Freebies. Who doesn’t love ‘em? There’s something about an unexpected parcel landing on your doorstep that gives you a little dopamine hit. Whether it’s from a brand you already adore or one you’re discovering for the first time.
However, there’s an issue that often arises with this type of scenario which talent agencies (and our talents) are constantly having to deal with – when is gifting is no longer just gifting?
Answer: when there’s an expectation that comes with it.
Over the last few years, there’s been a huge rise in brands reaching out to creators with gifting opportunities. And don’t get me wrong – gifting absolutely has its place. If a brand simply wants to introduce a creator to a product with no expectations attached that’s a brilliant way to build genuine relationships and put products into the hands of people who may genuinely love them.
But these days we are seeing more and more brands and agencies asking creators to produce reels, stories, static posts and even usage rights in exchange for receiving a product. At that point the product is no longer a gift – it’s effectively being used as payment. The last time I checked, my bank won’t accept a bottle of the newest moisturiser and an LED face mask to pay off my mortgage (I wish it did!). Just like everyone else, creators have bills to pay too. So why has it become acceptable to expect them to work for free and in exchange for some products?
Somewhere along the way the value of content creation has become blurred.
Creating content isn’t as simple as picking up a phone and pressing ‘record’. Behind every piece of content is hours of planning, filming, editing, responding to feedback, taking briefing calls and meeting deadlines. Most importantly – and what many overlook or ignore – is the years spent building an engaged community that trusts the creator’s recommendations, respects their credibility and aligns with their authenticity. That’s what brands should be investing in. Not just a Reel or a Story.
What’s more, some brands unintentionally create a culture where creators feel pressured to post gifted products organically for fear of not being considered for future paid opportunities. In reality, choosing not to post these aren’t a reflection of a creator’s enthusiasm for a brand. More-often-than-not, it’s about protecting the value of their work and ensuring their audience only sees recommendations they genuinely want to make. Brands often say they want authentic advocacy, yet if a creator only shares gifted products in the hope of securing future paid work, is that advocacy really authentic?
There’s another side to gifted collaborations that’s often overlooked too – the financial implications for creators. In many cases, products received in exchange for content can be treated as taxable income by HMRC. This means creators may need to declare the value of those products and pay tax on them, despite never receiving any money. When you then factor in the time spent planning, filming, editing and delivering the content, a “gifted” collaboration can actually leave a creator out of pocket than if they’d simply declined it.
At Maximum Talent, that’s one of the reasons we’re incredibly selective about the gifting opportunities we accept. Unless it’s a brand our talent already knows and loves, one they’ve genuinely wanted to work with, or one where we can see realistic opportunities for the relationship to develop into paid partnerships, we will usually decline. It’s not because we don’t value the product. It’s because we value our creators’ time, creativity and businesses even more. We want them to build meaningful, long-term relationships with brands rather than accept products for the sake of it.
There’s also the wider issue of overconsumption. Creators are approached every day with products they don’t necessarily need, want or would naturally buy themselves. In a world where we’re all becoming increasingly conscious of our environmental impact, encouraging unnecessary gifting simply doesn’t feel like the right direction for our industry. Surely it’s far better for brands to gift products to creators who are genuinely aligned with their values and likely to become genuine advocates, rather than sending hundreds of parcels in the hope of receiving a post in return?
The creator industry has evolved hugely over the last few years. It’s no longer seen as a hobby but a genuine profession. And that’s because of how hard creators have had to work over the years to be taken seriously. Behind every creator is years of consistency, refining their craft, understanding what resonates with their audience and, most importantly, building trust. That’s what creators are asking to be paid for. Not simply a reel or a story, but the years of work that made that content valuable in the first place.
So perhaps it’s time we stopped viewing gifting as a way to acquire content and start using it for what it was always intended to be – the beginning of a relationship. Because when a creator genuinely believes in a brand – and a brand genuinely values the creator – something much bigger than a campaign is created. The content performs better, the partnership lasts longer and audiences can tell it’s real. That’s the kind of advocacy no gifted product can ever buy.
