How the Influencer Economy is shifting Philly’s creative landscape

Philadelphia has a creator shortage when compared to cities like Los Angeles and New York where creatives from all over the world flock in the hopes that they will make it A Fast Company article revealed that over of content creators reside in the largest metropolitan areas with LA and NYC atop that list Other cities commonly mentioned in reference to the Influencer Financial market include San Francisco and Austin Despite being the nation s sixth-largest city Philadelphia is rarely on that list We do however have a scant locals holding down the fort Brandon Edelman better known as Bran Flakezz to his million followers is a Philadelphia-based influencer who has been in the championship for -plus years now He has just in recent days experienced a surge of new followers after a video of him went viral explaining how much he makes as a Philly influencer just over three-quarters of a million dollars a year Followers have demanded a large number of times if he thought moving to New York might increase his earning prospective but Edelman has taken to TikTok to defend Philadelphia time and time again For me it s a quality or quantity thing he announced I would have more opportunities in a city like New York or LA but I would also have more competition because there s more influencers there Also a lot of his biggest campaigns have been Philadelphia-focused When a company launches a Northeast-focused campaign and they need to hit the Philadelphia territory I m perpetually the person they are going to look for Next year is a huge year for Philadelphia We re hosting six games of the FIFA World Cup By staying based in the city Edelman is able to achieve one of his goals to encouragement local businesses through his platform What really drew me into helping small businesses is that both of my parents were Philadelphia small business owners My dad owned a bodega in Kensington for years and my mom owned a children s consignment shop in Montgomery County in Abington he reported I ve invariably requested to help small businesses because that was my parent s livelihood It was my livelihood as a child At a time when they face increasing costs like the latest spike in egg prices that affected restaurants across the city rising rents and the anticipated impacts of the Trump administration s bargain wars small businesses can use all the advocacy they can get Majority lately Edelman has been focusing his attention on a private driver company Ride With Ease He was first a customer using the arrangement to get from Philadelphia to his NYC-based influencer events Edelman s posting about this small business to his audience has helped the company s owner and primary driver Ralph Diluzio to slowly but surely creep towards his GoFundMe goal of The page has raised more than at the time this article was posted bran flakezz this was insane but HEY NYC IM BACK ride withease owner philly nyc original sound bran flakezz Edelman has provided assistance beyond social media promotion He helped Diluzio to register Ride With Ease as an LLC in the state of Pennsylvania His goal is to get a sprinter van so he can start transporting people at a time Edelman stated When he drives me to New York we often strategize on what our next focus will be It s definitely a mutual partnership Edelman has also made it a point to encouragement Black female-owned businesses throughout Philly by using his platform In February the content creator got word that Pure Green a Black woman-owned green juicery in the city was on the verge of closing its doors He vlogged himself visiting the cafe showcasing their food and their owner Tierra Lynn a former social worker He shared her GoFundMe page and captured on camera his own donation View this post on Instagram A post shared by TLynn TLynn iamtlynn Within hours Lynn had reached her donation goal That s been the biggest impact She needed to keep her doors open and we got her to he stated That was truly just posted on a billboard in Times Square This has become a regular series where Edelman shows off his favorite underrecognized spots around the city All of these businesses have come back to me and explained Just you posting has gotten us so a great number of customers Even if people haven t been able to donate we ve gotten more bookings we ve gotten more appointments So what could the city of Philadelphia do to better promotion and retain its creator ecosystem Edelman has chosen thoughts I would love if there was selected kind of content studio where people could come and rent out rooms like a studio space or a kitchen space so if you have a cooking ad you could rent out the kitchen ad to make it or a podcast studio he reported It is surprising to me the lack of podcast studio spaces that are in Philadelphia So I definitely think there could be better creation spaces A creator hub could be amazing Building these kinds of creative spaces would give Philly more of an edge and make it a more competitive playing field relative to New York and LA which already have businesses popping up like Neue House a private membership club for influencers with just locations New York Hollywood Mid LA and Venice Beach West LA Even so Edelman is drawn to remain in Philly I