Brands are increasingly shifting experiential marketing budgets toward creator-led events to engage fans in person, with companies such as Mastercard, Mattel and Firefox planning to invest more in creator events in 2027. The trend is driven by the desire for more integrated brand deals and the challenge of breaking through social feeds saturated with AI-generated content.

"The goal isn't to borrow someone's audience for a day. It's to create something their audience actually wants to be part of," says Mattel's Mahta Eghbali.