As creators become more significant in ecommerce, John Aghayan felt the need to create a platform where they can easily set up online storefronts with their favorite products. 

In this interview, John shares how EMCEE started and what makes it different from other platforms.

Who is John Aghayan?

John Aghayan is the CEO of EMCEE, social commerce solution that helps content creators and influencers build profound partnerships with dream brands. 

What inspired you to create EMCEE, and what was your vision for the platform?

John grew up in Paris and was exposed to fashion tech and retail at a very young age. He started two companies in Paris and moved to New York in 2019 to start another company. This was a brick-and-mortar store, and because of the pandemic and its restrictions, he had to go back to the drawing board to assess his business strategies. 

During this time, he asked himself about the future of online commerce and eventually realized that creators and their content have completely reinvented how consumers discover and shop products. Still, creators had no easy way to set up online storefronts with their favorite products. This gave John the idea to start EMCEE. 

John’s vision for EMCEE was simple: any creator— regardless of their expertise or hobby — can monetize that expertise through shoppable content. 

How does EMCEE differentiate itself from other affiliate marketing platforms in the market?

There are plenty of solutions in the market that help creators monetize their content. But these existing solutions don’t have any distribution and don’t bring any new traffic to creators.

With EMCEE, creators will be able to build and grow a following and, therefore, build a more sustainable business. 

Can you walk us through the process of how EMCEE works for content creators and influencers?

Presently, creators and influencers can only join EMCEE by application and invitation. They have to apply, and EMCEE’s Partnerships Team will reach out to them. Once they’re onboard, creators and influencers are now called Emcees, who have their own dashboards where they can find products from all of EMCEE’s brand partners.  

Creators and influencers just have to upload content about the product, add a little description about that product, indicate why they love them so much, and just publish. EMCEE calls these online storefronts Showrooms because creators and influencers don’t hold any inventory. 

How do you ensure that the partnerships formed between EMCEEs and brands are genuine and aligned with the creator’s values and aesthetics?

Creators have the ability  to choose the brands and products that they showcase in their own Showrooms with love and care. John explains, “So they [creators] only post products they love, and so it resonates. Therefore, organically when they love the product, the content is good, and the brand is happy.”

What challenges do content creators and influencers face in today’s market, and how does EMCEE help them overcome them?

For John, one of the biggest challenges in today’s market is creators and influencers being on a content creation hamster wheel that they can’t get off.

Another issue is creators don’t own anything — they don’t have data or direct relationships with their followers. They have very little information on who is following them or for what reasons, which is why it can be challenging to monetize content, especially on TikTok. 

The idea behind EMCEE is to help creators build a customer base that they can eventually directly go to and market, reach out to, and launch something that answers a need for these people who are following them for the right reasons. And eventually, help creators get off this content creation hamster wheel, and they’ll finally have ownership over the relationship they have with their followers. 

In the status quo, creators can be canceled on any platform. When this happens, they’re out of business and can’t do anything. John cites this as a big issue, which EMCEE hopes to resolve. 

What are some of the most successful collaborations that EMCEE has facilitated between EMCEEs and brands?

Although EMCEE is still in BETA and not even launched yet, it has already had exclusive deals with two fashion powerhouses brands, Dion Lee and Luar. Dion Lee is a creator’s favorite, and Luar recently won the Accessory Designer of the Year Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Luar is also an LVMH Prize finalist, an award open to all designers worldwide aged 18 to 40 who have created at least two womenswear, menswear, or genderless collections. 

John and his team were able to get those brands on EMCEE, and they carefully selected creators who will do collaborations with them. The collabs will be released by the end of the summer and in September.

How do you see the role of social media influencers evolving in the fashion and beauty industry in the next few years, and how is EMCEE preparing for these changes?

Because online business is booming, John expects customer acquisition costs will go through the roof. He also sees more and more brands shifting towards performance-based influencer marketing instead of them only paying creators a commission when there’s an actual sale. 

What is the selection process for EMCEEs, and what qualities do you look for in potential candidates?

Unlike similar tools, EMCEE isn’t solely focused on the creator’s engagement or their ability to make sales. EMCEE wants to send business and new traffic to creators, so they’re looking for creators with great content and point of view that will resonate with the people the EMCEE wants on the platform. 

How does EMCEE support the growth and development of its EMCEEs, both personally and professionally?

EMCEE is a tech platform that does many things, like going the extra mile for brands. John explains, “These collabs I mentioned: we’re sending creators to fashion shows during fashion week, letting them go to fittings for fashion week. We always try to go the extra mile to please them, even if it’s not part of our core products.”

How do you ensure that the content published on EMCEE is high-quality and engaging for consumers?

Since EMCEE is still by invitation and application, the quality of the content is very high. But in the future, when the platform is more open to more creators, EMCEE will continue to monitor the creators on the platform and work to attract influencers who truly care about their audiences and put in the effort to create engaging, high-quality content.

Can you tell us about any upcoming features or developments for EMCEE that you are excited about?

Soon, EMCEE will have a homepage where they’ll feature all their Emcees. Creators in EMCEE are called Emcees because their role is to make shopping fun and entertaining and introduce new brands and products to their audience the same way a host would introduce performers. 

In summer, they’ll release the Follow feature where shoppers can start following Emcees. In the late summer, EMCEE will have a feed displaying content (in chronological order) from the creators that shoppers follow. 

In the third quarter of the year, EMCEE will have a smart feed. With this feature, users will see different things on their feeds depending on their personal tastes. 

At the end of the year, EMCEE is going to release a brand portal where brands can interact with Emcees to discuss gifting, deals, or user-generated content licensing. This feature is going to unlock a lot of revenue streams for the Emcees. 

John and his team are also doing a lot of work in terms of data infrastructure and taxonomy, so EMCEE continues to offer a powerful e-commerce experience to all of its users. Although it’s a content-driven platform, users will get to use different filters and other features they would expect from a top-class ecommerce website. 

What advice do you have for aspiring content creators and influencers who are just starting in the industry?

John advises creators to find something that makes them special or unique and double down on it. He also recommends aspiring creators find brands that they genuinely love and create content that feels authentic to them and will resonate with the brands. 

How do you see EMCEE evolving and growing in the coming years, and what is your long-term vision for the platform?

The long-term vision for EMCEE is to see a future where it becomes a shopping-first social media platform with like-minded shoppers and creators forming communities and building meaningful relationships with one another. 

EMCEE will remain a commerce-based platform for creators, but in the future, the Showrooms will evolve to become virtual homes for creators. It will become a place where they don’t only share their favorite products but also as a place where their communities interact with one another.