Creators: the era of cultural impact

Creator-driven formats are no longer merely an extension of digital media. In France, they are evolving into cultural phenomena: they bring people together for live events, fill venues, and are now making significant inroads into television. They provide brands with fresh opportunities to connect and engage in meaningful conversations. At WPP Media, we have been active in this space for several years, employing a structured approach that includes storytelling, rights management, amplification, and measurement.

GP Explorer: a reminder, not a revelation

With a peak audience of 1.4 million viewers on Twitch, nearly 200,000 attendees at Le Mans over the weekend, and 1.22 million viewers on France 2, GP Explorer has proven that creator-led live events can rival premium broadcasts. The most significant insight is not just the immediate reach but the depth of engagement, with viewers often tuning in for several hours on Twitch, and the ability to maintain interest through VOD and short-form content. The GP Explorer phenomenon is not a groundbreaking discovery but rather another milestone that underscores a trend deeply rooted in French culture.

A well-established French ecosystem

Z Event, Kings League, Trackmania Cup, Inoxtag’s Kaizen, DTR Fight—these intellectual properties (IPs)* all reflect the same movement: recurring events where audiences follow a narrative, a preparation journey, rivalries, and a climactic live finale. The industry has moved beyond experimentation and is now focused on fine-tuning: determining the brand’s role, securing the appropriate rights, and orchestrating a comprehensive strategy for the pre-event, live event, and post-event phases.

What this means for brands:

• From impressions to meaningful engagement: The focus has shifted from merely accumulating impressions to fostering retention and maximizing screen time. The key question is: how many hours of valuable engagement were captured, at what cost, and with what quality of exposure?

• From target audiences to communities: Platforms like chat, Discord, and related social networks co-create the experience. This requires careful moderation, editorial oversight, and well-prepared crisis management plans.

• From sponsorship to storytelling: The most impactful integrations enhance the narrative—whether by spotlighting a team, a duo of creators, or a pivotal moment—rather than simply displaying a logo.

* IP (Intellectual Property): An original event concept or content format (like GP Explorer) created and owned by a creator. It represents a unique universe with its own brand, story, and community, offering advertisers the chance to align with a significant cultural moment.

How we do it at WPP Media

Our approach is practical and has delivered proven results in France:

• Auditing creator IPs that align with the brand’s category, evaluating factors such as size, quality, affinity, risks, and earned media potential.

• Defining the brand’s role: Whether as a sponsor, title partner, co-producer, or owner of a proprietary format.

• Securing rights and assets: Establishing broadcast windows (live, VOD, short-form content for 60–90 days), allowlisting/whitelisting, category exclusivity, and music rights.

• 360° orchestration: This includes in-stream content, behind-the-scenes footage, short-form videos for YouTube/Shorts/Reels, paid amplification, retargeting, and connected TV (CTV) where applicable.

• Measurement: Tracking metrics such as retention (5/30/120-minute rates), cost per hour of viewing, share of screen time, brand impact (brand lift studies in France, search trends, social media sentiment), and business outcomes (traffic, promo codes, retail media).

Two distinct partnership models for GP explorer’s “the last race”

Subway x Mister V/PLK (Main Course) 

Objective: To seamlessly integrate into the narrative. WPP Media supported Subway in defining its role (aligning with the racing team), securing essential rights (for live presence and content reuse), and orchestrating the pre-event, live event, and post-event phases. This included pre-race content, live integrations, and paid amplification of post-event short-form videos.

The result was a presence perceived as authentic by the community, leading to sustained and reusable brand exposure.

Wilkinson Sword x The Race of Legends 

Objective: To maximize visibility during a moment of peak emotional intensity. This initiative, co-developed with Wilkinson, focused on this pivotal moment. It included official sponsorship of the “Race of Legends,”* live broadcast integrations, branding on helmets, outfits, cars, and the podium, an experiential booth, live/VOD rights, and allowlisting to extend organic reach beyond the event.

The benefit: A surge in attention during the key moment, further amplified through short-form content, participant posts, and earned media.

* A surprise event in the GP Explorer program featuring the top four drivers from the two previous editions.

Measuring what matters

We recommend structuring measurement around three key pillars:

• Attention: Retention rates for 5/30/120 minutes, cost per hour of viewing (benchmarked against TV/CTV), share of voice, and on-screen visibility.

• Brand: Post-campaign studies in France (tracking awareness, consideration, ad recall), search uplift, and social media volume and sentiment. According to a WPP Media study, 61% of consumers trust influencer recommendations compared to 38% for branded content. Leveraging this trust requires flawless execution.

• Business: Traffic and sales (using creator codes, tracked links), incremental impact through retail media where relevant, and feedback loops to enhance lifetime value.

These creator-led IPs demand the same level of rigor as premium TV campaigns but with the flexibility of digital platforms.

Other recent signals from France

• DTR Fight (Billy/RebeuDeter): Attracted over 1.2 million viewers on Twitch and 30,000 attendees at the Paris La Défense Arena. This creator IP demonstrated its ability to sell out a major venue and draw a massive live audience.

• Kaizen (Inoxtag): A documentary about climbing Mount Everest that drew over 350,000 viewers for a one-time cinema screening, garnered over 46 million views on YouTube, and attracted 329,000 viewers on TF1 during its late-night broadcast. This narrative successfully transitioned across cinema, TV, and online platforms.

These formats are not merely videos or one-off events; they are collective experiences—real-time sagas that unfold before, during, and after the event, generating extensive watch time and interaction.

What’s next?

The question is no longer whether to get involved but how to execute effectively and create value. The key strategies include:

• Think in terms of a series, not a one-off event.

• Define a clear role and secure the necessary rights, ensuring opportunities to leverage content before and after the live event.

• Focus on meaningful metrics, using business-oriented KPIs and post-campaign studies in France.

• Establish a solid framework (ARPP guidelines, influencer regulations, moderation, crisis management plans) to safeguard both the brand and its performance.

Conclusion

In France, creators have evolved from being on the periphery of marketing to becoming a central media pillar. They require a strategic approach that prioritizes storytelling, rights management, amplification, and measurement. Looking ahead to 2026, brands should identify a creator-driven tentpole* event that aligns with their category, secure post-live rights to extend the narrative, and incorporate measurement into their strategy from the outset. The goal is not just to capture a fleeting moment but to build enduring value with the precision of a premium media plan and the adaptability of digital platforms.

*Tentpole: A major event that concentrates audience, resources, and attention over a short period and serves as a cornerstone for a marketing strategy.