{"id":1642375,"date":"2026-04-17T10:00:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T14:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/observer.com\/?p=1642375"},"modified":"2026-04-16T15:49:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T19:49:46","slug":"creator-economy-live-streaming-authenticity-brands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2026\/04\/creator-economy-live-streaming-authenticity-brands\/","title":{"rendered":"Facing A.I. Slop and Shifting Algorithms, Brands Bet on Streamers to Stay Real"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jimmy
Brands are rethinking creator partnerships as livestreaming delivers something traditional digital advertising can\u2019t: real-time authenticity and measurable engagement. Photo by Victoria Sirakova\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jimmy Donaldson, a North Carolina native known to most of the world as \u201cMrBeast,\u201d represents peak success in the creator economy, having turned his YouTube following into a global media empire. Even with an Amazon Prime series, a thriving CPG brand and a theme park in Saudi Arabia, the mega-creator is still investing deeply in the formats that brought him to fame: YouTube videos and livestreams.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His latest gambit, a competition among 50 popular livestreamers, culminated in a <\/span>live finale<\/span><\/a> where viewers influenced the rules of the game. The stream achieved a whopping 1.1 million concurrent viewers, and yet was still only a fraction of the record 9.3 million concurrent viewers held by <\/span>Spanish streamer Ibai<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While digital livestreaming has been around for a while, the format is reaching new heights of popularity, driven by a mix of powerful cultural forces\u2014perhaps the biggest one being A.I. When deepfakes and synthetic content are all over the web and in our feeds, the organic, spontaneous nature of livestream content feels true. It feels like something worth being a part of.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The shift to live is accelerating. Our internal data at Streamlabs shows streaming is growing rapidly on TikTok, a platform popularized by static looping videos, and holding strong on YouTube and Twitch. Recent <\/span>job openings at YouTube<\/span><\/a> hint at the buildout of its live programming options toward immersive, interactive experiences.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Brands and creators alike are taking note. Influencers are going live to create real-time event viewing for their audiences. Sports organizations and entertainment companies are tapping streamers like <\/span>iShowSpeed<\/span><\/a> to host \u201cwatch parties\u201d to increase fan engagement. Meanwhile, athletes themselves are breaking into streaming as a new way to build their brand. The space is ripe with opportunity for cultural impact, which translates to tangible marketing returns.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As more brands incorporate streaming into their creator strategies, they have to look beyond the features and conventions of the platforms themselves and recalibrate their approach to what they\u2019re actually buying: not advertisements, but credibility.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The authenticity factor\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Not everything on social media is fake. Consumers know what real content looks like, and amid a flood of synthetic content, they\u2019re desperate for it. Per recent research from Clutch, <\/span>97 percent say authenticity <\/span><\/a>influences their purchasing decisions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAuthenticity\u201d may be a buzzword, but that\u2019s because it\u2019s the antidote. Where brands struggle is finding their own definition of it. As Harvard researchers have observed, <\/span>authenticity isn\u2019t fixed<\/span><\/a>; it shifts across demographics, content genres and consumer niches, and social algorithms don\u2019t always encourage it. Our social feeds, once designed for sharing our lives among friends, are now populated by hyper-polished influencer content and ads, mixed in with A.I.-generated content that can be mindless at best and malicious at worst.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For streamers, authenticity is structural. The unifying draw of all live events\u2014be they in-person, on television or streamed to your laptop or mobile phone\u2014is the promise of raw, authentic content. Live content offers moments that can\u2019t be faked, with genuine reactions and interactive chats that build community in real time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The flood of A.I.-generated content makes this more urgent. As it gets harder to discern what’s synthetic, and <\/span>platforms themselves encourage<\/span><\/a> the production of this content, creators with established authenticity become disproportionately valuable. Streaming takes that to the next level, as audiences spend extended time with creators, seeing new sides of them as they react to the unexpected.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even so, some companies remain skittish around the format. How do they maintain brand safety and manage their reputation within a format that thrives on spontaneity?<\/span><\/p>\n

The answer may be to lean in. Skittles, for example, recently collaborated with Twitch streamer PointCrow to introduce the <\/span>Skittles Gaming Flute<\/span><\/a>, a real instrument-turned-game-controller making for a creative branded gimmick. It captured Skittles\u2019 whimsical branding, but also felt authentic to the streamer, who is known for creative, over-the-top challenges.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are also more \u201ccontrolled\u201d avenues for live content, like livestream shopping, which may be attractive to brands less inclined to take a big swing with a streamer. According to new data from Adobe, <\/span>41 percent of content creators<\/span><\/a> have hosted or participated in a live shopping event to sell products. While the rise of live shopping in the West hasn\u2019t been an exact mirror to the cultural phenomenon in China, it\u2019s another way that brands are leveraging creator power and the value of the live format to grow their revenue.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The streaming advantage amplifies the overall creator advantage: proximity, authenticity and repeat engagement. Harnessing these three elements has become core to how brands are reevaluating their creator strategy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A new approach for brands: creators as infrastructure\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Evolving audience demands and a shift in cultural power towards creators have thrown the traditional \u201cspon con\u201d arrangement out the window. Today, partnering with a creator is like having an artist-in-residence for your brand. Long-term commitments and high creative involvement are becoming the standard: where creators once clamored for brands\u2019 attention, they\u2019re now the ones with creative leverage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Consider OpenAI\u2019s recent <\/span>purchase of TBPN<\/span><\/a>. As the leading A.I. company faces controversy and growing consumer skepticism around its flagship technology, it\u2019s leaning on creators to build credibility where it counts. Bringing on TBPN is a strategic choice to connect with audiences through voices they already trust. It\u2019s also a testament to the growth of strategic relationships between brands and creators, where long-term partnerships overtake limited transactions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This only works if brands build creators\u2019 needs into their marketing infrastructure. The IAB found that creator ad spend is <\/span>growing four times faster<\/span><\/a> than other media buys, but budget is only one piece of the puzzle. To let creators truly take the lead, brands need to minimize the administrative red tape and provide a space that\u2019s conducive to creativity and experimentation. It\u2019s time to go beyond the influencer brief and move toward collaborative storytelling.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Deeper investments in creators can also protect brands against the current instability of digital advertising. Increasing privacy regulations across the globe make it challenging for marketers to rely on traditional consumer behavior tracking methods. Similarly, age restrictions on platforms and information access create challenges for brands targeting under-17 audiences.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

