This keeps me up at night. We work with creators who are incredibly talented, but they’re sometimes working with brands they have zero affinity for. They’ll nail the technical execution—good lighting, solid pacing—but the content feels borrowed. It doesn’t feel like them.
I think the issue is that I haven’t figured out how to onboard creators deeply enough. They get a brief, some product, and a timeline. But they don’t really get the brand. They don’t understand what we’re actually trying to do or why anyone should care.
With Russian creators especially, I’ve noticed that the best UGC comes when they actually believe in the product or understand the brand’s story. But getting that level of buy-in when you’re working cross-market and sometimes with creators who don’t speak English fluently is tough.
How do you actually bring creators into your brand world? Do you do brand briefing calls? Do you send them case studies or customer testimonials? Is it just about finding creators who are already fans? I feel like there’s something I’m missing in how to make this connection real instead of transactional.