In influencer advertising, standing out requires extra than simply leaping on traits – it’s about delivering one thing that cuts by way of the noise and captures consideration. Enter DAH! Artisan Yogurts, a model within the crowded well being and wellness house was decided to make its mark. Regardless of having an in-house influencer program, they couldn’t fairly crack the code for creating the extent of buzz wanted to rise above the competitors.
That’s the place Get Hyped got here in. They didn’t simply hit the bottom operating—they first took a deep dive into DAH!’s present influencer methods, pinpointing gaps and areas for enchancment. Then, Get Hyped crafted a viral campaign that didn’t simply contain influencers; it partnered with the influencers.
The end result? A marketing campaign that blew up on-line with a 9.7% engagement price and over 100 movies and pictures that had the social media world buzzing. It was a major instance of how influencer advertising, when executed proper, doesn’t simply enhance engagement—it drives large model consciousness, positioning DAH! Artisan Yogurts as a real participant within the wellness sport.
And this marketing campaign? It didn’t simply showcase the facility of influencer advertising—it highlighted the kind of strategic brilliance that the top SF influencer marketing agencies deliver to the desk. These businesses are led by leaders who’re redefining the panorama with cutting-edge campaigns and an uncanny skill to attach manufacturers with the correct influencers.
These {industry} leaders know easy methods to flip a superb marketing campaign right into a game-changer, and their experience is precisely what manufacturers must rise above the noise in immediately’s aggressive digital house.
High 9 CEOs of Influencer Advertising Corporations in San Francisco
San Francisco is house to among the most visionary influencer advertising CEOs and main businesses that flip concepts into viral actions. These {industry} pioneers don’t simply observe traits—they create them, driving actual influence for manufacturers worldwide.
1. Robert Duncan
Robert Duncan has constructed an company that’s as fearless as it’s modern. The company in query, Duncan Channon, has earned a number of prestigious titles through the years, resembling Advert Age’s Small Company of the 12 months 4 occasions. However Duncan’s affect doesn’t cease at conventional promoting—his company’s influencer division, DCLA (previously A2G), has been behind among the {industry}’s most talked-about campaigns, together with e.l.f. Cosmetics’ viral TikTok challenge, which racked up 7 billion views and shattered information because the quickest marketing campaign to hit 1 billion views on the platform.
A former rock journalist with bylines in Rolling Stone and Creem, Duncan brings a storyteller’s edge to advertising, mixing cultural perception with cutting-edge technique. His skill to fuse authenticity, creativity, and neighborhood has made Duncan Channon a powerhouse within the influencer house, shaping how manufacturers join with audiences in an period the place belief is the whole lot.
Past enterprise, Duncan’s artistic streak runs deep—his novel LOUDMOUTH captures the uncooked vitality of rock ‘n’ roll, mirroring the identical daring, rebellious spirit that fuels his company’s campaigns. His management isn’t nearly numbers; it’s about fostering an atmosphere the place massive concepts thrive and actual connections matter.
2. Chuck McBride
Because the Founder and Chief Inventive Officer of Cutwater, McBride leads a powerhouse agency that turns manufacturers into channels and prospects into followers. With workplaces in San Francisco and New York, Cutwater is redefining fashionable promoting by way of a daring mixture of storytelling, technique, and influencer marketing.
McBride’s profession reads like a spotlight reel of promoting’s biggest hits. From creating the Ray-Ban “By no means Cover” marketing campaign, which helped propel the model to world dominance, to shaping Nike’s legendary “Simply Do It” relaunch, his work has influenced among the world’s most iconic manufacturers. Underneath his management, Cutwater has led modern influencer-driven campaigns for manufacturers like San Francisco Bay Espresso and Harvest Snaps, proving that authenticity and creativity win in immediately’s market.
However McBride isn’t simply in regards to the massive concepts—he’s about bringing them to life. His company’s influencer advertising efforts transcend social trends, tapping into cultural actions and actual human connections. As a keynote speaker on the Bend Design Convention, he’s shared his philosophy on how creativity drives enterprise, providing a uncommon mix of artistry and technique that few can match.
Earlier than founding Cutwater, McBride held high artistic roles at TBWAChiatDay, Wieden+Kennedy, and Goodby Silverstein & Companions, the place he labored on the whole lot from Levi’s and Lexus to Adidas and PlayStation. His work has not solely formed manufacturers however has additionally earned industry-wide recognition, together with Cannes Lions and AdAge Company of the 12 months awards.