App-tracking transparency (ATT) opt-out further limits the first-party data pool. Consumers have more control over their data, but audience targeting becomes less precise.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And of course, digital is not untouched by A.I. As Vevo\u2019s VP of Data Science notes, the flood of A.I.-generated content is not only frustrating consumers but damaging the integrity of <\/span>digital audience data<\/span><\/a>. Backlash to A.I.-generated ads is also pushing brands to verify their authenticity, often by crediting the talent on board. That\u2019s good news for creators, and more evidence of personality as a driver of credibility.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Given all these complications, brands need avenues with more visible impact, stronger engagement and performance and greater longevity. Creators deliver that by giving brands a direct line to their community, and streamers up the ante. Live viewership stats are concrete and easily benchmarkable, and as brands move away from follower-based metrics, streamers offer a wealth of metrics beyond the broadcast that show engagement, including community clips, bonus social content like Reels and X posts and chat interactions on closed social platforms like Discord. The result is a holistic, less advertorial approach to digital marketing that actually meets consumers where they are.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fighting the algorithm<\/b><\/h3>\n

Creators and brands alike face friction from social platforms, which impact discoverability with ever-shifting algorithms and destabilize revenue with inconsistent monetization rules. Add generative A.I. to the mix, and it gets even more complicated. Beyond flooding the algorithm, A.I.-generated content is making it harder for creators to protect their intellectual property. A group of YouTubers <\/span>recently sued Apple<\/span><\/a> for training their models on unlicensed content, while other creators have had their <\/span>likenesses stolen<\/span><\/a> to promote products they aren\u2019t being paid to sponsor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These limitations <\/span>haven\u2019t slowed brands\u2019 investments<\/span><\/a> in social content, but they are shifting the role of the platform in the brand-platform-creator relationship. Virality doesn\u2019t hit the way it used to\u2014one breakout post or stream doesn\u2019t guarantee consistent engagement. Users\u2019 feeds are hyper-personalized into homogeneity, which can be great for niche creators, but only if they\u2019re lucky. A new report found it also <\/span>takes longer<\/span><\/a> for content to go viral, forcing brands to look more at long-term strategies as opposed to simply jumping on the latest trends to be part of a moment. Long-form and serialized content is becoming more attractive, making streamers another increasingly lucrative bet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s brands and creators have to be everywhere online, and everywhere looks the same. Platforms have converged on feature sets to the point where exclusivity is nearly irrelevant. This may make it easy to share and multistream across platforms\u2014someone who multi-streams on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram won\u2019t have to navigate a technological learning curve. But platforms aren\u2019t competing for creator exclusivity like they used to, even if their copycat feature innovation suggests otherwise. Big-name creators are less concerned with audience reach than with who helps creators make more money and run a sustainable business.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brands have to take the same competitive approach. Collaboration is about generating value for both parties, which means making creators real stakeholders and not pay-for-play transactions. It also means honoring their audiences. Creators, especially streamers, have built deep trust within their communities; there is an emotional layer that brands can transform into major ROI, so long as they do it right. When traditional digital channels don\u2019t foster trust the way they used to, creators with real voices and real audiences will cut through the noise.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Streamlabs\u2019 Ashray Urs has a front-row seat to how digital content is evolving, and where it\u2019s breaking. As generative A.I. floods platforms with synthetic media, Urs sees livestreaming emerging as a counterweight: a format defined by immediacy, unpredictability and trust.<\/p>\n Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":177935337,"featured_media":1642554,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"post_tag":[423986472,423982741],"company":[423800616,423806523,423954278,423840173,423977837,423975136],"channel":[186,12374,35162449,423867158,423868668,423868938,423875666],"location":[],"nyo_column":[423982261],"person":[423956759,423969344],"nyo_post_hidden":[],"coauthor":[424011969],"class_list":{"0":"post-1642375","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-creator-economy","8":"tag-media-experts","9":"observer_company-apple","10":"observer_company-instagram","11":"observer_company-openai","12":"observer_company-tiktok","13":"observer_company-twitch","14":"observer_company-youtube","15":"channel-business","16":"channel-artificial-intelligence","17":"channel-social-media","18":"channel-advertising","19":"channel-digital-media","20":"channel-media","21":"channel-technology","22":"nyo_column-expert-insights","23":"nyo_person-jimmy-donaldson","24":"nyo_person-mrbeast","25":"style-expert-insights"},"acf":{"homepage_position":"","homepage_title":"","homepage_excerpt":"","alternative_og_image":"","headline":{"seo_headline":""},"subheadline":{"optimized_seo_description":"","optimized_social_excerpt":""}},"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2026\/04\/creator-economy-live-streaming-authenticity-brands\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":[],"rendered":"","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/observer.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2255012715.jpg?quality=80","coauthors_byline":"By Ashray Urs","display_channel":"","thumbnail":"\"Jimmy