Brands are pouring money into this channel, but they are not building the leadership infrastructure to match it
by Keith Bendes, Linqia August 12 2026
Creators have taken over the marketing world. Every major industry event, including Cannes Lions, has become a creator conference, and brand budgets for influencer marketing are skyrocketing. The influencer industry is worth approximately $250 billion, a figure that Goldman Sachs predicts will grow to nearly $500 billion by 2027, and some companies are making it a primary marketing channel.
Yet amidst all of that growth and hype, VP titles remain largely absent among influencer marketers. My colleagues at Linqia just released a report that uses LinkedIn data to dig into the largest CPG companies and how they structure their internal influencer marketing teams.
What we found is striking. Less than 1% of VP-level influencer roles were identified across all companies analyzed, demonstrating that influencer marketing has clearly not yet earned a consistent seat at the leadership table.
