This week on Earned, Brit Starr sits down with Jen Costello, the Global CSO at TBWA\Worldwide. Discover the art of disruption and the power of authenticity in navigating the ever-changing marketing landscape.
Don't miss her insights into challenging norms and crafting bold, innovative pitches that captivate clients.
To start, we dive into the transformative journey of the creator economy. As influencer marketing becomes a more mature industry and marketing function in 2025, Jasmine shares how brands are adopting data-driven strategies to navigate this dynamic space. We explore the profound impact of TikTok's rise, the challenges posed by iOS changes, and the economic uncertainties affecting digital creators. Jasmine emphasizes the importance of platform diversification, urging creators (and brands) to embrace new formats like YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels to remain competitive. Looking ahead, the episode highlights the opportunities and hurdles for both seasoned leaders and aspiring creators. Jasmine stresses the significance of adopting a business mindset and finding a unique value proposition in this rapidly evolving digital world. Additionally, we discuss the role of AI in creator marketing, acknowledging its potential to streamline processes while maintaining the irreplaceable essence of human connection. To close the episode, Jasmine shares some advice for both leaders and those aspiring to begin a career in the creator economy.
Check out highlights from the episode below, or or tune into the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen!
The following interview has been lightly edited for concision.
Brit Starr: In terms of what you think you should be doing versus what is good work, what is good insight—how do you get there? How do you know what good work is?
Jen Costello: I think ‘good work’ is actually in some ways the problem. I don't want good, I want great. I want disruptive, I want exceptional, I want the stuff that your kid and your grandma are talking about. That's what I'm chasing. For me, there’s something a bit more functional, and then things are a bit more emotional. I like this question because I hadn't really sat to think, what is my filter? What is my rubric [for great]?
A big part of what I'm looking for is—does it move me? That movement can come from a million places. It can be rebellious work, it can have a middle finger in the air. Or it can be emotional or poignant. It has to provide some sort of an emotionally resonant gut punch, because if I don't care about it, nobody else will. If I don't feel something because of it, no one else will. I look for work that has risk embedded in it, because a big part of what we do at Chiat and at TBWA is a methodology and an ethos of disruption.
It is a heat seeking missile for [what’s conventional] and then tries to annihilate it, not just because it's fun. We do it because it helps you do something distinct. Do something, quite frankly, that culture usually really values.
Even if we're unaware of it, we really like blowing up a convention like that. The last one is ideas that are so unexpected, they're expected. Like Airbnb was a brand that I worked on for years, and we found a truth around people [who live in these cities] exploring them like tourists. I don't even go to museums in my real life. Why am I traveling halfway around the world in Paris to go to a museum? And no one would have ever expressed it that way. But that insight and that truth, that convention led us to work. That you were like ‘oh, thank God somebody finally said this.’ It goes for the emotional jugular, moves me in some way, takes a risk or breaks a convention. Ideally it's something that doesn’t need to be overexplained, but it's unexpected, coming from quite an expected and true place for people.
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