3. Eric Facas
Facas’s journey to main one of the impactful businesses within the nonprofit house is nothing wanting spectacular. Media Cause, his prized possession, is a mission-driven marketing powerhouse that helps nonprofits and social impact organizations amplify their voices and drive real change. From securing clients like the It Gets Better Project to delivering 300+ hours of pro-bono services in a single year, his work proves that marketing can be a force for good.
Before Media Cause, he co-founded Tallwave, a digital business accelerator, and spent five years at Google, where he played a key role in launching the AdWords API program, earning him a prestigious EMG/Founder’s Award. His expertise in digital strategy and efficiency advertising has formed the way in which nonprofits navigate an more and more complicated digital panorama.
However his affect doesn’t cease at advertising. Facas can be the creator of Rally Starter, a digital advocacy platform designed to assist anybody construct actions for change, and he co-hosts the “If Not Us” podcast, the place he spotlights people making a constructive influence on the planet.
Underneath his management, Media Trigger has grown to a crew of 60+ workers, gained 22 {industry} awards, and continues to set the usual for the way influencer advertising, digital technique, and social good can intersect.
4. Peter Finn
Peter Finn has managed to develop FINN Partners into one of many world’s largest, impartial advertising and communications firms with 1,300+ workers throughout 34 workplaces on three continents. As a global marketing powerhouse, Peter has dabbled within the ever-evolving world of influencer advertising, the place in a surprisingly quick period of time, he’s setting the bar excessive.
Underneath Finn’s management, the company has mastered the artwork and science of influencer advertising, crafting campaigns that prioritize authenticity, viewers engagement, and ROI. Whether or not it’s branded content material, social activations, or experiential occasions, FINN Companions ensures manufacturers join with the correct voices to amplify their message.
However what makes Finn’s method completely different? Relationships. FINN Companions has cultivated long-term connections with influencers, media, and {industry} leaders worldwide, turning influencer advertising right into a strategic asset somewhat than only a development. His imaginative and prescient has helped the company safe main {industry} accolades, together with recognition as PRWeek Energy Listing honoree in 2023, a testomony to his daring management and modern development methods.
Earlier than founding FINN Companions in 2011, Finn spent almost three many years at Ruder Finn, the place he sharpened his experience in model technique, public relations, and digital advertising. In the present day, his company has grown to $196 million in annual charges, proving {that a} dedication to significant advertising and real affect is a profitable system.
5. Amra & Elma Beganovich
Amra and Elma Beganovich are the Co-brains of the operations behind Amra & Elma. This dynamic duo has constructed a digital marketing empire, leveraging their very own 2 million+ followers to assist manufacturers join with audiences in genuine, high-impact methods.
With backgrounds in economics, legislation, and world finance, Amra and Elma took an unconventional path to the world of influencer advertising. However their experience in data-driven technique, enterprise growth, and inventive storytelling has made them go-to companions for Fortune 500 giants like LVMH, Nestlé, Johnson & Johnson, Uber, and Procter & Gamble. Their company’s secret? A novel method that blends AI-driven influencer selection, development forecasting, and highly effective model storytelling—guaranteeing each marketing campaign isn’t simply seen, however remembered.
What units them aside is their twin perspective—as each entrepreneurs and influencers, they perceive what really resonates with digital audiences. Their campaigns span social media, branded content material, PR, web optimization, and experiential advertising, making them a one-stop store for influencer-led model development.
Their success hasn’t gone unnoticed. Forbes, Enterprise Insider, Bloomberg, and The Wall Avenue Journal have all acknowledged Amra & Elma as leaders in digital advertising, whereas Yahoo Information credit them with shaping the way forward for influencer-driven promoting.
6. Gustav Lindell & Race Johnson
Gustav Lindell and Race Johnson are one other duo that is redefining influencer advertising at scale. As co-founders of Pixly, they’ve constructed an company that thrives on information, artistic execution, and performance-driven influencer activations. Since launching in 2017, Pixly has executed over 25,000 sponsored activations, producing 20 billion+ video views and operating 500+ campaigns month-to-month—numbers that show they know easy methods to flip affect into influence.
Lindell, Pixly’s CEO, leads the company’s strategic course, advertiser partnerships, and firm development. With over seven years of expertise in digital promoting, he’s developed a eager skill to merge expertise with influencer advertising, serving to manufacturers scale their attain with precision and authenticity.
Johnson, Pixly’s COO, oversees product growth, operational development, and strategic partnerships. With a background in cellular advertising relationship again to 2012, he’s performed a vital function in optimizing the company’s infrastructure, guaranteeing manufacturers join with the correct influencers on the proper time, on the correct platforms.
Their consumer roster speaks volumes—Pixly has collaborated with Epic Video games, miHoYo, Opera, Manscaped, Casetify, and plenty of extra, serving to them faucet into YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, and Instagram with customized influencer campaigns that drive measurable outcomes.