definitely think now as I m growing I m obviously on the road a lot more but having a home base in Philadelphia is something that has consistently been a non-negotiable for me he noted It s where I was raised It s where my family is It s such a key pillar of my content that it wouldn t be authentic to move or relocate Philadelphia will consistently be under the Bran Flakezz umbrella Business first Content creator and business owner Saeed Ferguson has a different approach to maintaining Philadelphia s creative talent While Edelman is a creator supporting small businesses through his platform Ferguson is a business owner supporting creatives through the business Ferguson founded All Caps Studio a creative agency and fashion line dedicated to harnessing and spotlighting Philadelphia talent whether they be photographers models or creative directors His goal To help creative Philadelphians benefit financially It was kind of an art project at first just a way for us to let go of ideas he reported And then it started to snowball into a brand Let s face it money talks and it s crucial to retaining the city s creative talent The majority natives don t want to abandon their home city They want to have enough creative opportunity to pay their rent while doing what they love Saeed Ferguson and merchandise related to his business All Caps Studio Courtesy of Saeed Ferguson Ferguson has observed this creative migration from the city Selected came to the city and eventually left Others were people Ferguson knew since childhood Philly born and raised who also left I think it s too much like OK I need to be more achieving like in - months so I need to go to New York or LA because absolutely the things are happening there And that s very valid he stated I m born and raised here so I demanded to patronage the creative scene here Ferguson supports the creative scene he s known since childhood in several options By hiring the artists themselves is how we backing the neighborhood here he declared We ve also done a lot of events in Philadelphia based around the district In March Ferguson s studio partnered with other Philly-based companies to host a live event meant to foster creative connections in the city while also raising money to patronage these businesses The partners came from plenty of parts of the creative scene from event spaces to magazine sponsors to DJs to tote bag designers to restaurants so the one event supported multiple verticals The event was hosted at a Black-owned hotel Yowie which drove brand awareness of the space to the -plus followers of Ferguson and his brand View this post on Instagram A post shared by saeed akil ferguson saeedferguson But not everything has to be a party Ferguson builds district in Philly in more intimate settings speaking to students at local schools and colleges I just talked to a bunch of students who were trying to get into collections and get into fashion and just give them transparent advice he explained And I ve done that at Penn and hope to do it throughout the Philadelphia school district in the summer Like Edelman Ferguson has thought about Philadelphia s duty to its creatives I lately revealed out that it s like cents or cents per person is how much the city spends on the arts in general And I think that could be like an compelling starting point Maybe putting more emphasis on the arts and creativity and just what does that do to the city what does that do to the youth and what does that do to the civilization of the city he noted How do we add to a system in a way that makes sense for everyone involved What are strategies we can prove that it s worth it to the city Ferguson believes in belief and in seeing things through until they come to life right here We started this thing in Philly we haven t left we ve continued to do it and we ve continued to do it at a level that other brands are that aren t in Philly he explained We can match the level of the brands that seemingly had to exist somewhere else While there are larger scenes in the influencer financial sector Edelman and Ferguson show how thoughtful creators can use the available tools and strategies to thrive in and assistance the creative and economic diversity of their local communities Instead of watching a favorite business slowly die a content creator like Edelman can make a -second TikTok that drives enough awareness to keep it alive Instead of watching fellow creatives leave Philly for bigger markets business owners like Ferguson can create businesses that prioritize local creatives leading to a more close-knit creative Philadelphia one Instagram post at a time You can find more of Edelman on his podcast Between us Girlies which he co-hosts with his three best friends If you re interested in content creation the journey to becoming a content creator and the state of the creator market you ll want to check it out Find Ferguson on his personal Instagram and TikTok as well as All Cap s Youtube channel which focuses on transparent journal entry-inspired content Also be on the lookout for his upcoming educational platform and new design studio M both set for a summer launch The post How the Influencer Economic activity is shifting Philly s creative landscape appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY