James Nord talks influencer marketing at Brandcenter Forum

Huge thanks to James Nord, Founder and CEO of Fohr, for joining us at Brandcenter. In an insightful and sharply funny talk, James unpacked the evolution of influencer marketing, the future of advertising, and how Fohr helps creators and brands navigate an internet that’s gotten way too big for anyone to map without hardcore math.

James’ career grew up alongside the digital age. He took us back to his early Tumblr days—writing what he called “self-important drivel” and posting mirror selfies “back when hot people weren’t on the internet yet”—and traced how his persistence would lead to a career at the intersection of fashion, photography, and tech. From becoming Oscar de la Renta’s in-house photographer to shooting a yacht race in Abu Dhabi courtesy of Puma, James found himself helping brands translate luxury for the online world before “influencer marketing” was even a term.

James saw content creators as the future for brands when he launched Fohr. The influencer markeing company has been a leader in the field for years, and James shared some serious stats. Fohr has paid influencers more than $250 million through over 6,000 campaigns and now reaches a network of 350,000 creators. He described Fohr’s emphasis on “luxury software,” showcasing a platform that’s beautiful and intuitive as well as functional.

He challenged students to think about influence as infrastructure, a new system of distribution that rivals traditional media. With the deterioration of a unifying “monoculture” and each person’s internet experience uniquely fragmented, brands can no longer rely on one-size-fits-all storytelling. Behind the creativity, Fohr uses data modeling, think fancy math like Poisson distributions and Monte Carlo simulations, to predict performance and help brands spend smarter on creator partnerships.

As James put it, “traditional advertisers that have relied on biggest budget and best creative wins, are struggling in this new world where influence becomes that distribution channel.” You not only need great creative, you have to find the right corners of the internet to put it in.