Bringing creator content to life at Advertising Week New York

This year at Advertising Week New York we reminded attendees just how essential creators and publishers are to the future of advertising—and the open internet. 

Advertising Week New York brings over 17,000 industry professionals together for insightful discussions, networking opportunities, and idea generation. We were excited to represent creators at the event through an inspiring panel and a food cart featuring daily recipes from Raptive creators.

Real Content, Real Audiences: Empowering Authenticity in the AI Era

Our EVP of Sales Marla Newman talked with creators Suzy Karadsheh of The Mediterranean Dish and Jenné Claiborne of Sweet Potato Soul, and marketing leader Tiffany Ray of Mindshare, for a panel on how creator-driven content creates genuine audience connections. 

Listening to the audience is key

Suzy and Jenné discussed how they grew their websites from personal hobbies to thriving businesses, and how their passion for helping readers has remained constant. Both women said that listening to their audience informs their content strategy.

When Suzy’s readers asked if she’d ever consider offering culinary tours, she took it seriously. The tours have since become a wildly successful component of her business. 

“We take a lot of ideas from what our audience tells us,” Suzy said. “People will tell you what you need if you listen and meet them where they are.”

The panelists also talked about how important it is for consumers to see themselves in someone they can trust. 

“A lot of people come to this lifestyle for health reasons and they’re looking for a role model—a big sister or auntie,” said Jenné, whose site focuses on vegan recipes. “People resonate with me being the face of it because they can see I’m living this way, I’ve lived this way for a long time, and the food tastes great.” 

Human connection drives results

As a brand marketer, Tiffany stressed the importance of human connection when building a brand in the age of AI, and shared her direct experience working with creators on advertising campaigns. 

“There’s an element that cannot be recreated by artificial intelligence, because we’re looking for human connection,” she said. “The need for it [hasn’t] ever been as great as it is today.” 

Tiffany worked with Raptive on a recent creator campaign that exceeded expectations across the board—especially with purchase intent, where there was a lift of nearly 20%.

Human connection is the key to impact.

Tiffany Ray, Managing Director & Client Investment Strategy Lead at  Mindshare

Bringing creator recipes to Advertising Week NY

Raptive is home to more than 5,200 creators and publishers, including many of the world’s most-loved food creators. We brought their recipes from the screen to the plate at our food cart featuring dishes from: 

• Jenné Claiborne, Sweet Potato Soul
• Suzy Karadsheh, The Mediterranean Dish
• Tieghan Gerard, Half-Baked Harvest
• John Kanell, Preppy Kitchen
• Gina Homolka, Skinnytaste
• Sally McKinney, Sally’s Baking Recipes
• Gaby Dalkin, What’s Gaby Cooking

Visitors lined up for treats like spanakopita, spinach and bacon-stuffed mushrooms, and banana chocolate chip streusel muffins, with many returning every day to see what new tasty treat was on offer. 

Keeping it real: the future of advertising

Our presence at Advertising Week New York embodied the message of Keep it real, a creator advocacy campaign calling on everyone to ensure the internet stays human. It emphasizes the value of real voices, real stories, and real experiences as AI infiltrates online content. As we heard from Jenné, Suzy, and Tiffany, AI can be an effective tool for advertisers, but it can never replace creator content. 

As the digital world continues to change, we remain committed to supporting creators and brands in creating content that resonates, inspires, and connects. Because at Raptive, we know that authenticity will always be in demand—and keeping it real is how we all thrive.