Dive Brief:
- Billion Dollar Boy Group has acquired Creator Authority, a creator and influencer marketing agency focused on the business-to-business space, according to a press release. Financial terms of the transaction, which has already been completed, were not disclosed.
- Creator Authority, an official LinkedIn marketing partner, names Amazon, Adobe and Mastercard among its clients. The Santa Monica, California-based shop offers B2B strategy, creative, production and creator intelligence and will grow BDB Group’s presence on the West Coast.
- BDB Group founder and CEO Ed East in the release described B2B as one of the most significant growth opportunities in creator marketing. One-fifth of marketing decision-makers surveyed by BDB Group have invested in B2B creator marketing this year.
Dive Insight:
While the creator economy is maturing in the business-to-consumer realm, BDB Group and Creator Authority see B2B as the next big opportunity. Fifty-nine percent of B2B buyers pay attention to creator content on LinkedIn, besting other social media platforms, per LinkedIn findings cited in the acquisition announcement.
BDB Group will integrate Creator Authority clients including Amazon, Adobe, AT&T, IBM, Dropbox, Gamma, HubSpot, Lovable, Mastercard and Notion. Buying Creator Authority will also expand BDB Group’s U.S. presence beyond an established office in New York. The firms see the West Coast as having a wealth of enterprise, technology and B2B marketers.
BDB Group, which is headquartered in London, more broadly is doubling down on the U.S., East said. The company is looking to top $100 million in global revenue next year following the Creator Authority deal’s close.
Three-year-old Creator Authority will work alongside existing BDB Group offerings, including its namesake social agency, the creator entrepreneur and community platform FiveTwoNine and intelligence solution Companion. Creator Authority co-founder and CEO Brendan Gahan, who previously founded Epic Signal before it was acquired by Mekanism, is taking on the title of senior vice president of B2B, leading market development and new business growth under BDB Group. Creator Authority’s other co-founder, Cassie Jackson, will serve as group account director for B2B, working out of Austin, Texas.
B2B marketing tends to be less flashy than B2C marketing, but creators could give the fustier category a fresh edge. B2B influencers provide brands with access to credible voices in different industries and a way to build trust in professional communities, the announcement said. Creators are also seen as a way to help brands stand out in answers from artificial intelligence chatbots, a channel customers are increasingly turning to for product reviews and recommendations.
B2B creator marketing ranks as the second most popular creator economy investment so far this year, per BDB Group’s survey of 1,000 marketing decision-makers across the U.S. and U.K. BDB Group also indicated that B2B creator marketing delivers better return-on-investment compared to other tactics it assessed.
