Brandon Perlman, Founder and CEO of Social Studies, Inc. sits down with Abha Gallewale, a senior brand marketer, who most recently led influencer marketing campaigns at ASICS, a global performance footwear company, to explore how the creator economy has evolved and what it takes to future-proof your influencer strategy.
Q: Let’s start with your journey. How did you first get involved in the creator economy?
Abha: Back when I was starting out, we weren’t even calling it the “creator economy.” I was at Digitas working on Harley-Davidson, and influencer marketing meant DMing edgy Twitter personalities and offering them free motorcycle riding lessons, no contracts, no fees. We just hoped the experience would inspire them to share.
It wasn’t until later, around 2015–2018, that we saw more structure: negotiated posts, dollar amounts, specific deliverables. There wasn’t even a cost difference between a carousel and a video yet. It was all very linear: $100 per 10K followers. Now, it’s far more nuanced.
Q: How has your perspective changed since moving client-side?
Abha: On the brand side, there’s more intention. We don’t just look for reach, we care about fit. We collaborate closely with agencies but also provide direction: Who are we trying to reach? Do these creators align with our values? It’s more strategic, and there’s a greater emphasis on engagement and format diversity.
Also, being at a sportswear company, I now think about creators differently. We include athletes in the influencer conversation. In sports like tennis or running, athletes are influencers, but we need a more diversified approach to reach new audiences effectively
Q: How do you “sell in” influencer marketing internally when it’s still unfamiliar terrain?
Abha: It comes down to education and alignment. Some stakeholders might ask, “Why spend on creators when we already have big-name athletes?” But creators help us democratize the category.
Take tennis, for example. It can feel elitist. Athletes can’t always break that perception, but lifestyle creators can. They show how products fit into everyday life. Plus, if an athlete is injured or facing backlash, having a diverse creator roster gives us flexibility.
Q: What KPIs do you use to measure success?
Abha: We separated influencer and affiliate marketing. Influencers were upper funnel: think engagement, reach, and clicks. Affiliates lived lower in the funnel and were more focused on conversions. Both are essential, but often siloed, especially at large organizations where e-comm and marketing don’t always sync up.
Q: Which platforms are most effective for your brand?
Abha: Globally, Instagram was still number one. Then TikTok and YouTube. Regionally, there were differences. For example, our European team used Pinterest quite a bit. Facebook has great paid performance but tends to yield smaller average order values.
Q: What types of creators are most effective? Has that changed?
Abha: It depends on the product. For technical shoes like carbon plate runners, we could use elite athletes or niche running reviewers. For everyday trainers, lifestyle creators with six-figure followings perform better, they know how to integrate the product into real life.
It’s not a hierarchy. A micro-influencer in a category like Running can be more effective than a pro athlete, depending on the audience and product.
Q: If you were starting a creator strategy from scratch, what’s your checklist?
Abha: Start with your objective, is it acquisition or retention? Then determine funnel focus: upper or lower. Next, define your target audience deeply—not just age and gender, but pain points, behavior, mindset. That informs your messaging strategy, and then you choose platforms and formats.
You also need benchmarks. Set KPIs early, but base your expected results on historical data if you have it.
Q: How do you future-proof a creator strategy?
Abha: First-party data is key. Some platforms now help creators collect emails or opt-ins, which brands can leverage. I’ve also seen interesting work around “creator lookalike” modeling to source new partners.
Search is changing, too. People are searching on TikTok the way they used to on Google. So your creator content should be optimized for discoverability, even in how they speak on camera, because the closed captions/subtitles are searchable.
Generative AI also brings questions of trust and authenticity. Brands need to protect the integrity of their content and the creators they partner with.
Q: What percent of a marketing budget should go toward creators?
Abha: Honestly, most big brands are still under-investing. At my last company, creator marketing was less than 10% of the global budget. I think that needs to grow, but not by expanding total budgets. We should reallocate from traditional production. You don’t need to spend seven figures on every shoot. That money could be driving measurable results through creators.
Final Thoughts:
In Abha’s words, Creators offer scale, flexibility, and cultural relevance. The key is knowing where they fit and investing smartly. As the creator economy matures, brands that approach it with intention and strategic alignment will be the ones that win.