The Rise of Attention-First Brands
How creators are redefining entrepreneurship
Rich Walker - Founder of Attention Alpha
17th October 2025
In the age of the creator economy, a new generation of entrepreneurs is emerging—not from boardrooms or business schools, but from YouTube channels, TikTok feeds, and Instagram stories.
From Influencer to Entrepreneur
Once upon a time, influencers were the faces of other people’s brands. They endorsed products, posed for sponsorship deals, and collected checks from advertisers. But as audiences grew and engagement deepened, many creators began asking a simple question: Why promote someone else’s product when I can build my own?
This mindset has fueled a movement “from follower to founder.” YouTube star Emma Chamberlain transformed her quirky, relatable online persona into Chamberlain Coffee, now a multimillion-dollar business. Beauty vlogger Huda Kattan made a similar leap, founding Huda Beauty, a billion-dollar cosmetics empire born from her YouTube tutorials. These are not one-off success stories—they’re part of a broader shift where influence is becoming equity.
Creators are realizing that their attention capital—the trust, loyalty, and intimacy they’ve built with fans—is more valuable than any advertising fee. It’s launch capital for their own brands.
Audience as a Built-In Customer Base
The secret weapon of attention-first brands is something traditional startups can only dream of: an audience that already cares.
While most entrepreneurs spend heavily on customer acquisition, creators begin with a ready-made community of engaged fans. When a TikToker or YouTuber drops a new product, thousands (or even millions) of followers are primed to buy—not because of slick marketing, but because they already feel a personal connection.
This dynamic flips the script on traditional business building. There’s less reliance on ads, quicker feedback loops, and often instant profitability. Social platforms themselves have made this easier, integrating shopping features that allow creators to convert attention into sales almost frictionlessly. A fan can go from watching a creator’s video to purchasing their product in seconds.
Bridging Content and Commerce
What sets attention-first brands apart is how effortlessly they weave product promotion into storytelling. The best creators don’t “sell” in the traditional sense—they show.
Fitness YouTubers chronicle their training routine using their own supplement brand. Fashion influencers style outfits from their clothing line in everyday vlogs. The content remains authentic, while subtly showcasing the product. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok now make this seamless, with integrated shopping tools that turn videos into virtual storefronts.
The result? The distance between inspiration and purchase is collapsing. Viewers no longer just consume content—they shop through it.
Attention in action
Few embody the power of attention-first branding better than The Sidemen and MrBeast.
MrBeast needs no introduction, but for the uninitiated, he has built a global business ecosystem on the back of his viral YouTube stunts. His ventures, MrBeast Burger and Feastables, leverage his massive reach for instant exposure. Every new video doubles as a marketing campaign, turning viewers into customers overnight.
The Sidemen, a UK-based YouTube collective, have turned their digital empire into a multifaceted business: Sidemen Clothing, XIX Vodka, Sides restaurants, and a premium fan membership platform called Side+. Their weekly videos fuel a flywheel of engagement, brand awareness, and product sales—each reinforcing the other.
Together, these creators illustrate a new business model: one where attention—not capital—is the foundation of a modern brand empire.
Attention is the seed of trust
At the heart of every successful creator-led brand lies trust. Followers don’t just watch their favorite creators; they feel connected to them. That authenticity creates a level of credibility traditional advertising can’t replicate.
When a creator launches a product, fans believe it’s something they genuinely use or care about. This emotional connection can eclipse even celebrity endorsements because it’s built on years of consistent, personal interaction.
Some creators take this even further by inviting fans behind the scenes—sharing prototypes, testing products on camera, or soliciting feedback—deepening that trust even further.
The result is a virtuous cycle: authenticity drives sales, which in turn reinforces authenticity.
Being the face of a brand is one thing. Running the brand is another.
The Creator-to-Founder Learning Curve
Of course, turning influence into enterprise isn’t effortless, in fact it is a step change in an influencers operation. Running a business means dealing with manufacturing, logistics, financing, and customer service—skills that don’t come naturally to every creator.
Many creators struggle with the leap from personal brand to business brand. Burnout, quality control issues, and operational headaches can derail even the most enthusiastic founders. The smartest creators partner with experienced operators or hire strong teams early on to ensure the business side matches the promise of their personal brand.
What Makes Attention-First Brands Succeed
The winners in this new landscape share a few key traits:
Product-Audience Fit: The product aligns naturally with the creator’s persona and audience interests. A beauty vlogger launching skincare? Sure. A prankster selling insurance? Not likely.
Quality and Value: The product stands on its own merit, beyond the creator’s name.
Smart Operations: Solid business partnerships ensure smooth execution and customer satisfaction.
Continued Content Engagement: The creator remains active, authentic, and visible—because the content is still the brand’s beating heart.
When these elements align, a creator-led brand can transcend its origin and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with traditional businesses.
The Broader Impact: Media Meets Commerce
The rise of attention-first brands signals a deeper transformation. Media and commerce are no longer separate industries—they’re converging. Investors are backing influencer-founded ventures, retailers are stocking creator brands, and legacy companies are trying to capture some of that creator magic by emphasizing story and community.
Even major corporations are taking cues from this movement. L’Oréal, for example, has invested in influencer-founded beauty lines. Traditional marketing is being rewritten—no longer about “reach,” but about relationship.
The message is clear: in the democratized era of brand-building, attention is the new capital, and the exciting thing is with enough trust and creativity, anyone with an audience can build the next billion-dollar brand.
The attention economy is no longer just about clicks and views—it’s about ownership. The creators who once sold other people’s products are now building empires of their own.
What’s more, they’re doing it not with money, but with something far more valuable: our attention