ICYMI: Special VidCon 2025 Debrief
+ unpacking ALL the recent platform updates
[YouTube’s VP of Creator Products Amjad Hanif 📸 via Vidcon]
That’s a wrap on VidCon. Today’s debrief packs double the intel, with insights from both me and fellow creator economy expert Amanda Perelli (formerly of Business Insider). We teamed up to break down the recurring themes and standout moments from all the panels and conversations that we participated in throughout the conference.
Plus, you’ll find industry takeaways from pros like Fixated’s Phil Ranta, strategist Cat Valdes, Viral Nation’s Paul Telner, actor-creator Adam Rose, CAA’s Brent Weinstein, Tiger Sister’s Cherie Brooke Luo and many more — including the MVP you’ve probably never heard of.
[Note: If you’re looking for customized reports from events like this — tailored for your clients or for your internal teams with industry-specific insights — message me on LinkedIn to discuss working together.]
ICYMI member exclusive — scroll down for a June 2025 special report:
The top platform updates announced at Cannes and VidCon
The updates that’ll have the biggest impact on social teams
The tl;dr of VidCon insights
AI is rewriting the playbook for platforms, creators, and consumers — four questions that explore where it’s headed
Your brand opportunities on YouTube and how brands like PepsiCo are thinking about the platform
Want to win with creators in 2025?
🗂️ VIDCON 2025 DEBRIEF
✨ AI PROS AND CONS
Lia says: It was impossible to avoid the conversations about AI — and it's no wonder. In the past week, Meta, TikTok, Google, Adobe and others have rolled out new generative AI features, creative tools, and ad products.
But even with all the hype, no one at VidCon could seem to agree on what AI is best at: Boosting productivity? Unlocking creativity? Surfacing insights?
The one thing everyone did seem to agree on: AI is a lot easier to embrace when it’s running in the background. Some creators talked about using it to edit different versions of a video for different platforms. Others said it’s become a game changer for things like comment sentiment analysis and tracking engagement metrics.
But one of the most intriguing perspectives came from Fixated’s Chief Business Officer, Phil Ranta: “AI reminds me of reality TV in the early 2000’s. Everyone thought scripted TV was going to die because reality TV was so much cheaper and popular. But it just became another genre. And AI content will be a genre, as will human-created content.”
Amanda says: As AI continues to mature, creators (just like us!) are considering if and how their work could be replaced. Some of the loudest concerns at VidCon came from creators worried about competing with AI channels or being replaced by digital avatars.
To combat this, creators are betting on real life projects and, dare I say it, authenticity. Sharing imperfections has become a key strategy for staying relatable, because that’s one thing AI probably can’t replicate… right?
As AI progresses, in-person meetups might be your greatest (human) advantage, said Cat Valdes, a YouTuber-turned-Creator Partnerships Director. In the past year, more creators have toured the country meeting fans through comedy touring and live podcast shows.
“I would be thinking about all the reasons why my fans like me, and what human elements of that I could get more creative with. So if that means I'm doing more in person meetups, or I'm doing more interactions, things AI simply cannot do,” Cat said.
Takeaway: Creators are thinking about what they have that AI doesn’t, like human connection. We may also see human-made and AI generated content living side by side.
💡 HOT TOPIC: IP
Lia says: IP — short for intellectual property — is really just a fancy way of saying “your ideas.” But in the creator space, it’s quickly becoming shorthand for recurring content series that creators can own and monetize, spinning off into podcasts, merch lines, consumer products, partnerships and more.
At VidCon, IP was the second buzziest acronym onstage (after AI, of course). And the emphasis wasn’t just on creating great content — it was on owning it. Creators like Adam Rose, Hunter March and Kalen Allen have built massive audiences from scratch, and they’re not about to hand their best ideas over to Hollywood without keeping a stake.
“We like to incubate the IP, socialize it, and then bring it to a streamer,” said Paul Telner, Head of Programming at Viral Nation during a panel on traditional versus digitally native entertainment. “We have a family called The McCartys: 21 billion views, 15M+ subscribers. They are a kids and family sketch channel, high premium sketches.
Viral Nation partnered with Wind Sun Sky in Vancouver — run by Catherine Winder, who worked on Star Wars: Attack of the Clones — to turn that momentum into an animated series called Camp McCarty. “We released the original animation on their socials,” Telner said. “We’re incubating the IP. Eventually we’ll take it to a streamer, but we own a lot of it.”
Amanda says: Creators are thinking about the legal considerations around IP, such as trademarking, and the importance of having a secure trademark for your brand.
Angel Merino (@mac_daddyy), Daniel Ortiz (vice president and general manager at Bucketsquad), and Lisa Berlin Wright (head of licensing at Bonkers Toys), spilled their tips for licensing and creator IP, from developing a style guide and a 3–5 year plan, to creating a clear vision for product development.