7. Jon Davids
Jon David understood the potential of YouTube as a brand-building machine again in 2011. This foresight has taken him down the influencer advertising path with Influicity, the place he is the founder and CEO. Since his time on the helm, David’s has constructed one of many earliest influencer marketing agencies.
Davids’ journey into digital advertising began early. In school, he constructed a web based journal, monetized it with digital advertisements, and offered it to a serious writer in 2009. However as an alternative of coasting on that success, he noticed the subsequent massive alternative: influencers. By 2015, he launched Influicity, and since then, his company has labored with Warner Bros, Walmart, Financial institution of America, and different main manufacturers, proving that strategic influencer campaigns can drive critical ROI.
However Influicity isn’t nearly influencers—it’s about proudly owning affect. Underneath Davids’ management, the company has expanded into podcast manufacturing, social media growth strategies, paid media campaigns, and AI-powered content marketing. And with over 100 manufacturers in its portfolio, Influicity continues to push the boundaries of contemporary advertising.
Past operating a top-tier company, Davids is a content material machine himself. He hosts the podcast Making It with Jon Davids (now a high 10 marketing podcast worldwide) and is a sought-after keynote speaker, sharing insights on development, branding, and digital technique.
8. Nader Alizadeh
What occurs when Fortune 500 corporations belief you with all their influencer advertising want? Properly, you get to name your self the pioneer of the {industry}. That is precisely who Nader Alizadeh is – the Co-founder and CEO of Linqia.
Earlier than launching Linqia, Alizadeh was already a trailblazer in digital engagement. As Senior Vice President and co-founder of Lithium Applied sciences, he performed a key function in shaping social CRM solutions that helped manufacturers like Finest Purchase, Sony, and PayPal faucet into on-line communities for development.
Since founding Linqia in 2012, Alizadeh has led the company to work with over 650 purchasers, together with Clorox, McDonald’s, Anheuser-Busch, Basic Motors, and Bayer. Underneath his management, Linqia has run 1000’s of profitable influencer campaigns, proving that influencer advertising isn’t nearly attain—it’s about actual, measurable influence.
What units Linqia aside? Efficiency-based influencer advertising. Alizadeh’s imaginative and prescient has formed Linqia right into a platform the place manufacturers don’t simply hope for engagement—they pay for precise outcomes. By leveraging AI-powered analytics and precision-matched influencers, Linqia ensures manufacturers get the very best potential ROI on each marketing campaign.
With a 91% CEO approval ranking from his workers, Alizadeh’s management shouldn’t be solely revered but additionally deeply valued by his crew.
9. Jason Harris
Jason Harris is the pioneering CEO of Mekanism, a San Francisco-based creative marketing agency that has redefined model storytelling by way of its distinctive “Soul + Science” method. Based in 2006, Mekanism has turn into a powerhouse within the advertising world, working with iconic manufacturers like Peloton, Ben & Jerry’s, and Charles Schwab.
Underneath Harris’s management, the company has garnered important recognition, together with Unbiased Company of the 12 months by The Drum and a spot among the many high 10 Most Efficient Unbiased Companies within the U.S.
A thought leader within the {industry}, Harris authored the bestselling e-book “The Soulful Artwork of Persuasion,” which affords insights into influential advertising methods. His methodologies have been so impactful that they are studied at Harvard Enterprise College.
Harris’s affect reaches past company work. He hosts the “Soul & Science” podcast, interviewing main entrepreneurs and exploring model tradition. His dedication to social influence is obvious by way of his co-founding of the Inventive Alliance, a gaggle of communication consultants devoted to constructive societal change. Not too long ago acquired by Plus Firm, Mekanism continues to push boundaries in efficiency advertising.
The Visionaries Redefining Affect: San Francisco’s High CEOs of Influencer Advertising Corporations
In a world the place consideration is probably the most helpful foreign money, these CEOs are proving that influencer advertising isn’t nearly traits—it’s about strategic influence. From performance-driven influencer companies to creative storytelling agencies, they’re shaping the way forward for brand-consumer relationships.
Whether or not by way of AI-powered insights, viral content material, or mission-driven campaigns, every of those leaders is redefining what it means to affect at scale. As manufacturers navigate the evolving digital panorama, these San Francisco-based CEOs proceed to set the usual, proving that the correct influencer advertising service can flip engagement into actual, measurable success.
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Author
Jacqueline Zote is a contract author and content material producer. She writes for main blogs within the digital advertising house. Her areas of experience embrace influencer advertising, social media advertising, social media administration, and content material advertising.
