JERi co-founders, from left, Ross Yellowlees, Jess Hunichen and Emily Ward
As brands increasingly place value on authenticity over polish, creators have become a key cog, not just as amplifiers but as early-stage builders and strategic partners. JERi, a new agency launched this week, is taking the concept a step further through a model that gives creators a formal, compensated role in strategy through “Creator Strategy Councils.”
Co-founded by Ross Yellowlees, a former VP of business development at Toronto’s Viral Nation, alongside Jess Hunichen and Emily Ward of global influencer management agency Shine Talent Group, JERi is positioning itself as a full-service offering that treats creators as consumer experts, bringing them into the process before a campaign is built.
“I’ve seen firsthand how creators can be undervalued as mere metrics rather than strategic partners,” says Yellowlees, who most recently worked in an international role as VP of brand partnerships at Chicago creator agency Izea. “Creators know how to navigate algorithms and captivate audiences better than anyone, and that combination converts.”
Yellowlees tells strategy that JERi selects potential strategic council members through a screening process based on factors like brand safety, past experience and creative background, with clients giving the final okay on who participates. Selected influencers can then be used to consult on product and innovation, cultural intelligence, creative development, creator strategy and talent discovery.
Creators are compensated for their advisory work, creating a separate revenue stream from the “pay-to-post” model.
Yellowlees says the approach can uncover ideas that aren’t always visible through the online data typically used to develop content, noting a recent example when a creator told him about his favourite use for AR glasses. The influencer said using the product to watch movies on a plane effectively turned the flight into a theatre experience, surfacing an insight the brand hadn’t considered as a positioning opportunity: travel enthusiasts as a potential target audience. “This not only helped create new creative and positioning but also opened an entirely new consumer group,” he says.
JERi says it will manage strategy, creative, talent sourcing and campaign execution in-house, while bringing in partners for specific capabilities. Toronto’s Orchestra Marketing will handle paid-media execution, while Shine Talent Group, Toronto’s Kensington Grey and L.A.’s Odyssey Entertainment Group are among JERi’s talent and casting partners. Yellowlees says JERi retains ownership of the client relationship and overall strategy.
