How the Creator Economy Has Changed Consumer Product Launches

Feb 28, 2026 9:09am PT How the Creator Economy Has Changed Marketing and ‘Democratized the Launch of Consumer Products’ Variety's 'Strictly Business' podcast features conversations with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment By Cynthia Littleton Plus Icon Cynthia Littleton Business Editor @Variety_Cynthia Latest ‘David Ellison Scares the S— Out of Me’: How Paramount Beat Out Netflix, Won Warner Bros. and Will Change Hollywood Forever 19 hours ago Paramount Skydance Targets Q3 Closing Date for Warner Bros. Discovery Transaction as David Ellison Vows to ‘Honor the Legacy of Two Iconic Companies’ 19 hours ago California Attorney General Warns Paramount That Warner Bros. Discovery Acquisition is ‘Not a Done Deal’ 2 days ago See All Getty Images On the latest episode of Variety‘s “Strictly Business” podcast, Bill O’Dowd, founder and CEO of Dolphin Entertainment, offers a deep dive into the art and science of the creator economy. The leader of the parent company of PR heavyweights 42West, Shore Fire Media and a host of boutique firms explains how the heat among social media personalities is changing everything about marketing and advertising, and how it has bulldozed traditional barriers to launching consumer products. Related Stories Paramount Brass Talk Film Studio's 'Rebuild Phase' and Potential for New NFL Rights Deal Ted Sarandos Slams Paramount for 'Flooding the Zone With Misinformation' as Warner Bros. Discovery Initiates New Talks With Rival Suitor Dolphin Entertainment began in the mid-1990s as a production company behind such Nickelodeon series as “Zoey 101” and “Ned’s Declassified.” A decade later, as O’Dowd saw the power of online communities and the emergence of social media platforms, he repositioned the company to focus on celebrity and influencer marketing, the creator economy and the development of consumer products. Popular on Variety “The first 20 years of Dolphin, we were a production company and we’re probably most known for a long, great relationship with Nickelodeon. We were putting clips of our kids shows on online. We were making original content for AOL and Yahoo and Facebook, long before streaming. I only say that to put in context what led us to to bet on what’s now called the creator economy — back then was called mommy bloggers,” O’Dowd says. “We were in the kids business and we were in the young adult business, and we saw how they interacted with this medium. The mobile internet democratized the launch of consumer products. You no longer needed to have tens of millions of dollars of a paid media campaign to launch a consumer product.” O’Dowd points to the success story of beauty influencer Susan Yara. “Susan was one of the O.G. makeup influencers. She has a channel on YouTube called Mixed Makeup, and she launched [skin care produc Naturium] in the summer of 2020, in COVID. Three years later, she sold it to e.l.f. Beauty for $350 million — with nothing but an influencer marketing campaign and a dash of PR. There was no paid media,” he says. O’Dowd explains how he strategically acquired firms to create a flywheel effect in which Dolphin represent creator clients and do work on behalf of brands. “When you can see it from both sides, what each side is trying to accomplish to serve in that matchmaking role, it’s just one of the great advantages that the company has,” O’Dowd says. “Traditional celebrities want to play in the influencer space and certainly in the brand space, if they feel like they can communicate authentically to their audience.” “Strictly Business” is Variety’s weekly podcast featuring conversations with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. (Please click here to subscribe to our free newsletter.) New episodes debut every Wednesday and can be downloaded at Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Google Play, SoundCloud and more. Jump to Comments ‘This Whole Thing Is Not Normal’: Inside the ‘Baywatch’ Reboot Casting Call With 2,000 Wannabe Lifeguards The World Needs New Heroes, Argue Creators at Berlinale: ‘We Made This Series Because We Felt Powerless’ Former Banijay Exec Unne Sormunen Named CEO of Finnish Creator Studio Tarinatalli: ‘We See This Moment as an Opportunity’ (EXCLUSIVE) A Contracorriente Boards Thriller ‘Hour and Twenty’ Ahead of Malaga Bow (EXCLUSIVE) Bella Ramsey, Daisy Haggard, Gemma Arterton, Paapa Essiedu, Aidan Gillen and Robyn Malcolm Headline All3Media International’s London TV Screenings Scripted Lineup Fremantle Scales Music Game Show ‘Hitster’ With Series Orders From Germany, Netherlands and Canada (EXCLUSIVE)  JavaScript is required to load the comments. Loading comments...