How Does an Influencer’s Reputation Affect a Brand’s Reputation?

The idea behind influencer marketing is based on a form of image transfer – the assumption that the qualities that make influencers authentic and appealing to their followers can, to some extent, be transferred to the brands they work with. In short, by associating with influencers, brands are expected to become more appealing to the influencers’ followers and, potentially, to reach entirely new audiences.

However, all of this rests on the assumption that the image transfer is positive. In practice, although rarely, the reputational effect can be entirely the opposite. Below, we take a hypothetical look at both scenarios.

Scenario A: Positive image transfer

The influencer and the brand share similar values, the influencer has credibility among their followers when it comes to a particular topic or field, and they approach the content creatively, with the right degree of entertainment or education for their audience. Ideally, the influencer already knows and uses the brand they are promoting. They integrate the content naturally into their own narrative, understand the category or background of the brand they are working with, and present its products, services or other collaboration-related topics convincingly.

The audience trusts the influencer as a content creator, responds positively to promotional content and demonstrates this not only through positive comments and likes, but also through product and service consumption and, ultimately, purchases.

A partnership with an influencer can bring brand greater visibility, access to new audiences, positive sentiment and engagement, as well as encourage purchases of its products and services. The reverse can also occur, with the influencer benefiting from image transfer as a result of the brand that has engaged them. One example is when a highly recognisable global brand collaborates with a local influencer, positively affecting the influencer’s visibility, credibility and desirability for future partnerships.

In the long term, positive experiences and an influencer who successfully connects their personal brand with the brand they represent can create the potential for an ambassador partnership. In such a relationship, the collaboration can further strengthen the position and reputation of both sides.

Scenario B: Negative image transfer

The influencer and the brand do not share similar values, or the influencer lacks credibility for the partnership, whether because the brand does not fit naturally into their usual content, or because they lack the knowledge or authority to speak to their followers about a particular field or topic. In the worst-case scenario, the brand is completely at odds with the influencer’s lifestyle and content, or the influencer has previously worked with competing brands.

Even if the audience generally trusts the influencer and has a positive perception of them and/or the brand, the collaboration itself can come across as forced and inauthentic, prompting negative comments and undermining the credibility of both sides.

Problems can also arise if the content is offensive or provocative, relies on poor-taste humour, politically incorrect messaging, or borderline comments relating to sensitive social issues, particularly if such content is published at an inappropriate moment.

An additional risk, however, is that a negative situation does not necessarily have to arise from the specific branded content itself. If an influencer causes negative reactions in another context and unrelated to the collaboration, this may also create a reputational risk for the brand they work with. In certain cases, the issue can move beyond social media and attract mainstream media attention, giving the negative publicity a much wider reach and potentially affecting perceptions of and trust in the brand.

There is, however, another side to the story. Brands may take on greater reputational risk when collaborating with influencers and content creators, but influencers also expose themselves to risk, particularly those with exceptionally strong and positive personal brands. Situations in which brands trigger polarised reactions or calls for boycotts may not be especially common, but a brand’s reputation can still affect the reputation of the influencer representing it.

The risk does not necessarily arise solely from the brand’s communications. If, for example, it emerges that a brand fails to fulfil the promises it makes to its customers, harms the environment or local communities, uses irresponsible production practices or launches a product that puts consumer safety at risk, an influencer who publicly represents that brand may also find themselves in a reputationally uncomfortable position, as their own credibility and the trust of their audience may come into question.

The same applies to micro-influencers. Although they have smaller audiences, they often maintain very close relationships with their communities, and trust is one of the foundations of their personal brand. A smaller reach therefore does not necessarily mean lower reputational exposure. Numbers may determine the potential reach of a reputational issue, but they do not, in themselves, determine how valuable or sensitive the relationship an individual has built with their audience is.

How can the negative scenario be avoided?

Responsibility lies with both sides. As in any partnership, both brands and influencers need to “do their homework”. For brands, this primarily means carefully considering exactly what they want to achieve through the collaboration, conducting a thorough vetting process, assessing who represents the right match, and preparing a clar brief.

The vetting process needs to be comprehensive and go far beyond follower numbers and the topics an influencer typically covers. Brands should examine their communication style, interactions with their audience, previous brand partnerships, whether sensitive issues appear in their content, and the values they represent. This is precisely where potential “red flags” may emerge.

For influencers this means considering how well the brand fits into their everyday lives, not only their social media style and content, and how authentically they can introduce it to their followers in a way that is creative, entertaining or educational while remaining aligned with the brand’s values and objectives. And this is only the first step.

The old saying that good preparation is half of the work certainly applies to influencer marketing, but every step that follows is equally important. Finding the right balance between creative freedom and content guidelines, monitoring audience sentiment and engagement, providing communication support, analysing results, and having open conversations about what worked and what could be improved all create room for a partnership that benefits both sides.

There is no formula that can guarantee 100% success. However, thorough and high-quality groundwork, combined with a healthy dose of common sense and critical thinking on both sides of the partnership, provides a strong foundation.

Once an influencer becomes part of a brand’s communications, their personal brand and individual voice become part of the context through which audiences also perceive the brand itself. It is precisely this “personal” dimension of influencer marketing that represents both its greatest potential and its reputational risk.