Legacy agencies vs independents

Publicis just acquired Captiv8 - and if you're in the creator economy, it’s a move worth watching.

Recent shake ups:

→ Publicis acquired Influential in July 2024 

→ Now, Captiv8 joins the mix, just one year later

→ WPP picked up Village Marketing

→ Orchestra scooped up Small Girls PR

→ Marc Benioff invests in Whalar at a $400 million valuation

Here’s what’s interesting: these agencies aren’t being folded into the legacy holding companies. They’re staying independent.

Why? Creator marketing doesn’t scale like media. You can’t centralize trust, cultural fluency, or relationships - and trying to often strips away what made these agencies valuable in the first place.

Having worked inside these networks — and collaborated across the ecosystem - this is what I see.

This isn’t just about buying platforms. It’s about buying time:

- Time to catch up and build credibility

- Time to figure out how to scale creator work without breaking the magic

At Ludlow Social, we’re small by design to be upstream in strategy. We turn influencer marketing into a growth engine, not just a paid tactic. And we’re building systems that compound influence - not just convert it.

The creator economy isn’t niche anymore. It’s infrastructure, operations, and a solid tech stack to enable scale.

The real question now is: who gets to define best-in-class?

Original post on LinkedIn here.