Brave Bison Acquires The Fifth Group: What It Means for the Future of Influencer Marketing

Brave Bison has acquired The Fifth Group — News UK’s influencer marketing agency — in a deal worth £7.6 million. The move signals another step in the consolidation of the creator economy, and it tells us something important: influencer marketing is maturing fast, and the big players want in.

Founded in 2019, The Fifth built a strong reputation for data-led influencer campaigns, working with both brands and talent to create commercially successful partnerships. But with the acquisition, the agency leaves the comfort of a traditional media parent behind and joins a newer, more digitally-native company that’s been quietly building one of the UK’s most interesting media portfolios.

So what’s driving this deal? And what does it mean for the wider affiliate and digital marketing world?

The story behind the deal

Brave Bison isn’t your average media group. It describes itself as a “media, marketing and technology company,” and over the last few years, it has acquired a mix of digital businesses — including Greenlight (a performance marketing agency), The Hook Group (a youth-focused content publisher), and social media creative teams.

Adding The Fifth to the mix makes sense. Brave Bison gets a proven influencer agency with existing client relationships, talent access, and a strong position in the growing creator economy. News UK, in turn, gets to offload a business that, while innovative, was never truly aligned with its core publishing operations.

For The Fifth, the deal means more focus, more resources, and more integration with Brave Bison’s existing infrastructure — especially its in-house performance and content teams.

What this means for the Influencer marketing industry

Influencer marketing is no longer the Wild West it once was. There are real budgets, real strategy, and growing pressure to deliver measurable results.

The acquisition suggests that influencer marketing is being pulled more firmly into the world of performance. Agencies can no longer survive on vague promises of reach and engagement. They’re being asked to drive conversions, leads, and in some cases — revenue tied to affiliate links or direct sales.

The Fifth’s model — built on pairing brands with creators who have strong communities and delivering high-quality, authentic campaigns — aligns well with this shift. But the key difference now is scale. Being part of Brave Bison gives them more operational muscle and access to the tech stack required to run influencer activity alongside SEO, paid social, and affiliate in one ecosystem.

For brands, that means less channel-hopping and more joined-up thinking.

Affiliate and Influencer: No longer separate worlds

For years, affiliate and influencer marketing ran on different tracks. Affiliates were focused on links, conversion rates, and tracking platforms. Influencers were focused on aesthetics, tone, and audience engagement.

But increasingly, those two models are merging. Brands want creators who can do more than just post — they want partners who can move product, drive action, and contribute to revenue. Affiliate-enabled influencer campaigns are becoming more common, with platforms like LTK, ShopMy, and TikTok Shop making it easier for creators to earn commission directly from the content they post.

With Brave Bison’s performance marketing pedigree and The Fifth’s creator network, there’s now an opportunity to build truly hybrid campaigns — where content, conversion, and commerce all work together.

That’s where the smart money is going.

Why traditional publishers are letting go

News UK isn’t the only legacy media owner stepping away from influencer marketing. We’ve seen other publishers spin off or wind down similar ventures, often because they sit awkwardly inside businesses built for news, not influence.

While media brands are excellent at selling audiences to advertisers, they often struggle to support agile, relationship-driven businesses like influencer agencies. These require different skill sets — talent management, creative development, real-time analytics — and they move much faster than traditional media planning cycles.

Brave Bison, on the other hand, is built for this. It has no legacy baggage. It’s comfortable with change. And that makes it a better home for a fast-moving agency like The Fifth.

What to watch next

This deal won’t be the last. Expect more consolidation in the influencer space — particularly as economic pressure forces agencies to prove value or risk getting left behind.

Larger players will continue to absorb smaller agencies that bring talent relationships, niche specialisms, or strong creative portfolios. And as affiliate tracking becomes more integrated into social platforms, don’t be surprised if more performance networks start shopping for influencer teams.

This is the next phase of the creator economy: less hype, more infrastructure.

Final thoughts

Brave Bison’s acquisition of The Fifth Group isn’t just a business move — it’s a signal that influencer marketing is entering its next chapter.

It’s no longer enough to be creative. The best influencer campaigns now need to be measurable, scalable, and strategically aligned with broader performance goals.

For affiliates, it’s a reminder that creators are part of the performance funnel now. And for brands, it’s a chance to work with partners who can blend storytelling with results — not just reach.