Not long ago, influencer marketing kept following a predictable playbook. Brands needed to identify creators, agencies negotiated deals, content went live, performance was measured, and the relationship ended when the campaign did. A few weeks later, the process would begin again with a fresh brief and a fresh set of creators.
But recently, the industry is witnessing a change. Across categories, brands are moving beyond one-off collaborations and investing in creator communities they can build, nurture, and grow over time. Something that just started as an influencer marketing strategy is gradually evolving into something larger and more prominent: creator ecosystems.
The development, as mentioned, is now visible across categories. Fashion and lifestyle platform Myntra has steadily expanded its creator-focused initiatives through programmes such as Ultimate Glam Clan and creator-led shopping experiences. And that social commerce network today includes over 5 lakh active creators, more than 7Mn+ lakh sign-ups on Ultimate Glam Clan, and over 1 lakh nano and micro creators earning through the programme.
Deepash Jain, Vice President - Marketing, Myntra, says, “Social commerce is becoming an increasingly important driver of fashion and lifestyle discovery, and at Myntra. The advantage of an owned creator network is that it brings inspiration, trust and commerce together in a seamless journey, enabling creators to drive meaningful engagement as well as conversions.”
Jain also adds that the launch of the new Ultimate Glam Clan Affiliate feature is aimed at enabling creators to expand their reach beyond the Myntra platform and monetise their influence across social media channels. Myntra has also partnered with Facebook and YouTube for their creator affiliate programmes to tap into a larger pool of creators.
Flipkart has also strengthened its creator-commerce strategy through a partnership with Meta, enabling creators to tag products directly in Facebook posts and Reels, with Instagram integration planned next. The initiative allows creators, including micro and nano influencers, to earn commissions on sales while helping brands and sellers reach consumers through creator-led content.
Similarly, smartphone brand OPPO has deepened its focus on the creator economy through initiatives such as the OPPO LUMO Creator Program, launched in partnership with Instagram. The programme is aimed at supporting emerging visual storytellers through mentorship, content amplification, certifications, and creator challenges, with a particular focus on micro and nano creators across India.
Together, these initiatives point to a broader industry trend. Brands are no longer looking at creators as campaign amplifiers. They are being viewed as long-term partners capable of influencing culture and shaping consumer decisions.
That last factor is becoming particularly important at a time when audiences are growing more sceptical of traditional advertising. Raj Rishi Singh, COO – Flights, Corporate, GCC and Marketing, MakeMyTrip says, “For most travellers, a trip doesn’t begin with ‘which flight’ or ‘which hotel’, it begins with ‘what do I actually want to do?’ The destination has to resonate first, the logistics only follow once it does,” says Singh notes that travel inspiration is now originating on social media platforms, where creators often shape the earliest stages of a consumer’s journey. Rather than borrowing those moments of influence through occasional partnerships, MakeMyTrip decided to work more closely with the creator community itself.
Following this direction, MakeMyTrip recently launched Creator Circle in partnership with Meta.
Through the Circle, the company aims to provide creators with access to real-time travel insights while recognising impact beyond follower counts.”It is a win-win for both the sides: Travellers get content worth engaging with, while creators receive recognition for the impact of their work, not the number of followers they have,” he says.
His observation also points to a wider change taking place across marketing. Reach and impressions still matter, but many brands are beginning to prioritise something more difficult to earn: trust.
That is where creator ecosystems differ from traditional influencer campaigns. As trust becomes the new currency of marketing, brands have realised, it cannot be built through sporadic creator partnerships alone. “Over 92 per cent of consumers trust recommendations from individuals over brands, and ambassador-driven leads convert at 4x the rate of cold traffic,” says Ambarish Sengupta, Vice President, Only Much Louder (Hypothesis).
“One word: continuity,” adds Ankit Banga, Chief Operating Officer, Kinnect. “Long-term creator relationships feel less transactional and more authentic, and audiences can tell the difference. Authenticity builds trust.”
And maybe that is prompting marketers to move away from campaign-by-campaign creator engagement. Instead of repeatedly identifying, onboarding, and educating creators for every initiative, building communities of advocates who already understand their products, audiences, and values seems more beneficial. The result then, is more consistent storytelling, faster execution, and stronger brand familiarity.
