The Co-Creation Playbook: How Creators, Agencies and Brands Are Building Ideas Together.
Today, culture moves too fast for one-way processes. Social shifts and trends evolve overnight. Creators are no longer just amplifiers; they create, inspire and shape ideas that brands want to be a part of. They are on the front-line of culture (social) with a voice in the conversation.
We’ve seen this shift firsthand and recognised that the best results happen when ideas are co-created, when creators influence the strategy as well as executing the content. Today, the role of an agency is to connect brand ambitions with relevant creators and build campaigns that are authentic to the people and the conversations happening on social.
Pepsi Max featured their Pioneers (Pepsi’s creator platform created by NewGen) in their recent flavour campaign which spanned OOH and BVOD.
Bemi Orojuogun, commonly known as the Bus Aunty on TikTok, featured in the recent Burberry Campaign.
Why Creators Are Driving the Shift
Creators are those closest to culture. They know what their communities care and talk about because they’re in those conversations. And when creators make content authentic to them, it’s rooted in the language, humour and references their audience actually use.
When a creator speaks, their communities listen. It doesn’t just fill a feed; it shapes how people talk and what they buy. That cultural influence isn’t manufactured in a boardroom, it’s been earned by the creators themselves, overtime.
This is why we are now seeing creator-led ideas live beyond social. Creators are featured in OOH advertising with their faces on billboards and across editorials. What starts in social is now setting the pace for everything else.
The Role of Agencies in the New Era
Brands want to be part of culture, but often struggle to keep up with it. Whilst creators are the ones who are shaping it. It’s the role of agencies to close that gap.
Brands have ambition, budget and scale, whilst creators have authenticity, speed and cultural literacy. If an agency can connect the two and build a two-way street for campaigns, content and ideas, that’s when brands can be a part of culture.
Agencies of today aren’t gatekeepers or middlemen. They’re connectors and facilitators. Understanding brand ambitions, translating that into briefs and working alongside creators to turn ideas into influence.
How two-way traffic really works (Examples/Proof)
The difference between the old model and co-creation is simple: in the old model, creators just executed at the end. In co-creation, they help shape ideas from the start.
Over the years of working with Pepsico, NewGen built Pepsi Pioneers. A creator platform and roster of talent who represent the brand across Music, Football, Lifestyle and Food. Pioneers in their own space, who resonate with the brand ambitions and have a voice in the conversations they want to be a part of.
Instead of just briefing creators to amplify content, we bring them into the process early. Hosting brand immersion days where creators have a seat at the table, to influence the strategy and put forward ideas not just execute on it themselves.
The results? Ideas that feel authentic to creators feeds and put Pepsi in the cultural conversations happening on social.
The Co-Creation Playbook
So how do brands, agencies and creators actually make this work? Here are the four plays we’ve seen deliver the best results:
1: Involve Creators Early
Don’t bring them in once the idea is finished. Creators don’t just amplify campaigns, they can help shape them.
2: Partner Ambition with Authenticity
Brands bring scale. Creators bring credibility. Agencies that bring the two together (and do it well) make the work feel big and believable.
3: Build for Culture, Not Just Campaigns
The effectiveness of a campaign is decided by group chats and comments in feeds. Create ideas that feed cultural conversations.
4: Measure More Than Reach
Views and likes are surface-level. Real impact is measured in conversation sentiment and cultural relevance.
Conclusion: Culture Is a Conversation, Not a Campaign
The old playbook of top-down advertising is done. Culture moves too quickly, and people can spot inauthenticity straight away. The work that actually drives conversation now comes from co-creation. When brands bring ambition, creators bring cultural know-how, and agencies connect the two.
The result? Campaigns that feel authentic, and have earned their place in conversations. At NewGen, that’s exactly where we play, helping brands and creators build ideas together that are shared and talked about in WhatsApp groups.