System1, WPP Media and TikTok Launch new Playbook Showing How Creator Ads Build Brands

Jun. 23, 2026

System1, WPP Media and TikTok today launch the Creator Effectiveness Playbook, a new study showing how brands can make creator advertising a more predictable driver of brand memory.

The playbook builds on System1 and TikTok’s global short-form effectiveness work, which tested 887 short-form ads across eight global markets with more than 92,000 TikTok users and matched creative response to more than 350 in-market brand and conversion lift studies. For this follow-up, WPP Media, System1 and TikTok analysed 1,217 paid TikTok ads, including 620 creator ads, with a combined 23.6 billion impressions, across eight markets through System1’s Test Your Ad Social platform, with approximately 183,000 TikTok users, and connected creative signals to TikTok Brand Lift data. 

The report finds that creator ads can deliver 23% more Brand Memory Lift than brand ads on short-form video, highlighting the role creators can play in building future demand. Brand Memory Lift is the study’s measure of whether advertising helps people remember the brand later, combining ad recall and brand awareness.

The report warns that marketers are still relying on the wrong scoreboard. Engagement Rate is one of creator marketing’s most common metrics because it is easy to see and easy to report. Across 129.6 million engagements, the study found that it has effectively no relationship with whether brand memory grows.

The playbook identifies three levers that help creator ads build branded memory: Creative Quality (consisting of Emotion and Early Branding), Creator Fame and Brand Fit. Creator Fame is whether the audience recognises the creator or quickly understands their world. Brand Fit is whether the brand feels like it naturally belongs in that world.

Key findings

• Engagement doesn’t explain brand memory. Creative Quality does. Across 129.6 million engagements, we found it has effectively no relationship with whether brand memory grows. Creative Quality explains the majority of a creator ad's brand memory.
• The right creator and creative combine for 4x brand memory. When Creative Quality, Creator Fame and Brand Fit each perform highly and stack together, Brand Memory Lift rises to almost 4x the weak baseline.
• Brand Fit should be prioritised over Creator Fame. A smaller creator in the right world can beat a bigger creator where the brand feels bolted on.
• Entertainment levels the playing field on creator size. Follower count is not the deciding factor. The most entertaining smaller creators can reach the same brand-memory territory as far larger creators.

Andrew Tindall, Chief Growth Officer at  System1 said: 

“This research moves the conversation forward in a meaningful way, shifting the focus from attention to Brand Memory. Creators build more of it than brand ads, and now we know why. For the first time marketers have a genuine operating model for creator effectiveness, not a gut feel but a real guide for how to choose the right creator world, brief for emotion, and make sure the brand gets the credit. That is what turns creator spend into brand growth.”

 

Josh Gornell, Vice President, Commercial Paid Social at  WPP Media, said:

“Creators are no longer a 'new' advertising opportunity, and should not be an uncertain investment. Yet, too often, they are. That is because beneath the headline statistics around creator impact lies significant performance variability – an exceptional minority is elevating an underperforming majority. For the first time, this playbook codifies creator impact. It provides a robust, validated blueprint to eliminate unpredictability and drive creator effectiveness forward.”

 

Charlotte Skornik, Head of Client Measurement, UK & Benelux at TikTok said: 

“We've always known that TikTok's magic lies in our creator community and their ability to entertain. What this research delivers is the definitive proof that entertainment drives real, brand memory. We're giving brands the ultimate playbook to move beyond superficial metrics and build deep, lasting connections with our community. The data is clear: engagement rate doesn't build brands, creative quality and brand fit do.”

 

The findings will be presented at Cannes Lions on Thursday by Andrew Tindall, Chief Growth Officer at System1, during the Creative Effectiveness Playbook session, alongside brand strategist and creator Eugene Healey.