said. “And then, on the flip side, for those super-active, micro creators out there that are converting superstars, we’re yet another platform for them to convert on. It’s really additive to both ends of the spectrum.”

Sephora logo being clicked by a mouse pointer with money emerging from the 'O'

Social & Influencers

Why fan edits are movie marketing magic

Bot activity amplified unproven link between autism and Tylenol on X: report

Coworking with Sophie O’Rourke

How Tower 28 is using scripted comedy to break through on social

How a home invasion turned into marketing gold for Owala

An Unwell addition: What Alex Cooper’s creative agency is bringing to the celebrity advertising world

Sephora now has 1,000 creator storefronts. What does that mean for affiliate marketing?

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