SXSW London 2025: Stevie Johnson Introduces the ‘Genuine Influence Era’ to the Creator Economy

This week marked a milestone moment for Disrupt Marketing at the first-ever SXSW London as Managing Director, Stevie Johnson, took to the stage to deliver a keynote that challenged the industry to evolve beyond vanity metrics and into a new age of influencer marketing. Titled From Vanity to Value: Genuine Influence and the Creator Economy’s New Era, Stevie’s talk unpacked the seismic shifts underway across the creator landscape, offering a clear vision of what true influence should be defined by in 2025 and beyond.

The End of the Vanity Era

Stevie opened his keynote by touching on the idea of “eras”, reflecting on how marketing, much like music or personal growth, has gone through its own distinct phases. From the Mad Men age of persuasion, to the performance era of programmatic ads, to the rise of social media and influencer marketing, where reach reigned and followers were currency, each stage brought new tools and expectations.

But today’s environment, he argued, is fundamentally different.

“We’re not in the follower-count era anymore. We are entering something new. Something better. This is the Genuine Influence Era, where creators drive every stage of the consumer journey. Where trust beats reach. And where brands finally have the chance to stop chasing vanity, and start creating value.”

Welcome to the Genuine Influence Era

With consumer behaviour continuing to fragment and the creator economy maturing, Stevie introduced a new standard for what effective influence really looks like in 2025: Genuine Influence.

At its core, Genuine Influence is about moving beyond superficial performance metrics and refocusing on the real, lasting impact creators can have on audiences, behaviour, and business outcomes. In this new era, influencers aren’t just brand amplifiers, they’re storytellers, cultural connectors, and commercial drivers who influence every stage of the consumer journey.

“Influence today isn’t about going viral or clocking up likes,” Stevie said. “It’s about creating emotional connection, driving discovery, and inspiring decisions that matter. That’s the shift; from vanity to value.”

This evolution is especially crucial in what Stevie described as the messy middle, the reality that consumers no longer move neatly from awareness to action. They loop, re-enter, stall, revisit, and convert. And at every unpredictable moment in that journey, creators can be the signal that nudges a decision forward.

To thrive in this landscape, brands need more than reach, they need resonance. And that’s where Genuine Influence comes in. In contrast to the old metrics of success, reach, impressions, and engagement rate, Stevie argued that brands must embrace new, business-oriented measures of influence. Ones that reflect trust earned, action taken, and outcomes delivered.

This idea forms the foundation of Disrupt’s new framework:

The Genuine Influence Equation = Trust + Transparency + Tangible Outcomes

Genuine Influence offers a clear, measurable alternative to the outdated vanity metrics still clinging to many influencer strategies. It’s not just about how many people saw a piece of content. It’s about what changed because of it. Not just to measure more, but to measure better.

Genuine Influence is about redefining success and setting a higher standard for what creator marketing can and should deliver.

Authentic vs. Genuine: The New Standard for Influence

In a pivotal moment of the talk, Stevie challenged the industry to move past the overused concept of “authenticity” (a welcomed concept by those tired of the buzzword).

“Authenticity is expected. Genuineness is earned and measured,” he said. “It’s not just about how a creator presents themselves. It’s about how their message lands, what impact it drives, and whether that impact is real.”

He called out the outdated metrics still used by many brands and agencies.

“For too long, we’ve been bounded by measuring success based on what the platforms want. But what about you as a business, as a brand? What do you want? If your KPIs are still stuck on likes and reach, you’ve been left behind. Genuine metrics are what drive business impact. They’re effective, they’re tangible, they’re real.”

A Human Answer to an Artificial World

In the closing section of his keynote, Stevie turned to one of the most urgent topics facing marketers today: artificial intelligence.

With Google’s AI search updates and tools like Gemini and Veo 3 reshaping the way content is delivered, Stevie argued that creators are more important than ever. Not because they compete with AI, but because they offer what AI cannot.

“These systems are being trained to show us more of what we’ve already liked, clicked, searched, or bought. They’re designed to predict our preferences, not challenge them. ” he said. “You’re not discovering the internet, you’re rediscovering yourself. So here’s the question: where is curiosity going to come from? Who is going to disrupt the loop? That’s right, Creators. They’re trust anchors in an artificial world.”

He outlined four key roles creators will play in this AI-driven age:

• Disrupting algorithmic sameness: While AI serves up more of what we’ve already liked, creators introduce new voices, formats, and perspectives that break the cycle and spark curiosity.
• Driving real discovery: AI summarises what already exists, creators surface what’s emerging. They provide context, commentary, and cultural insight that static search cannot replicate.
• Turning passive consumption into active participation: Creator content invites audiences into conversations, trends, and communities. It’s interactive by nature, not just informative.
• Acting as signals of what’s real in an age of synthetic content: In a world flooded with AI-generated noise, creators become human benchmarks trusted by audiences to interpret, recommend, and make sense of what matters.

As Stevie put it, “When everything can be faked, creators are the filter, and the force, that keeps marketing meaningful.”

Genuine Influence: The New Standard for Marketing Success

So as we step into this new era of Genuine Influence, what really matters? There are 3 core shifts that Stevie touched on that brands must embrace to thrive: 

1. Influence is no longer about visibility, it’s about impact. Brands must move beyond views and impressions to focus on influence that’s felt, seen, and measured. And it needs to drive something, especially in an era where audiences are one step away from becoming consumers.
   
2. Authenticity is no longer enough. In a world where everything can be filtered or AI-generated, we need to go one step further. Genuine Influence means trust that’s earned, storytelling that resonates, and outcomes you can track.
   
3. Creators are essential to breaking the cycle of sameness. As algorithms feed familiarity, creators are the spark that break the cycle, inject originality, challenge norms, and reflect the culture in motion.

The Genuine Influence era is here, and at Disrupt Marketing, that belief is now guiding a new chapter. One where creators are seen not as content machines, but as strategic partners in driving tangible business outcomes. Where metrics align with meaning. And where the industry finally stops chasing vanity and starts building value.