If you have content that’s growing, you have IP. Lisa Berlin Wright believes every creator should be thinking about trademarks and if they can trademark their IP. They should ask themselves: Should I be incorporated? Have I researched my IP in every territory? Are there conflicts?
“It's just really, really, really important to make sure that you're looking at all of your contracts and documents and agreements and really understanding what everything means,” Angel Merino said.
Takeaway: Creators are scaling their online successes to develop IP they can own, expand across platforms and products, and monetize.
🎬 HOLLYWOOD VS DIGITAL DEBATE
Lia says: We need to stop framing it as if one system is better than the other — streaming versus social — in reality it’s all connected. That was the takeaway from multihyphenate actor-creator-comedian Kalen Allen during a panel titled Blurred Lines: Rethinking the Relationship Between Traditional & Digitally Native Entertainment.
“MrBeast didn’t need to do a show for Amazon,” said Allen’s fellow panelist, actor-creator Adam Rose. “But there are still a lot of people who are watching linear TV or streamers and not scrolling social media — and that audience is enormous.”
Earlier in the week, things had gotten heated during a private conversation between two industry pros (I’m not naming names) about whether there was value for creators to work in the traditional entertainment space.
On one side, there was the creator who wanted complete control and ownership over their projects. On the other, creators who see a value in the prestige and mainstream awareness that accompanies working with a streamer or network television.
Amanda says: Hollywood might be packing up and leaving Los Angeles, but creators are just settling in.
YouTubers like Dhar Mann, Smosh, and Michelle Khare, have built their own production studios right at the center of LA’s media district. And they aren’t doing it alone, either. Creators are also hiring like studios, with roles from CEOs and COOs to writers and showrunners.
At VidCon, there were top creator execs at every corner. Ryan Riggs, COO of King Studio, described his role as a mix of putting out fires and answering to odd requests, like how to insure a polar bear. It’s taking on those random tasks that has helped his creator Zach King dial in on creativity.
“The suits kill the creative process when they expect the creative people to sort of bend to their corporate will and their structure,” said Zach Miller, president of Bucketsquad. “For us, Jesse's vision, Jesse's instinct around the platform, his hypotheses of what's going to work, what's not going to work, that's what drives the business. My job, and the job on the operational business side of the business is, how do we make that happen?”
Dhar Mann’s CEO Sean Atkins (ex-MTV and ex-Disney) manages 200 employees and a 125,000 sq ft studio in Burbank. He doesn’t view the Hollywood vs creator debate as a negative thing: “It’s not, we're trying to destroy them, or they're trying to destroy us.” Dhar Mann’s agent, CAA’s Brent Weinstein, agreed with Atkins and said digital isn’t trying to compete with Hollywood, “it is Hollywood.”
Takeaway: Creators are hiring operators to help them build long term strategies and professionalize their content — whether for social or streamers.
📊 RISE OF THE CREATORPRENEUR
Lia says: Cassey Ho needs to be studied for her entrepreneurial efforts — and not just by other creators but brands, too. At VidCon, she sat down for a fireside chat on creator product trends and shared how she went from solo content creator to CEO of two 8-figure brands: Blogilates and Popflex.
Her secret weapon? Community-driven marketing. Cassey could teach a master class on the social-listening-to-product-development pipeline. Almost everything she launches is introduced with a short-form video that frames the product as a direct response to her audience. Even at VidCon, she was taking product requests live from the audience.
Just scroll her feed (across any platform) and you’ll see the formula:
“Directly inspired by your comments…”
“You guys asked me…”
“I’ve seen your comments”
“You guys sold it out”
“I made it (for you)”
If big brands are going to think more like creators, the first step is taking notes from Cassey.
Amanda says: Is it possible for a creator to sell their own product without really selling?
Cherie Brooke Luo and Jean Luo, sisters and co-hosts of the podcast Tiger Sisters, said product success is much more about vulnerability than it is marketing. They sell small batches of matcha powder, through their brand, Sisters Matcha.
The Luo sisters described what they do as “founder-led marketing” and “building in public.”
“We’re putting ourselves out there, and showing everyone all the mistakes that we made.”
They used Instagram to share behind-the-scenes of developing the branding and logo, and the ups and downs of building a CPG product. They polled their audience using Instagram’s Story polling feature for direct feedback on the product as they were in development. They asked their fans what they thought of the brand’s color, the logo, the packaging.
“We posted videos every step of the way. We are founders and creators at the same time, and in a way, combining those roles makes it feel much more organic too, like our community is along for the ride,” Cherie Brooke Luo said.
Takeaway: Creators are using their audience for direct customer feedback and changing up their product with their audience in real time.
👀 KEY MOMENTS
🌟 People’s Choice: YouTube’s keynote — with Alan Chikin Chow and Safiya Nygaard — and a panel on LinkedIn video, featuring AJ Eckstein, Conor Eliot and Jayde Powell, were two of the most packed sessions.
🌟 Most Popular: Sorry, everyone — but Thursday’s MVP was a creator you’ve probably never heard of: @jmancurly. His stage performance drew a packed crowd of screaming kids and confused adults.
🌟 Best TV Sighting: Love on the Spectrum stars Connor, Tanner, and others were spotted around VidCon, and Madison’s mom and brother were inside the convention center selling her signature handmade bracelets to fans.
🌟 Copy/Paste King: Look-alike contests made their way to VidCon with posters plastered around the convention directing attendees to a look-alike competition for YouTuber Sambucha (prizes were promised, too).
🌟 Most Creative: Seismic’s Ryan Daume says he booked a creator on Cameo that he couldn’t otherwise reach for a campaign. The creator was paid to read the collaboration pitch back to Ryan.
🌟 Most Unexpected: Hawk Tuah girl (Haliey Welch) recorded her podcast — with guest Whitney Cummings — in front of a live audience at VidCon.
🌟 Most Iconic: YouTube hosted a live game show with host Carl Tart and “contestants” Ian Hecox, Jeenie Weenie and LaurDIY that would have put Jeopardy to shame. YouTube’s previously said it doesn’t want to be in the content game but it can only be a matter of time until we see this game show streaming online.
-Lia and Amanda
🎙️ INDUSTRY VOICES
“I’d say it feels more serious now. In the early days, it was mostly fans coming to see creators, but this year, it feels like creators are showing up to learn and really invest in their careers. Whether it’s the networking or the panels, the energy feels more purposeful and productive than ever.”
- Catherine Halaby, VP Creator Relations, Collective Voices
“On the lighter side, we talked about how some folks still see LinkedIn content as cringe. But honestly, that’s often what growth looks like on a social platform—the awkward phase usually comes right before it gets good. On a more serious note, LinkedIn is still wildly underutilized, especially by B2C brands. It’s becoming a powerhouse for personalized account-based marketing where you can combine organic, influencer, and paid strategies to reach every layer of a company. You can actually see who you’re trying to influence and build around that visibility. Most brands haven’t even scratched the surface yet.”
- Greg Rokisky, Senior Social Media Strategist, Sprout Social
“VidCon 2025 feels and looks very different from years prior. A great way to solve this for future years is to create clear incentives for major brands and companies to take part. VidCon historically is the marquee event for this industry and that’s a position they need to double down on. Bring back top creators, make the VIP experience feel VIP again, and evolve with the industry by making sure the event is primed for new content formats including IRL streaming.”
- Jason Wilhelm, Co-Founder & President, Fixated
“At this year’s VidCon, the buzz around vertical storytelling—especially microdramas—was undeniable. Creators and platforms alike are leaning into this emerging format not just as a trend, but as a new pillar of entertainment. From 60-second dramas to full-fledged series built for mobile, microdramas are proving to be a powerful vehicle for storytelling, IP creation, and audience growth.”
- Scott Brown, Founder, Second Rodeo Productions
“I was super busy at VidCon (3 panels and 1 creator mentorship session) and was focused on spreading the word about my new agency I just launched, We Get It, that's designed to bring creators in to be part of every part of the campaign building process for brands. The industry has matured but there isn't as much innovation happening in terms of how creative campaigns are being built for brands. Much of the "innovation" happening is focused around tech offerings, AI, etc. but not the creative ways stories are told, communities are built, and culture is impacted.”
- Austin Null, Founder, We Get It
“Best thing I saw at VidCon? The M&A panel on Friday morning. It was one of those rare panels where other speakers should have/could have learned something. Money screams. And the key questions to ask are: Who’s bringing it? Where are they looking? And why? RockWater founder Chris Erwin put it best: “Why are we seeing new investors and buyers enter the market to invest in or acquire creator economy companies? Because content is the new way to acquire users at scale — and it has far more efficient economics.”
- Michael Glazer, Entertainment Attorney
My favorite part of Vidcon was:
1. Attending sessions to help me go from a Creator to Creator CEO. Loved Sherry Wong’s workshop on “everything you need to know about hiring” as a Creator to scale your operations and fuel growth
2. The best social event was the Manychat activation at The Westin - great vibes, views of the Disneyland fireworks and fun memories with old and new friends!
- Jean Kang, Founder, Path to PM
*NOTE
It was the éléphant in the room. Because of scheduling conflicts, VidCon played out against the Cannes Lions festival — and the overlap was hard to ignore. While the Anaheim event had some great thought leaders, it lacked spectacle. Presumably the two will be uncoupled in the future because I don’t believe the industry can’t support dueling events. -Lia
🗓️ JUNE 2025 SPECIAL REPORT
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