When Nathan Bush asked Taryn Williams which brands creators love working with, the answer was simple: the ones giving real creative control.
Koala has thrived on it. Temple and Webster lean their gifting into their most Insta-friendly pieces, wavy mirrors, tufty armchairs, then let influencers shoot them their way.
But the sharper point is honesty. The best beauty brands want genuine feedback, not a script. Happy for a creator to say the moisturiser broke me out, but the serum was excellent.
That honesty is exactly what makes a consumer trust the content.
When you`re small with tiny order quantities, most suppliers won`t even open your email. Bronte Campbell`s answer wasn`t a bigger budget. It was the right relationships.
Her co-founder Chris studied at MIT, found the people leading the way in sustainability, and built real relationships with them. Those connections led to a US product lab now helping them develop innovation that`s almost market-ready.
Go to the right people and the answer stops being an automatic no. The suppliers they work with now would never have looked at them cold.
Access isn`t about size. It`s about who backs your vision.
Elysia Krstevski went to high school with Adrian Portelli, so when she needed a jet for a campaign, she messaged him and asked.
A week later she had the jet, a Lamborghini and a custom black gown, all for a baby brand. The whole thing was a mini film launching her black range for Black Friday, and she`ll happily call it ridiculous. That was the point.
Nobody expects a luxury campaign from a baby product, which is exactly why it worked.
Taryn Williams built what`s basically a dating app for brand gifting, and the comparison is deliberate.
On #gifted, creators add real detail, kids` ages, pets, hair type, so the matching is accurate. Then every day they swipe left or right on products they`d genuinely want, tapping in to read about the brand or searching for what they need.
It`s light, fun and low touch by design, because that`s what makes creators actually engage.
The brand-side unlock: no PR agency charging ten or fifteen grand to broker it. Match, gift, done.
