Latest / Influencer Marketing with Fexingo: Creators, Sponsorships, and Modern Endorsement Deals / Why Influencers Now Make Their Own TV Commercials
Transcript
- Lucas: So have you noticed that some influencers are now making their own TV commercials? Not just sponsored posts or YouTube integrations — I mean full, polished thirty-second spots that look like they belong on the Super Bowl. Luna: I have. And honestly, some of them are better than what agencies produce. The production value has jumped massively in the last year. Lucas: Exactly. And it's not just a one-off vanity project. There's a real economic argument behind it. Let's look at a specific example. A top beauty creator — let's call her Mia — recently spent roughly five hundred thousand dollars of her own money to produce a thirty-second commercial for her own brand. Luna: Half a million dollars on thirty seconds. That's serious. But I assume she didn't just do it for fun. Lucas: Right. She calculated that if she ran that spot on connected TV and YouTube, she could generate enough direct sales to recoup the cost within sixty days. And she did it in forty-five. The commercial itself featured her doing her signature makeup tutorial style — but compressed into thirty seconds, with professional lighting, sound design, and a clear call to action. Luna: So the ad essentially looked like her regular content, just tighter and more polished. That's smart — it leverages her existing audience trust but with higher production value. Lucas: Exactly. And the key insight is that she controlled every aspect of the creative. No agency, no brand manager telling her to swap the lipstick shade or change the tagline. She knew her audience better than any creative director could. Luna: But what about the cost? Five hundred thousand is a lot for most creators. Is this only for the top one percent? Lucas: For now, yes. But the cost is coming down fast. You can produce a very good thirty-second spot for fifty to a hundred thousand if you're smart about it. And some creators are pooling resources — I've seen groups of three or four mid-tier influencers co-produce a commercial and split the media buy. Luna: That's fascinating. So they're essentially forming their own mini production studios. What does this mean for traditional ad agencies? Lucas: It's a direct threat to their production revenue stream. Agencies have historically marked up production costs by twenty to thirty percent. If creators can produce at cost, or even at a slight loss because they monetise through sales, agencies lose that margin. Luna: But agencies still handle media buying and strategy. Creators aren't doing that themselves — or are they? Lucas: Some are. Mia negotiated her own media deal with a connected TV platform. She worked with a freelance media buyer — not a full-service agency. So she saved the agency retainer and only paid a flat fee for the media placement. Luna: So the creator becomes the creative director, the talent, and the client all at once. That's a lot of hats. Lucas: It is. But the data shows it works. A study from last quarter found that creator-produced ads had a forty percent higher conversion rate than agency-produced ads in the same product category. The theory is that the creator's authenticity carries through even in a highly produced format. Luna: I can see that. When I watch a creator's commercial, it feels like a natural extension of their content. When I watch an agency spot, it feels like an ad. There's a difference. Lucas: That's exactly the insight. And brands are starting to notice. Some are now giving creators a production budget and saying, 'Go make the commercial yourself, we'll just approve the final cut.' That's a huge shift from the old model where brands dictated every frame. Luna: But doesn't that create risk for the brand? If the creator goes off-brand or says something controversial, the brand is still attached. Lucas: There's definitely risk. That's why most brands still require approval rights. But the best creators know their brand voice better than anyone. So the approval process is usually quick — a few tweaks, not a complete rewrite. Luna: So what's the downside? Why wouldn't every brand do this? Lucas: Scale. Not every creator can produce a broadcast-quality commercial. And not every brand has the relationships with top creators who can. Plus, there's the measurement challenge — a creator's commercial might perform great on their own channels but flop on linear TV because the audience is different. Luna: That makes sense. So it's not a replacement for agency work, but a complementary option for certain campaigns. Lucas: Exactly. And I think we'll see more creators building in-house production capabilities. Some are already hiring their own directors of photography and editors to produce content for multiple brands. Luna: It's like the creator is becoming a media company in miniature. They have the audience, the production capability, and the business savvy to deal directly with brands. Lucas: That's the long-term trend. And it's happening faster than most people realise. If these marketing conversations have sparked something you've actually used or thought about trying, one way to keep this show ad-free and independent is to support us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it's a small gesture that makes a big difference for us. We really appreciate everyone who's chipped in. Lucas: So back to the trend — what does this mean for the next generation of creators? If you're starting out today, should you invest in learning commercial production? Luna: I think so. Even if you never produce a TV spot, understanding lighting, audio, and pacing makes your regular content better. And it gives you leverage when negotiating with brands. Lucas: Agreed. And there are now online courses specifically for creators who want to produce commercial-grade content. Some are even taught by directors who work on national campaigns. Luna: So we might see a new type of hybrid professional — part influencer, part commercial director. Lucas: Exactly. And that blurs the line even further between traditional advertising and influencer marketing. Which, honestly, is where the industry has been heading for years. Luna: It feels like we're in the middle of a fundamental shift in how brands and creators work together. Lucas: We are. And the creators who adapt fastest — who can produce their own high-quality commercials — will have the most leverage in negotiations. It's a new kind of creative capital. Luna: And for brands, it's a chance to get more authentic advertising at potentially lower cost. Lucas: Provided they're willing to share control. And that might be the hardest part for traditional marketing departments. Luna: True. But if the results are forty percent better conversions, they'll have to learn. Lucas: That's the bottom line. And it's why I think this trend is here to stay.