Creators vs. influencers: Inside the divide (RERUN)

**Patrick Kalanan** (0:01)
What's intrusive is I'm trying to make a phone call, and there's an ad that pops up between me and being able to make my phone call, or trying to send a text message. So I think that realistically, like carriers, OEMs, any partners in the space like Unity, we just have to think of our own device experience, and we always have to ask that question, do we want this on our phone? Would this be a good experience for us? And the answer is no, we shouldn't pursue it, right? And again, I think that that's where we go back to like the app install suite that we've been running with Unity for a number of years.
That typically is about a 30 to a 40 second experience on your device as you're unboxing your new phone. And it cuts out a lot of time that you would have to go into the Google Play Store and download individual apps one by one. So there's a clear value to that.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:51)
That's Patrick Kalanen, General Manager of Mobile Monetization at T-Mobile Advertising Solutions.
Our sponsor on this episode of The Digiday Podcast.
Later in the show, Custom Intelligence talks with Patrick and Lee London, Head of Aura US at Unity, about mobile, changing consumer preferences, and maximizing the app install experience.

**Tim Peterson** (1:29)
Hello, and welcome to The Digiday Podcast. I'm Tim Peterson, executive editor of video and audio at Digiday Media. And I have a question for you. Creators, influencers, are these the same thing to you, or are you able to articulate some difference between the two?
It's a question my co-host, Kamiko McCoy, and I put to Digiday's managing editor, Sara Jurdi, and executive editor of News Sub Joseph, in an episode earlier this year. And it's the episode we've received the most feedback on with a whole mix of arguments. And I think the argument or conversation Kamiko, Sara, Sebb, and I had has held up pretty well. Because the more I think about it, the more my own thoughts have evolved. But maybe we'll save that for a future episode.
Please enjoy this re-airing of the creator versus influencer debate. And after a short summer break, we'll be back with new episodes starting on July 14th. Happy summer.
I'm really excited for this week's episode. This is The Semantic Showdown, the Ali Frazier of Influencer Marketing, the conflict that's tearing the creator economy apart. Correct. What the hell is the difference between influencers and creators? And so we're gonna do this debate style. So you're on one side, I'm on the other side. You have a teammate, I have a teammate. Do you want to introduce your teammate?

**Kamiko McCoy** (2:59)
Yes.

**Tim Peterson** (3:00)
And your side.

**Kamiko McCoy** (3:02)
My side is on the, there is a difference. And luckily for me, I've got the ever so smart executive news editor, Seb Joseph, working with me to prove our case that there's a difference between creators and influencers. Who's on your team, Tim?

**Tim Peterson** (3:19)
I've got Sarah Jerdy, our managing editor at Digiday. And our side is arguing that, no, there is no difference. You and Seb are, and anyone else who believes there's a difference between sweet influencers and creators, at least a difference that's easily defined, are wrong.

**Kamiko McCoy** (3:38)
Yes, yes. So, all right, here's my rationale. And then Seb, please jump in here to back me up.
There's a difference between creators and influencers. Influencers are mostly, in my imagination, point and shoot. The focal point is mainly themselves, in addition to whatever their hard sell is, whether it be a beauty brand, clothing, affiliate shopping on Amazon, that type of deal. A creator is a lot more expansive. They've got more tools in their tool belt. And then they, I would say that they're using social media as the vehicle for their content, whether it be podcasts, that type of deal. Seb, where are you at?

**Seb Joseph** (4:16)
I think creators and influencers are, they're related, but they're not the same. And the reason I say that is because if you think about it, if you take away a creator's brand deals, they're still a creator, right? They're still going to be doing the live streams, posting that kind of funny video. That's not the same for influencers, right? Without the, you know, kind of the brand deals, there's not going to be that video of them wearing those outfits that were sent to them by that brand because it wanted to influence kind of their audience. So, you know, while I understand the kind of confusion, you know, why the terms are used interchangeably, they both post videos to a dedicated audience that they're both trying to build businesses on the back of, you know, I think that's where the similarities kind of stop, right? People are watching creators to be entertained and informed, whereas they're turning to influencers with a tacit knowledge that someone is going to try and influence them to do something at some point. And I think that's evident in, you know, the content that these personalities make, right?