Paul had also become a somewhat unlikely star with brand marketers over the last few years and has worked with top blue chips including Verizon, Nike, Dunkin’ Donuts and Pepsi in according to an AdWeek cover story from 2016.

I believe that increasing stories like these combined with Facebook’s recent platform changes making it much easier for both Facebook and Instagramto detect and potentially paywall the distribution of Influencer content will deconstruct our prior notions of Influencer marketing heading into the New Year

I believe in 2018 brands will learn in no uncertain terms thay:

• Working with one celebrity with 100 millions fans is way safer and perhaps even more impactful now than working with 10 influencers each with 10 millions fans
• The fan/follower count of “influencers” will continue to mean less in 2018 than in last years as Influencer marketing becomes an increasingly “pay to play” tactic (which I wrote about to great debate in 2017). In other words, the pendulum may shift back to real world fame > internet fame
• Legal teams of big brands will become increasingly suspicious of Influencers that want creative control… those days may actually be coming to an end
• The FTC will continue its vigilance in policing appropriate non-disclosureof brand affiliations heading into 2018 which means even more brand risk and scrutiny from legal departments

All of this spells trouble for the cottage industry of Influencer marketing in 2018 which has exploded in recent years.

This coming, I believe brands will pursue an accelerated flight to safety towards proven Hollywood stars, Grammy nominated performers, and marquee athletes. With the pending doom of Net Neutrality and censorship seeming to creep into all corners of American culture, I can’t say this is necessarily a good thing but it nonetheless looks to be the state of marketing in 2018

Happy new year everyone