Creative 100 2023: Game-Changing Branded Content Innovators

Brand leaders must compete with myriad forces to win over customers. These innovators—part of Adweek’s 2023 Creative 100—show that marketing is not just about grabbing attention in the short term but also about cultivating communities and telling long-lasting stories. With purpose and heart, they are building brands that people in the real world actually care about. Katie Beal Brown Founder, CEO, Lone River Beverage Co. True grit: Brown’s version of Texas-born ranch water, a tequila-inspired “no-frills, get-the-job-done” canned cocktail, helped catapult the category from niche to mass. And shortly after Lone River’s explosive 2020 launch, liquor giant Diageo acquired the company, keeping Brown in her hands-on role as creative and strategic leader. The former Anomaly ad agency exec, whose West Texas roots reach back more than 100 years, was “raised with the kind of grit and resilience needed to take big risks,” she said. Stepping into the spotlight, though, was another matter, with Brown saying she’s just now “embracing my role as a female founder.” Star power: Landing a multiyear deal recently with Grammy winner Miranda Lambert, whom Brown described as “the embodiment of the trailblazing spirit that built our business,” will allow Lone River to further scale and “recruit new consumers through the lens of modern country.” The partnership also will empower other early-stage women entrepreneurs via networking and events. Advice for aspiring creatives: “Hold firmly to the objective versus the outcome of every endeavor—this allows for flexibility in the creative process to get the best possible solution.” —T.L. Stanley Clint Founder, Corteiz Man of mystery: The 26-year-old Nigerian British entrepreneur—who rarely speaks to the media and is best known by his Instagram handle, @Clint419— founded streetwear brand Corteiz RTW (Rules The World) from his West London bedroom in 2017. Now, the much-hyped brand is beloved by Drake, Pharrell and Stormzy. Guerilla style: Corteiz’s guerilla approach to marketing has helped its star rise quickly. Instead of handing out samples to influencers, it uses social media and word-of-mouth to entice Gen Zers. Capsule announcements are typically made on Clint’s private Instagram page, with passwords required to access products. The brand also runs physical product launches, sharing GPS coordinates with followers on the day of. Its 2022 Bolo Exchange event caused a stir, requesting fans bring branded jackets to a car park near the London’s White City area in exchange for Corteiz's new Bolo range. In March, it unveiled a collab with Nike via a frenzied 3-and-a-half minute film directed by Walid Labri, which imagined the much-hyped launch canceled, offering a whistle-stop tour of British Street culture along the way. Don’t call it marketing: During his first ever interview with Dazed last March, Clint admitted he hated the word “marketing,” adding the content he produced for the brand was “just natural.” As for that Nike spot, “I never thought it would go viral. I’m not going to act like I know what the exact outcome will be. Everything to a degree is spontaneous. Everything is last-minute.” —Rebecca Stewart Pinky Cole Founder, Slutty Vegan Getting saucy: Exploiting the old “sex sells” trope and avoiding the preachy vegan attitude, Cole has built a restaurant empire for the masses, serving meatless burgers like the Sloppy Toppy, Fussy Hussy and Menage a Trois at 11 locations across four states. From its humble beginnings as an Atlanta food truck, the company now has a $100 million valuation, with the former TV producer publishing her first book, Eat Plants, B*tch. The cheeky menu, combined with a nightclub vibe, helps Cole’s chain stand apart, though she described a “more saturated” environment these days for vegan food where “it makes things more difficult for business, as innovation is at an all-time high and the market is cornered.” Paying it forward: With entrepreneurial roots that stretch back to her high school days in Baltimore—she was a party promoter before she was old enough to drive—Cole aims to advance the next generation of titans. Her just-launched digital think tank, American Sesh, pairs budding business leaders with high-profile moguls where “everyone locks in with a pen and pad and builds off one another,” she said. Bigger and better: The mother of two knows that scaling is a challenge, advising future founders to “stay true to yourself and believe in your vision to get past the unexpected.” —T.L. Stanley Elizabeth Gascoigne Founder, CEO, Absence of Proof Making mocktails mainstream: Founded in February, Gascoigne’s nonalcoholic event curation company and online bottle boutique, Absence of Proof, aims to create high-quality social and nightlife experiences for “people looking to take a night, month or lifetime off of drinking.” Dry, but not boring: “I decided to remove alcohol from my own life about a year-and-a-half ago to focus on my mental and physical health and when I did, I noticed a significant lack of nightlife and social options for those choosing not to drink," said Gascoigne. "Since launch, we've thrown events in cities around the country, had over 4,000 RSVPs, launched an ecommerce marketplace and more.” Personal mantra: “‘Just send it.’ I have a tendency to overthink next steps or projects, but what I've learned from growing our company is that done is always better than perfect. Most decisions are reversible, so just do something and pivot from there rather than be stuck in inaction.” —Kathryn Lundstrom Helya Mohammadian Founder, CEO, Slick Chicks Slick start: Mohammadian wanted to work in fashion for as long as she can remember, founding accessible underwear brand Slick Chicks in 2014. “I worked for Carolina Herrera, Cynthia Rowley and Bergdorf Goodman, to name a few. But I was never fulfilled until I started my company and created a product that impacted someone's quality of life," she said. Marketing debut: In January, for the brand's first-ever marketing campaign, “Slick Chicks teamed up with Angel City Sports for ‘Any Other Day,’ a campaign that celebrates accomplished writer and champion adaptive athlete Jamey Perry," said Mohammadian. "With the help of Slick Chicks' adaptive clothing, Jamey balances life as a mother, writer and athlete, exploring what it means to celebrate disability, an ‘ingenious way to live.’” The challenges facing accessible fashion: “Many people are unaware of the challenges faced by people with disabilities and the importance of accessibility," she said. "At Slick Chicks, we are trying to address those issues and raise awareness through education and advocacy. In addition, we love to collaborate with disability advocacy groups and organizations to raise awareness and promote accessibility as a core value across different sectors.” —Kathryn Lundstrom Amanda Morrison Co-founder, president, Julie Centering "otherness": After building Mented, a cosmetics brand that centers women of color, Morrison connected with other founders in the beauty space on identifying and addressing "otherness." “[We] wanted to apply these learnings to women’s health ... to create a product and community for those that have historically felt forgotten or left out of the conversation,” she said. Thus, emergency contraceptive brand Julie was born last year. The big sister everyone needs: “The voice and tone of Julie that we created is this cool, welcoming big sister who has some experience in medicine, but she’s still a mess, she’s clearing out her life. By using this persona, we’ve been able to have these grounded and relatable conversations with women in a way that they’ve never had before," said Morrison. Navigating the cultural nuances of contraception: “Even though I've lived in New York since 2008, I’ve been shaped by a family-oriented, religiously centered, slower and Southern way of life. Everyone is polite and mindful of what they share in public. Being in the world of women’s health has kind of blown the lid off that—it’s made me rethink what I know to be true versus what needs to be said.” —Kathryn Lundstrom Tina Maher SVP, brand and franchise management, Hartbeat Talent and technology: Kevin Hart’s media and entertainment company Hartbeat is set to develop more than 70 projects alone in 2023, and Maher stays busy at the helm of some of the company’s most successful branded content initiatives over the past five years. She’s produced campaigns across various distribution channels that have pulled in more than a billion views, all with storytelling anchored in humor and heart. “It’s no longer about just creating fresh creative, but finding up-and-coming talent and exploring new technologies,” she said. “Audiences don’t waste their time anymore. They are smarter and have many more options, so it is important to treat them with respect.” Big-name brands: Maher, who was promoted to her current role in January, has led some of the strongest campaigns of 2023, including the Sam’s Club branded content campaign, and the return of internet sports talk Cold as Balls for Season 8 with longtime sponsor Old Spice. She’s also worked with ESPN, Draft Kings, Gran Coramino and more. Advice for aspiring creatives: “Don’t close yourself off to opportunities and people. Putting myself out there to help an internal team with my free time led me to a place where I use my creativity for good.” —Mollie Cahillane Kayla Sutton-Meyer Senior social marketing manager, Amazon Studios Anticipating audience moves: Social marketing for a studio as large as Amazon is no easy feat, but Sutton-Meyer is tackling some of the year’s biggest shows with ease. Her proudest accomplishment of 2023? Too tough to choose. “I throw so much of myself into every project,” she said. The Legend of Vox Season 1 and 2 have a “special place” in her heart, as does Paper Girls, but The Boys Season 3 may be what pushed Sutton-Meyer the most creatively. “Social media is ever-changing, and the way it functions in the entertainment space can be faulty at times,” she said. “Trying to think ahead is the best way for me to mitigate that issue. Anticipating the audience moves allows me to be nimble and flexible if things go awry.” A "late start": “I had a late start because life had me put a few things on hold, but I’m honestly glad it did because it wasn’t my time,” said Sutton-Meyer. From starting out as a pre-K/kindergarten teacher to digital CPG marketing to freelance TV critic, she’s had her hands in everything.Personal mantra: “Not my elephants, not my circus. I’ve learned to stop over-extending myself to help others to my detriment or my work, so this phrase truly has become my mantra for 2023.” —Mollie Cahillane Laurel Stark Creative director, The Sims Raising the bar for industry inclusion: As a self-described “dreamy creative in the tech world,” Stark was instrumental in developing The Sims’ new brand platform and the vibrant video that announced it last fall. The Silicon Valley native called the Pass the Spark short film—with appearances from poet-comedian Alok, cake designer Magnet and Brazilian songstress Anitta—“a literal love note to underrepresented creators and a celebration of the profound power our creativity has to inspire change in other people and the world around us.” For the 2022 expansion pack, The Sims 4: High School Years, Stark and her team dropped a trailer starring the game’s first official nonbinary character and tackled teen coming-of-age issues, aiming to “raise the bar for inclusion in our industry and empower historically underrepresented people to tell their own stories.” Future-forward: An alum of Google’s brand studio and TikTok, the “double Aries” and “prolific side hustler” co-founded Next Creative Leaders, an 8-year-old global portfolio