When alignment beats algorithms in brand-creator partnerships!

Kevin Abraham Thomas, CEO of Circuit Artists Network, discusses how brands can collaborate with creators effectively and avoid costly misalignment.

In today’s creator economy, brand–creator collaborations are no longer just media buys disguised as content. They are relationships built on trust, alignment, and shared outcomes. At the heart of most successful collaborations lies a simple truth: this is a dance, not a tug of war.

Collaboration isn’t about control, it’s about enablement

Costly misalignment usually starts off when one side over-anchors on its own position. Brands sometimes approach collaborations with a “my budget, my rules” mindset, while creators may hold tightly to a fixed commercial value without flexibility.

The reality? Healthy partnerships require a middle ground. Brands must trust creators for their art, and creators must ensure the brand feels their investment was worth it. When either side becomes rigid, expectations spiral and the relationship turns transactional instead of collaborative.

Trust is not optional here; it’s foundational. A creator is not a puppet, and a brand is not a charity. Both are stakeholders in the outcome.

CPV is a metric, not the truth

CPV (Cost Per View), while essential as it's a benchmark, has become quite an overused and misunderstood metric in creator marketing. Not dismissing its use case, however, applying it blindly ignores context, influence, and audience quality.  For example, a beauty brand may drop a creator whose CPV doesn’t “fit,” even if 90% of that creator’s audience is the brand’s exact target demographic. In such cases, CPV becomes misleading rather than meaningful.

My view is clear: CPV could be the differentiating factor, not the decision itself. Some creators go above and beyond to craft authentic brand stories in a world saturated with ads. That intrinsic value: thought process, storytelling, trust, and cultural relevance often matters more than a spreadsheet calculation.

Also Read: #Ketchuptalks: Joel James and Rishabh Suri on how they see the role of AI in creative work today!

Value alignment vs. Pure visibility

Creators should not choose brands solely to leverage their reach, and brands should not choose creators solely for numbers. Value alignment matters because that’s what trumps credibility, not impressions. When a creator genuinely believes in a product or service, the content shows. When they don’t, the audience usually sniffs it out instantly.

Creators know their audience’s perception best and perception is king. Ignoring this is a shortcut to content that feels performative, ultimately damaging both parties. Creators are not just content producers; they are custodians of trust with their audience. Brands that respect this dynamic tend to build longer-lasting, more effective partnerships.

What does success really look like

Success should be defined collaboratively, not left in the air. For brands, success may include brand recall, sentiment, or long-term association beyond views. For creators, success includes fair compensation, creative satisfaction, and campaign experience. When success is not clearly defined, mismatched expectations become the elephant in the room that gets bigger as the campaign progresses. Something that could be “absurd” to one side often stems from assumptions that were never aligned upfront.

Creative freedom vs Over-scripting

Allowing creators to interpret a brief in their own voice isn’t a “best practice” anymore. It should be the default setting. We all know creators hate making ads; they love telling stories - the result of this being that authenticity consistently outperforms over-scripted brand messaging. The best approach? Send the brief, mandates, and talking points—but don’t micromanage. Give creators healthy guardrails, then let them cook. Sometimes, the best outcomes come from being pleasantly surprised rather than overengineering every line.

Trust is a two-way street

The recipe is quite simple: Brands that trust creators enable better work + Creators who respect the brand’s goals deliver stronger results. When control dominates, creativity suffers and so does performance. From the creator’s end, compensation without effort is unacceptable. A creator is stepping into the brand’s shoes as a marketer. The goal is always to underpromise, overdeliver, and give 200% since trust-building starts with the creator. The strongest brand–creator relationships are not built in 1 or 2 campaigns, but instead they’re built over time. Creators who organically talk about a brand beyond deliverables, remain transparent about products, and show up authentically create leverage in turn, brands that recognise this invest not just in the matter (content), but in the medium (people) too. 

At the end of the day, brand–creator collaborations are about balance. Creators want creative freedom and brands want accountability. The sweet spot lies in trust, alignment, and shared ambition. It's important to remember that, some of the best meals aren’t on the menu—they’re today’s special. Brands that allow room for creativity, and creators who respect the opportunity, create work that feels less like advertising and more like culture. And that’s where real impact lives!