MrBeast’s creator platform signals a more programmatic creator economy

The listing mentioned that the company is building a “global creator platform” that will be a “groundbreaking AI-driven intelligence engine poised to transform the creator economy,” and sought an “ad tech trailblazer.”

On May 12, during Beast Industries’ first-ever public presentation to advertisers, Donaldson confirmed the company was creating a two-sided creator marketplace to introduce creators to Global 1000 brands. The company also highlighted Vyro, its creator distribution engine designed to scale branded content through a network of more than 100,000 vetted microcreators across TikTok, Reels and Shorts, launched last October. This is taking place as TV networks make their annual upfront pitches, retail media networks pitch during NewFronts (with some holding their own event later in the year), and creator-focused companies like Spotter continue to host upfront-style events to connect more brands to more creators.

“We are no longer just a YouTube channel. We’re building a next-generation media platform in the age of AI — using tech, data and global IP to bring brands and fans together at unprecedented scale,” CEO of Beast Industries, Jeff Housenbold, said during the presentation.

A global programmatic platform for advertisers signals a shift in the creator economy toward standardized, scalable media inventory that can be bought and sold more like traditional digital advertising, according to five digital media experts Digiday spoke to.

“For years, the industry has operated through fragmented systems, agencies, platforms, commerce tools, media buyers, and analytics providers all working independently,” said Jonathan Chanti, co-founder and CEO of Reign Maker Group. “Beast Industries appears to be building a centralized intelligence layer that connects creator performance, audience behavior, commerce, and brand ROI into one ecosystem.”

For Kevin Blazaitis, president of Omnicom’s influencer marketing arm, Creo, Donaldson’s moves are indicative of mega creators’ refusal to no longer rely on a handful of social media platforms for success. “They themselves are platforms, brands and commerce channels,” he told Digiday.

The job listing looks for someone who can execute deals, close “high-impact contracts,” and help brands diagnose data challenges (“like seamless clean room integrations”). Beast Industries also wants someone who can strategize for future innovations while executing deals based on what the program currently offers, and demystify programmatic ad buying.

Michelle Wiltz, managing director of paid social at BrainLabs largely agreed, saying in a statement to Digiday that the language of the job posting “suggests creator ecosystems are evolving into more scalable, measurable acquisition channels rather than standalone brand partnerships.” For Wiltz, this a reflection of how the lines between creator, commerce, and paid social are “increasingly blurring.” 

Beast Industries, the media compan

Those who spoke with Digiday all agreed that Beast Industries appears to be building the kind of infrastructure seen in a traditional media company — infrastructure that can measure and deliver the kinds of data brands want to see when investing, which will only propel the already massive company (it claims to reach of 1.3 billion people over an average 90-day period). This move also helps push the creator economy more towards the kinds of scale and distribution available in the publishing world. 

“The amount of money being spent on creators is great, but if we compare it to the amount of money spent in media as a whole — there’s still so much more money in traditional media,” said Matt Grandchamp, svp and head of revenue at NowThis. “The creator economy needs the same measurement that you get in traditional media…you’re going to need to be able to do the same tracking and linking and showcasing.”

Madison Gaudry-Routledge, evp of social at Viral Nation, thinks Beast Industries’ focus on intelligence is a unique (and clever) play.

“Intelligence is not a feature. It’s a foundation. And right now, most of the industry is still operating without one…. What’s interesting is that [Beast Industries] seems to be making the same fundamental bet [Viral Nation has]: that whoever owns the intelligence layer wins,” Gaudry-Routledge said.

Gaudry-Routledge noted that the data Beast Industries’ creator program brings to brands “has to be genuinely proprietary,” and should leverage the “volume and depth of first-party performance data they’ve accumulated.”

Grandchamp thinks the marketplace is an attempt to move the company (and creator partnerships in general) more in line with traditional media entities. That also means involving programmatic advertising, which is where brands “throw the dollars,” he said.

The effect programmatic had on the media space is undeniable: it offered efficiency for buyers to buy ads for everyone, not just the top publishers, but it ultimately led to a race to the bottom when it came to prices, which hurt legacy media publishers the most.

But experts don’t believe this could be an issue for Donaldson.

Independent creative strategist Aaron Francois said that when programmatic advertising took over digital media, “brands stopped calling publishers directly and let technology do the matching…Brands plug in real objectives, the platform knows which creators convert, and the AI handles the rest. Every campaign makes the next one smarter.”

If Beast Industries introduces programmatic advertising to the creator platform it’s building, Francois says the company would stop being a media company with technology and become a technology company that understands media. “That’s a different valuation conversation entirely,” he added.

Grandchamp also sees the potential adoption of programmatic as a good thing for Donaldson’s company, as it will open him up to even more buyers.

“Everyone wants premium inventory. Everyone wants inventory that people watch. MrBeast has exactly that content,” he said. “It’s why some publishers took programmatic off open exchange and made it so brands had to make a direct PMP [private marketplace] with them as the only way to access their inventory. It’s the same thing here.”

The framework is there, forged by publishers and buyers a few years ago, but for Beast Industries’ creator platform to be successful and attract long-term investors, Chanti thinks it has to solve three core problems: attribution (“accurately measuring creator driven business outcomes beyond vanity metrics”), predictability (“using AI to forecast which creators, audiences, and formats will perform before campaigns launch)”, and scalability (“operationalizing creator partnerships globally with the efficiency of modern ad platforms while maintaining authenticity”). 

If it can pull that off, Chanti believes Beast Industries will start to resemble an ad-tech business with “creator native DNA,” a move indicative of a larger shift across the creator space. 

“The next generation of creator companies will likely look less like agencies and more like hybrid media tech firms,” he said.

Crucially, however, Beast Industries will need to ensure there’s enough of a human touch on the curation side, and enough incentive for participants on the creator side. Chanti warned of leaning too heavily into AI to solve creative industries, considering the creator economy’s driving forces are relationships, culture, and trust. 

Francois wondered how the program will engender trust in the creators it works with. “They need to show that the creator side actually wants to be part of this. The platform only works if creators trust it, and right now, the creator economy is full of skepticism about who’s actually building for them versus extracting from them.”