For Banga, the value of these communities extends beyond marketing efficiency. “Creators sit closest to culture. An owned community gives brands a real-time read on trends and consumer behaviour, instead of a delayed reaction to them,” he says.
That ability to stay connected to changing consumer preferences is a real strength in today’s dynamic world. Across categories, these creator-led ecosystems have the potential of being a source of insight, feedback, and cultural intelligence rather than merely a channel for content distribution.
The trend is extending beyond traditional brand marketing as well. The Esports Foundation recently launched what it describes as the largest esports creator programme to date, opening applications for co-streamers across India and committing USD 2 million in rewards to support creator growth. The initiative aims to scale to 5,000 creators globally across multiple platforms and events.
The appeal of creator ecosystems, however, goes beyond engagement and cultural relevance. For some industry observers, the real value lies in the assets brands build over time. “When you own the ecosystem, you own the attribution, the content rights, the creator’s performance history. That’s a strategic asset, not just a marketing one,” says Sengupta.
According to Sengupta, this is what separates creator ecosystems from traditional campaign-based marketing. While campaigns are often designed to deliver short-term visibility, ecosystems create institutional knowledge that compounds over time. Every creator relationship, content asset, performance benchmark, and audience insight contributes to a growing pool of intelligence that can inform future decisions.
Danny Advani- Head of Strategy & Business at Dot Media, highlights another interesting point. “One-off campaigns don’t serve the brand, the creator, or the audience. In the pool of content and creators, you are missed. If it’s not advocacy-led, it’s a cash burn.”
According to him, creator ecosystems offer both strategic and commercial advantages. Beyond building familiarity and advocacy over time, they allow brands to benefit from economies of scale by investing in long-term creator relationships rather than paying premium rates for individual collaborations. The model, he argues, helps brands build lasting equity instead of chasing short-lived bursts of attention.
But as brands build creator ecosystems of their own, does the traditional agency model risk losing relevance?
“I don’t see them reducing the role of agencies; if anything, they’re changing it. The industry is moving from transaction management to ecosystem management,” says Yasin Hamidani, Director, Media Care Brand Solutions.
Hamidani argues that while brands may increasingly own creator communities, they still require partners capable of identifying talent, maintaining creator relationships, ensuring creator-brand fit, developing content strategies, and measuring performance. As creator ecosystems become larger and more sophisticated, managing them often demands a different set of skills than campaign execution alone.
However, Sengupta believes this shift is already reducing the relevance of agencies whose primary value proposition has historically been creator access and managing briefs. As brands build their own creator ecosystems, activities like creator discovery and onboarding are increasingly moving in-house.
However, he argues that this does not diminish the role of agencies altogether. Instead, it creates demand for expertise in creator strategy, content frameworks, long-term creator advocacy, and measurement systems that demonstrate business impact. Agencies competing solely on creator access, reach, and impressions, he adds, may find it increasingly difficult to stay relevant.
While we now understand the benefits of creator ecosystems and how the traditional agency model may need to adapt, the bigger question remains: are creator ecosystems simply the latest marketing trend, or are they set to become a standard pillar of future marketing strategies?
While many industry experts believe creator ecosystems are set to become a standard part of brand marketing strategies in the years ahead, Sengupta argues that the term ‘standard’ needs to be unpacked first. “For large consumer brands with the bandwidth to build and maintain these ecosystems, it’s already moving from experiment to infrastructure. What Myntra and MakeMyTrip are doing isn’t pioneering anymore, it’s early mainstream. Others will follow because the commercial logic is undeniable,” he says.
Advani says the creator ecosystems are evolving much like social media did, where brands eventually created internal teams to communicate with their audiences more seamlessly and reduce external dependency. “Look at the PR industry, they usually pull off guestlistings at a fraction of the price because of relationships and repeat business,” he compares, highlighting the commercial benefits.
So, whether creator ecosystems eventually become the industry standard or remain a strategy adopted by a select group of brands, one thing appears certain: the role of creators is evolving. They are no longer being viewed merely as channels for distribution, but as long-term partners capable of shaping culture, influencing consumer decisions, and contributing to brand growth.
For brands, the challenge now is not simply building creator communities, but sustaining them. As more companies invest in creator-led ecosystems, the real differentiator may lie in how effectively they nurture relationships, reward participation, and create value for creators beyond a single campaign.
