Latest / Influencer Marketing with Fexingo: Creators, Sponsorships, and Modern Endorsement Deals / How Influencer Agencies Are Building Their Own Media Networks
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's a shift happening in the influencer agency world that doesn't get a ton of attention, and it's basically agencies deciding they don't just want to manage talent — they want to become media companies themselves. Luna: Right, not just taking a cut of brand deals, but building their own distribution. I've seen a few of these pop up. What's the model look like on the ground? Lucas: The clearest example I've found is a Los Angeles-based agency called Night. They started as a traditional creator management shop maybe four years ago, representing about thirty mid-tier influencers — think Instagram followings between 200,000 and 800,000. Luna: Yeah, I know of them. They had a couple of big beauty and lifestyle creators. Lucas: Exactly. Last year, they launched something they call Night Studio, which is essentially an in-house content production arm and a subscription-based channel on YouTube and a standalone app. The pitch to creators is: you give us non-exclusive rights to your content for our network, we produce additional original series featuring you, and we sell sponsorships directly to brands — bypassing the platform's ad revenue and the typical agency fee structure on those deals. Luna: So the agency becomes the publisher. What's in it for the creator besides maybe higher margins? Lucas: They offer a revenue share on the network's overall sponsorship revenue — not just on the creator's individual content. So if Night sells a six-figure integrated sponsorship with a brand like a skincare company, that money gets pooled and distributed among all creators in the network based on engagement metrics and content contributions. The theory is that smaller creators get access to brand budgets they'd never land on their own, and bigger creators get a steadier income stream that isn't dependent on a single viral post. Luna: That sounds almost like a cooperative, but with the agency taking a cut on top. How much of Night's revenue now comes from this owned media versus traditional talent management? Lucas: They disclosed in a recent interview with a trade publication that about forty percent of their revenue now comes from Night Studio — the owned media network — and they expect that to pass fifty percent by the end of this year. They've also started producing a weekly live show that goes out on YouTube and their app, which they sell ads against directly. Luna: Forty percent is significant for a shift that's only been running for about a year. But I wonder — does this actually benefit the creators, or is it just the agency creating a new middleman role for itself? Lucas: That's the tension, right? The creators I've talked to — off the record — are split. Some love the predictability. One beauty creator told me her monthly income from the network is roughly the same as what she'd make from two mid-tier brand deals, but it arrives on a consistent schedule and she doesn't have to pitch herself constantly. Luna: That's a real upside. The feast or famine cycle of influencer income is brutal. But what about the downside? Lucas: The main concern is loss of control over content direction. Creators in the network agree to a content calendar that the studio's editorial team helps set. So a creator who built an audience around, say, raw skincare routines might suddenly be asked to film a sponsored segment for a toothpaste brand as part of a network-wide deal. They can opt out, but then they don't get a share of that deal's revenue. Luna: Right, so the network effect only works if everyone participates. That could dilute a creator's personal brand if they're not careful. Lucas: And there's another structural risk: channel fatigue. If every agency launches its own network, audiences get overwhelmed with half-baked content hubs. The ones that succeed will probably be the ones that invest in actual production value — Night hired a full-time showrunner from a cable network — and not just repackage existing Instagram Stories. Luna: So it's a bet on quality over aggregation. That makes sense. But I'm also thinking about the FTC angle. If an agency owns both the talent and the distribution, and then sells sponsorships — where does the disclosure obligation sit? Lucas: That's a really good question, and it's one the FTC is starting to look at. Traditionally, the creator discloses when a post is sponsored. But in a network model, the agency might sell a 'brand partnership' that includes multiple creators and multiple content formats. The disclosure language gets murky. Night, to their credit, includes a standard '#ad' or '#sponsored' tag on all network-produced content, but the FTC has been asking whether the network itself should be disclosed as a paid promotional entity, not just the individual post. Luna: Interesting. So the agency becomes a kind of media company, and media companies have different disclosure rules than individual influencers. That's a regulatory grey area that could get messy. Lucas: Exactly. And it's not just Night. I know of at least four other mid-size agencies that have either launched or are planning similar networks in the next six months. The model is spreading. The question is whether it scales without collapsing into a race to the bottom on pricing. Luna: You know, this whole conversation actually reminds me of something I've been thinking about regarding how we run this show. Lucas: Go on. Luna: We've kept Influencer Marketing with Fexingo completely ad-free from day one. No pre-rolls, no mid-rolls, no sponsored segments. And that's only possible because a small group of listeners chips in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's not a huge number, but it's enough to keep the lights on and let us cover topics like this without worrying about a brand's reaction. Lucas: Yeah, and honestly, that independence matters more the deeper we go into industry mechanics. If we were selling ads, we'd probably hesitate to poke at an agency's business model or question a network's creator terms. So if you've gotten value from these episodes — maybe a fresh angle for your own work, or a better understanding of how influencer deals actually function — that listener support is what keeps this going. No pressure, just the reality. Luna: Exactly. And now back to the networks — because I want to push on one more thing. Do you think this model actually reduces or increases the power imbalance between creators and agencies? Lucas: Short term, I think it increases it. The agency holds the keys to the network, the brand relationships, and the production infrastructure. But long term, if creators learn to build their own mini-networks — maybe by banding together with peers — the power could shift back. We're already seeing a few creator-led collectives that function similarly but are owned by the creators themselves. Luna: So the agency network might be the catalyst for creator unionization, in a sense. Lucas: Possibly. The smart agencies are already offering creators equity in the network, not just revenue share. Night gives top creators a small equity stake in Night Studio. That aligns incentives better than a pure fee for service model. Luna: Equity changes the conversation entirely. Now the creator has a reason to care about the network's long-term success beyond their own content. Lucas: Right. And that's the direction I think we'll see more of. The pure management-fee model is slowly becoming commoditized. Agencies that can offer production, distribution, and equity will attract the best creators. The ones that just take twenty percent and send a brand brief will get left behind. Luna: So for a brand listening, what's the takeaway? If they're considering a campaign through one of these networks, what should they watch out for? Lucas: First, ask the agency how much of the sponsorship actually reaches the creator's audience versus the network's generic feed. Some networks promise broad reach but end up burying brand content in a low-engagement newsletter or a sparsely watched live stream. Second, ask about measurement. Is the agency measuring performance at the network level or at the individual creator level? If it's only network-level, you lose the ability to optimize based on which creator drove results. Luna: And third, probably, ask about exclusivity. If you're a brand paying for a network sponsorship, are your competitors blocked from the same network for a period? Lucas: Exactly. Category exclusivity is a standard expectation in traditional media, but in influencer networks it's still negotiated case by case. Brands should push for it. If you're spending six figures, you don't want a competitor's ad running in the same show two weeks later. Luna: Alright, so agency networks: promising for some creators, risky for brand control, and a new regulatory frontier for the FTC. I think we'll see at least one major enforcement action within the next year. Lucas: I wouldn't be surprised. And when that happens, we'll cover it. For now, the key takeaway is that the line between agency and media company is blurring fast, and everyone — creators, brands, regulators — needs to adjust their expectations. Luna: Well said. That's all for this episode. We'll be back next week with another deep dive into the mechanics of the influencer economy.