competition for women and trans/nonbinary-identifying creatives that has given career boosts to more than 140 professionals to date. Advice for aspiring creatives: “The status quo is just a speed bump on the road to progress. Don’t let off the gas.” —T.L. Stanley Alice Tonge Group creative director, Apple (London) The Greatest return: After a couple years out of the ad scene, Tonge reemerged at Apple London—and made a big splash with her first piece of work for the brand: last fall's “The Greatest.” The ad showed off Apple’s accessibility features while spotlighting a diverse, inclusive cast demonstrating their talents and personalities. With a celebratory tone that did not stereotype the cast members, the spot was heralded as a milestone in disability representation–and is already racking up several industry awards. Broadcast background: Tonge previously spent 15 years at 4Creative, the in-house agency of British broadcaster Channel 4—which has a reputation for progressive creativity. For her last two years there, she was the agency’s creative leader. Disability representation: “The Greatest” was not Tonge’s first venture into the subject of disability. At 4Creative, she spearheaded Channel 4’s 2016 Paralympics ad, “We’re the Superhumans,” which won four gold Lions and the Film Grand Prix at Cannes Lions. It also helped progress narratives about disabled people, with the United Nations using it as a worldwide disability aid and U.K. schools adding it to the national curriculum. —Brittaney Kiefer Emma Tully Chief brand officer, Savage X Fenty Road to Rihanna: After graduating from the Parsons School of Design with a degree in fashion marketing, Tully leapt straight into the world of PR. One of her first roles was publicity manager at Ralph Lauren’s womenswear division. She also spent two years at Max Mara before becoming publicity director at fashion marketing and production house KCD Worldwide. Tully joined Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty lingerie business as senior director of brand and communications just a few months before the brand's 2017 launch. Runway veteran: In 2022, Tully was elevated as chief brand officer of the El Segundo-based venture and brought the Savage X Fenty runway show to Amazon Prime Video screens for the fourth consecutive year. The event featured a star-studded lineup, including Cara Delevingne and Irina Shayk, who all took to the stage in top-to-toe Savage. Super merch drop: In February, Tully became a part of Super Bowl history when Savage X Fenty used Rihanna’s halftime performance to drop a fresh collection. Ahead of the Big Game, the brand debuted a line of limited edition merch, including a slogan T-shirt that encapsulated the vibe perfectly: “Rihanna concert interrupted by a football game, weird but whatever.” According to Launchmetrics, the performance helped garner $2.6 million in media impact value for the label. —Rebecca Stewart Armando Turco Executive director of brand and creative, Oatly North America "Chief dot-connector": Though he recently spearheaded a multiyear sponsorship between Oatly and Minor League Baseball, Turco doesn’t take credit for the quirky elements of the deal that are unfolding at stadiums across America this summer, among them a half-a-halftime show, an oat field, a Sixth Inning Shrug and an Eighth Inning Eye Roll. In fact, even after working in branding and advertising for 20-plus years, Turco says he feels less like a “classically trained creative” and more like a “chief dot-connector." "It’s my job to make sure that the riskiest ideas get the oxygen and resources they need to become a reality,” said Turco, an alum of ad agencies McCann and BBH and Vox Media’s branded content division, who joined Oatly last year. Going against the grain: The industry’s ongoing obsession with measurement is “making everything look exactly the same,” said Turco, whose plant-based brand touts its mission of transforming the food system via its calculatedly off-kilter marketing. “As for data-defined best practices? Well, we despise those.” Advice for aspiring creatives: “Your potential is not defined by your job title or the box you occupy on an org chart. Resist labels at all costs.” —T.L. Stanley Angelic Vendette VP, head of global marketing, Alo Yoga "Curious and entrepreneurial": While Vendette’s career path has spanned multiple industries and both the brand and agency side of marketing, she’s been guided by a consistent North Star. “My passion for both fashion and innovation," she said. "I am curious and entrepreneurial at heart, having also run and led my own digital marketing agency for four years in between roles at brands and retailers, with clients ranging from L’Oréal, Adidas and Nestlé.” Luxeleisure debut: "We kicked off our first luxury collection at New York Fashion Week this past fall, truly making a name for ourselves within the white-space industry of ‘luxeleisure.’ Leading ideation and strategy on this campaign, this project was over a year in the making, having solidified relationships with New York Fashion Week for Alo as the official Wellness partner of The Shows,” Vendette said. Advice for aspiring creatives: “Fail hard and fail fast! Try, test and learn, and enjoy the creative process.” —Kathryn Lundstrom Check out Adweek’s Creative 100 for 2023 by category: Agency Leaders | Rising Agency Talent | TV and Streaming Innovators | Influencers and Celebrities | Media Innovators | Authors and Artists | Directors This story is part of Adweek’s Creativity x Culture digital features package, which spotlights the people, marketing strategies and creativity driving lasting cultural and societal change.

The Creative 100

Creative 100 2023: Branded Content Innovators Changing the Game

These brand leaders are cultivating communities and telling long-lasting stories

Katie Beal Brown

Adweek Staff

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