Digiday Daily

May 07, 2026

As mega creators try to use their success as building blocks for media companies made in their image, tensions are becoming more common. Three sources who sees this from all sides stressed that creators who start their own companies should surround themselves with the right professionals to maximize their chances of success.

Individuals aren’t scalable, these sources told Digiday, and a single creator’s success cannot serve as a company’s structure or strategy.

TOP STORY

The Creator Economy

The biggest creators feel growing pains as they try to build successful standalone companies

Successful creators like Alex Cooper or MrBeast are creating media companies, to varying degrees of success and struggle.

OTHER THINGS TO KNOW

As retail media and programmatic spend surge, independent agencies are juggling more platforms, more data and more expectations. As a result, execution is becoming the biggest risk to performance and retention. Partner insights from Pathlabs.
During the Cricket Asia Cup, Google Ad Manager’s Dynamic Ad Insertion delivered personalized ads to more than 11 million concurrent devices — establishing a precedent for programmatic live performance and technical reliability. Partner insights from Google Ad Manager.
Great content deserves an audience. The Digiday Content Marketing Awards spotlight the teams and campaigns pushing the industry forward — and ensure that work reaches the people who matter most. Submit by 11:59 p.m. PT on Friday, May 8 to be considered.

MARKETING

Going Global

Possible expands to Lisbon in 2027, keeping its focus on marketing, tech, culture and creativity

Digiday caught up with Carolina Cespedes of GoGo Squeez, Remy Stiles of agency Kepler and Oz Etzioni of Clinch, as well as Possible’s co-founder and owner.

Member exclusive

Digiday+ Research: Marketers’ AI use rises, but tech skills stall

Marketers’ adoption of AI technology has risen significantly in recent years, but training employees on using these tools lags behind overall adoption.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM KEEN DECISION SYSTEMS

Purposeful investment across the full funnel is driving incrementality

High-growth brands view marketing as a value generator rather than a cost center, resulting in compounding returns over time. Research from McKinsey shows that a full-funnel strategy generates 15%–20% higher marketing ROI on average.

See how it works

AI Revenue Generation

Despite enthusiasm over its ChatGPT tie-up, Criteo’s shares slide on downgraded revenue forecast

More than 1,000 clients have signed up for its ChatGPT partnership, while management touts a 2027 re-domiciling to the U.S.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM CONTENTFUL

How AI is impacting content marketing

According to a new survey from Contentful and Benchmarker, AI hasn’t replaced content outsourcing, but it is used most heavily in ideation, writing and editing.