New Delhi, July 19 -- He reaches for the kulfi like someone who's been waiting for it all day, peels back the wrapper, licks it in slow motion from different angles until someone capturing this on a smartphone says, "Done." He hands the half-melted kulfi back to the ice-cream vendor and moves on. You'd assume an ice-cream brand was shooting an ad. Except no director called "action", no crew hovered behind the camera, no agency head watched from a monitor. This was a creator-led activation event.

Quick-commerce companies and e-commerce marketplaces have found a new marketing tactic: invite creators to themed fairs and tap into Gen Z's appetite for products wrapped inside experiences. They build entire worlds around a theme: a wedding, a n...