Saulderson Media

We are delighted to be featured on the IPA Beacon List, an initiative designed to celebrate the most exciting and innovative growth stories from across the UK’s thriving agency landscape.   Proud to share that Saulderson has been recognised among a group of high-growth, next-generation agencies shaping where the industry is going.   What makes this especially meaningful is seeing how independent agencies are helping reshape modern marketing through creator-led strategy, platform-native thinking and entertainment-first campaigns.   Over the last few years, the creator economy has shifted from being viewed as a supporting channel to becoming a core part of how brands build attention, relevance and trust online. That shift is exactly where we have chosen to build.   A huge thank you to our team, creator partners, clients and everyone who has trusted the vision along the way.   Excited for what comes next.

Some of the most valuable content online is unlisted. Not hidden. Just not built for the algorithm. That's the idea behind Unlisted: Edition 01 - a private dinner Saulderson Media is hosting during SXSW London, powered by Journey Further. The brands pulling ahead in AI-era discovery have figured out that presence alone is not enough. You have to be visible and legible - to the algorithm and to the person on the other side of it. And influencers play a huge part in this. At the dinner, special guest Rebecca Jackson will share a practical framework built specifically for this room. You'll leave knowing: - Why LLMs cite the content they do - Which formats and platforms are earning those citations right now - How to brief your influencers and internal teams to produce more of it - Two or three things you can act on the following week This is invitation-only. We're curating the most exciting marketing leaders in gaming, consumer tech and AI to make the conversation as valuable as possible for everyone in the room. We already have marketing leaders joining from Synthesia, Activision and Ubisoft. If you want to be considered for a seat, DM me.

Influencer marketing is still being planned as campaign activity in most organisations.   Despite most CMOs already recognising it should do more than deliver one-off reach.   Across SaaS, AI, and consumer brands, the pattern is clear. Isolated influencer activations generate visibility, but fail to deliver sustained commercial impact when not structured across time and channels.   The issue is not awareness of the shift.   It is the gap between recognition and implementation inside planning and budget models.   In stronger programmes, the operating model has already changed. Repetition replaces one-off activation. Creator output is reused as performance input. Influence is distributed across the funnel rather than contained in campaigns.   Influencer marketing is not underperforming.   It is being constrained by legacy structures that no longer reflect how influence accumulates.

Creator content is shaping product discovery more than most marketers realise.   People are increasingly encountering products in use through creators before they come across them anywhere else.   It is not just about attention. It is about context. How something works, how it feels, and whether it fits the viewer’s world.   That early exposure often becomes the reference point that influences what happens next, including what people search for.   Search is still important. But it is no longer the only entry point into discovery.   For marketers, the challenge is shifting. It is no longer just about being found in search but understanding what people have already seen before they get there.   That is changing how discovery is defined and how influence is measured.

Most influencer marketing is still stuck in 2016 thinking.   A campaign goes live, views are reported, engagement is logged, and the activity is considered complete. But that model no longer reflects how influence actually works.   Creator content now shapes every stage of the funnel. Discovery through reach. Consideration through trust. Conversion through action.   When paired with paid amplification, whitelisting, and retargeting, influencer content stops being “social content” and becomes performance media.   The strongest campaigns today are not built for vanity metrics. They are built for business impact.   If it only drives awareness, is it even a strategy anymore?

AI creators are starting to appear in real influencer campaigns, not as experiments, but as paid media placements inside active strategies. The appeal is clear: they are consistent, scalable, and remove many of the constraints that come with human creators, from availability to production alignment.   But it raises a question most brands are still avoiding. If the “creator” is not real, what exactly is the audience connecting with?   This is already being tested in AI-led campaigns, tech, and gaming. Not everywhere yet, but early enough to matter. These are also the spaces where new formats tend to get normalised first.   Here is where opinion splits. Some see this as the next stage of creator marketing, built on control, efficiency, and scale. Others argue it cannot last because, without a real person behind the content, the connection breaks.   Both views exist in the same market. The real question is which view will brands start funding at scale?   Because that answer will shape what influence looks like next.

Influence used to be about reach. Today, it’s about discovery.   Audiences aren’t just watching creators. They are finding brands through them. They search for creator recommendations. They discover products because a creator talked about them first.   That means influencer content isn’t just a top-of-funnel tactic anymore. It shapes search signals and customer intent. When your brand shows up alongside creator recommendations, you capture attention before people even look for you.   Influence and discovery are inseparable. Strategy needs to reflect that. Influence should feed into search, product pages, SEO, and conversion paths, not sit in a silo.   If your influencer plan does not address discovery, you’re missing where decisions actually begin.

The biggest shift in gaming and tech marketing isn’t happening on platforms. It’s happening in how people make decisions.   Male audiences no longer trust brand messages on their own. They trust the people who live inside their world.   Creators have become the cultural filter for complex products. Breaking down AI tools, testing fintech apps live, reviewing hardware honestly, and showing SaaS in real workflows.   Influencer marketing now sits closer to product education than media buying. It shapes context, not just awareness.   Brands that understand this are growing faster. Those relying on traditional channels are talking to an empty room.   At Saulderson, we connect brands to the creators who can explain, challenge and champion products in the moments that matter.   A shift worth paying attention to if your audience is male, tech-focused or gaming-led.

Big reach doesn’t always mean big results.   On YouTube and Twitch, it’s easy to focus only on views and subscriber numbers. They look good on paper, but in practice, they often don’t turn into real results.   The campaigns that make a difference are the ones where creators hold attention, spark engagement, and drive meaningful actions like clicks, sign-ups, or conversions. We’ve seen this happen in recent gaming and tech campaigns.   Long-form content consistently outperforms short-form for audiences ready to act. Brands that focus on retention and interaction tend to see stronger ROI than those chasing reach alone.   Success on these platforms isn’t just about audience size. It’s about how influence actually delivers impact.   Saulderson builds campaigns with this in mind from day one. Audience insight, creator expertise, and performance metrics are combined to make sure every step counts.   For campaigns still chasing reach, consider which areas could benefit from more focus on real performance.

Recognition is one thing. What sits behind it is what matters.   Suhit Amin, founder of Saulderson Media, has been named in Performance Marketing World’s 30 Under 30 for 2026.   But this is not just about an individual.   It is a signal.   A signal of where performance marketing is heading and who is shaping it.   Because the industry is shifting.   Away from: - Short-term activations - Siloed channel thinking - Influence measured only in reach   And towards: - Creator-led ecosystems - Platforms like YouTube driving full-funnel impact - Creative built to convert, not just capture attention   The lines between brand and performance are no longer clear. They are increasingly overlapping.   And the agencies gaining recognition right now are the ones already operating in that reality.   That is the real takeaway.   Not the award. The direction.   Because influence today is not a channel. It is infrastructure.   And the brands that understand that early are the ones that win.