The Social Summit: Our Hot Takeaways. | Willow & Blake

24.04.26 | By Alyce McNeil

The Social Summit: Our Hot Takeaways

A purple cow, a bridal strategy, and us. Social Summit 2026 had it all.

Our co-founder, Bree Johnson, and Creative Director, Bri Nixon, presented to over 250 brand obsessives at the event. But the day’s impressive lineup called for more Blake boots on the ground to report back. Here’s what you need to know.

The Social Summit, founded by marketing and entertainment multihyphenate Amy Dickinson and global equities analyst Hannah Dickinson, is a one-day conference for content creators and brand marketers. Presented by influencer agency RISER, over 250 attendees slicked back their buns to learn from industry titans on the ever-changing nature of content strategies, performance marketing, and brand building.

It kicked off by addressing the elephant in the room. A panel moderated by Felicity Grey (founder and Managing Director of RISER Collective & Theory Crew) saw Anastasia Filipidis (General Manager at Theory Crew), Isabelle Harrison (Senior Brand Manager Skincare at Rohto Japan), and content creator Ramon Israel discuss the trials and tribulations between agency, brands, and creators. What’s a work relationship without some healthy tension, right?

Bree and Bri brought their trademark gusto to a session on building a brand people notice. From the critical importance of a brand platform to why campaigns should make you feel something, the two held the fleeting attention of over 250 native scrollers before turning the session into a dynamic panel.

It kicked off by addressing the elephant in the room. A panel moderated by Felicity Grey (founder and Managing Director of RISER Collective & Theory Crew) saw Anastasia Filipidis (General Manager at Theory Crew), Isabelle Harrison (Senior Brand Manager Skincare at Rohto Japan), and content creator Ramon Israel discuss the trials and tribulations between agency, brands, and creators. What’s a work relationship without some healthy tension, right?

Bree and Bri brought their trademark gusto to a session on building a brand people notice. From the critical importance of a brand platform to why campaigns should make you feel something, the two held the fleeting attention of over 250 native scrollers before turning the session into a dynamic panel.

Anna Metcalfe (Head of Marketing and Growth at Kat the Label) and Maddison Sullivan Thorpe (founder of DOM ST Consulting and podcast co-host of Style-ish) joined Bree to talk about cracking into the US market whilst remaining a local brand—and for Kat the Label, it was tapping into the insatiable bridal category using homegrown talent. They also spoke about why category saturation doesn’t mean it's not fair game, with Maddison referencing hot brand-off-the-press Touchland, an It Girl hand sanitiser that’s making Dettol shake in their boots.

York St Brands juggernaut Rachael Wilde and her two Content Leads at The Breakout Hack shared their Purple Cow test for social moments (Google it if you’re confused) and live workshopped a creative campaign for their upcoming new product launch.

Most brands tend to group podcasts and radio into one audio bucket, expecting them to work in the same way. But they’re more different than you'd think. Rhiannon Joyce (Chief Commercial Officer at Shameless Media) also pointed out that podcast ads are one of the few formats where people don’t mind an ad sounding like an ad. And the smartest brands are writing them for specific communities.

As for META, partnership ads perform better than non-partnered ads. Get collaborating.

We’ve seen a seismic shift in social performance metrics. Likes and comments are obsolete; shares and saves are the new holy grail. So why aren’t brands creating more shareable content? Josh Henry-Hicks (CEO at Insightly Media) argued that the best-performing content needs to tap into something relatable, whether that’s a statement, an experience, a thought, or a feeling. The product needs to play a minor role.

All in all, micro-creators are a brand’s secret weapon. Gifting product is your currency. And brands need a feed that represents what their audience actually cares about watching, not the product-focused content they think will convert.

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