To what extent are digital influencers creative?

Our research goal is to assess creativity and innovation in the profiles of digital influencers (DIs) and examine how they participate in the shared process of content creation with their partner brands. Based on in-depth interviews with 30 Brazilian DI who had at least one partnership with a brand, we showed that they expressed four out of the nine dimensions of creativity, in addition to a new attribute that we designated as 'Originality'. We also found that DIs regard as strategic sharing creative, innovative, quality content and also being involved in content production with the brands during the different stages of message development. The current literature tends to stress DIs' reactive role in the co-creation experience. We analysed how they manifest (process) their creative task as well as their strategies for generating innovative content. Our results help brand managers to cooperate more efficiently and respectfully with their DIs.