Domefest founders launch creator

The Dome team (L-R): Sophie Greiner, Ailish Silvestor, Bella Filacuridi

The team behind podcast fan festival Domefest is making a foray into adland, launching a new agency to help brands tap into the devoted fandoms built around podcasts and creators.

Sophie Greiner and Bella Filacuridi have launched Dome: The Fandom Agency and say they will offer strategy, media and experiential services aimed at harnessing the trust of podcast and creator audiences.

Greiner and Filacuridi — who organised Sydney’s Domefest in March — are setting up the agency with content creator and brand marketer Ailish Silvester, who has taken an equity stake in the business and will serve as chief commercial officer.

Enjoying Mumbrella? Sign up for our free daily newsletter.

The founders told Mumbrella they would be drawing on external production houses and creative contractors to deliver projects as required.

Filacuridi said the decision to launch the agency followed interest from brands looking to work with podcast communities after Domefest.

The event featured 10 Australian podcasts and creators, including Abbie Chatfield and Hannah Ferguson, with Red Bull and Rode among its brand partners.

“We had a lot of brands reaching out to us asking, ‘How do we better connect with podcast communities? How can we get involved?’” Filacuridi said.

“So, Dome: The Fandom Agency was launched on the premise of helping brands really earn their place in fandoms built around podcasts and creator communities.”

The crowd at the inaugural Domefest, at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney

The agency represents another evolution of the Dome business, which previously operated a technology platform for podcast communities before turning its attention to live events and, more recently, agency services.

Filacuridi said Dome would take a community-focused approach to influencer marketing, prioritising shared interests and values over audience metrics.

“I think we are very much moving out of the attention economy into the trust economy and fandom is such a heightened expression of that trust,” she said.

“There’s such a strong parasocial relationship and if brands don’t know how to really integrate authentically into that it just does not come across well and it completely flops.”

She echoed a growing criticism across the industry that brands are not giving creators enough creative freedom to produce branded content that resonates with their audiences.

“They’re just being treated as a mouthpiece for a brand, essentially. Which doesn’t resonate, you scroll and you’ve got the ick straight away,” she said.

Dome’s approach involves identifying the interests, values and behaviours that define a creator’s fandom, with creators brought into the strategic process earlier to develop campaigns that align with both audience interests and commercial objectives.

“We’ve been trying to find our footing and understand where we have a right to play and where we see a lot of opportunity,” Filacuridi said.

Filacuridi said Silvester’s background as both a creator and brand marketer would give the agency insight into both sides of the commercial relationship.

Silvester previously held a senior marketing role at PIP Global Safety and has amassed 62k followers on Tiktok, where she creates content about working in the advertising industry.

@ailishsilvesterThat’s a wrap on one of my biggest and most challenging chapters yet. Next up is something bigger and more exciting than I ever could’ve imagined, but more on that soon 🦋♬ original sound – Lonewolf – Nostalgic Vibes 🎧

“Every single brief that we go through, we’ve got [Silvester’s] eyes on that and we, not being creators ourselves, we just don’t have that level of insight,” Filacuridi said.

While the agency is Dome’s immediate focus, Filacuridi said the founders have longer-term ambitions to invest in creator-led businesses and help creators develop their own intellectual property.

She pointed to emerging ownership models in the US and UK, where creators are now taking equity stakes in businesses rather than relying solely on traditional sponsorship and ambassador deals.

“The agency is really where we start,” she said.

“But then in time, we’d love to start building with creators, investing in their businesses, and helping build out their IP as well.”

Domefest, meanwhile, is slated to return for its second edition in 2027.

NEWSLETTERSign up to our free daily update to get the latest in media and marketing.