For many years, brand safety has focused on risk prevention, primarily preventing brand ads from appearing alongside problematic content. But in the era of influencers and content creators, in which a brand is linked to the identity, opinions and values ​​of a person, brand safety is a strategic decision with implications for the relationship with customers, the generation of business and the resilience of the brand.

This is stated by the platform specialized in influencer marketing Kolsquare in its report “The trust dividend”, prepared from insights from global studies in recent years, expert assessments and the analysis of hundreds of sponsored publications in international markets, including Spain. In it he reflects on a change in focus on brand safety and how it can boost performance. And establishes four key points:

Choosing a creator is not media buying

One of the firm’s notable arguments is that influencer marketing differs from other advertising channels, mainly because the commitment to a creator is not simply a choice of a communicative placement; It is a declaration of intentions and values. And this is also how users interpret it: 55% of consumers between 16 and 34 years old say that they have stopped buying from a brand due to a clash of values, according to Censuswide.

Understanding this is key, especially in a context in which social networks are one of the main sources of product and brand discovery and in which users trust recommendations from creators more than other sources to make their purchasing decisions. Despite this, less than 5% of marketing professionals consider brand safety a challenge, according to data from Influencer Marketing Hub.

The negative impact of an inadequate selection of creators to link to can be perceived in reputation, but also in results. Adidas estimated losses resulting from the termination of its partnership with Kanye West following his anti-Semitic comments at $250 million. And multiple advertisers globally have been subject to boycotts for their links to influencers. Among the most recent cases in our country we can mention the cancellation of the collaboration between Burger King and El Xokas.

In these types of cases it could be inferred that the relationship with the creator was treated as a media transaction rather than a decision related to the brand’s values. This shows that brand safety should not be a filter that is applied after the creative decision and the execution of the strategy; It has to be the creative decision itself. Thus, the report suggests a change in approach to brand safety so that it goes from a practice dedicated to avoiding losses to a strategy aimed at generating value and trust.

The success of the campaign begins with the selection of the creator

The report points out that the selection of the influencer is a critical aspect for the success of the campaigns, and defines it as the moment in which brand safety and performance converge. If the creator is selected correctly, the campaign will be developed on a solid basis of alignment of values ​​and philosophies, but if done poorly, there will be no possible optimization that can redirect the strategy.

The problem lies, according to Kolsquare, in the current pace of work. He notes that the pressure to scale campaigns is reducing the time dedicated to this phase: 50% of marketers spend just 30 minutes evaluating a creator, and in that time only 0.01% of their content history is reviewed.

In this sense, it is advisable to focus the selection mainly from a qualitative point, leaving behind the prioritization of volume of followers. It highlights factors such as engagement ratios, consistency of content, perception of authenticity or trust through adaptation to prevailing regulations.
The evaluation should take into account both the data and a thoughtful reading of the creator’s style, personal values, relationships with the community, and alliances with existing brands.

The process also requires adaptability, flexibility and constant evaluation. Creators are not mere advertising spaces and, therefore, they are dynamic. Circumstances change, opinions and behaviors evolve, and what keeps a brand and influencer aligned now may not be the same a year from now. Brands must constantly analyze their associations.

Transparency is an ally

The report also breaks the preconceived idea that clearly identifying content as advertising reduces its effectiveness. Kolsquare provides data from an analysis carried out between October 2025 and March 2026 in five European markets and concludes that there is no evidence that compliance with transparency obligations systematically harms performance.
What’s more, in the case of France and Spain the opposite happens: publications from creators with between 5,000 and 50,000 followers who complied with the standards achieved 3.37% interaction compared to 2.17% for content that did not comply.

It is this transparency in which, precisely, lies the strength of influencer marketing. Trust between a creator and their community is built over years and through consistent content, honest storytelling, and a set of personal values ​​that the audience identifies with. And it’s what distinguishes a creator recommendation from an ad.

However, in addition to transparency, consumers also seek authenticity and credibility, and this is also achieved through constant, repeated and long-lasting relationships between influencers and brands. Kolsquare argues that it is a cycle: a brand conducts a rigorous evaluation and selects a trusted creator; that trust drives better campaign performance; Better performance justifies sustained investment in the relationship and establishes a long-term collaborative infrastructure that generates more valuable data.

The challenge of scalability

According to data from Kolsquare, 75% of European marketers plan to increase the number of creators they work with in 2026, but many teams (19%) have outsourced search and selection, reflecting that many advertisers have limited internal capacity.

This is because many internal processes rely on manual searches, spreadsheets, individual checks and human review; a system that can find fictions when working with a large number of creators. As campaign volumes increase and the creator base expands, workflows that operated at a small scale simply
they fall apart, and brand safety may be one of the first casualties.

In this sense, it is advisable to analyze possible automation solutions for certain parts of the process, as long as they do not compromise human judgment or strategy. Technology can help track large volumes of information, identify certain signals, analyze content history and offer indicators on audience quality, engagement, transparency or possible risks; allowing professionals to focus their time on decisions that truly require context.

Keys to brand safety in influencer marketing

At the end of the report, the company offers a series of tips for working on brand safety in the era of content creators. It includes a checklist that recommends applying periodically to evaluate the status of the strategy, both at the level of profile selection, campaign management and measurement and optimization.

• Creator Selection
  • Each creator has been selected based on their content and values, not their volume of followers.
  • No creator has been contacted without a full audit of their profile and collaboration history.
  • The credibility and transparency of each creator is analyzed, regardless of their profile level
  • In markets where certifications exist, creators with these certifications are prioritized to ensure responsibility
  • Audience sentiment analysis is carried out before any collaboration is promoted
• Campaign management
  • Each creator who collaborates on an active campaign has been duly informed of the campaign brief, its objectives and the brand values
  • Content is reviewed and approved before publication, without disturbing work processes
  • All sponsored or branded content is duly identified in accordance with relevant regulations.
  • Creator activity is monitored throughout the collaboration, not just at activation
• Measurement and optimization
  • The performance of long-term collaborations is evaluated against specific benchmarks to capture their cumulative effect.
  • A centralized record of creator performance, collaboration history, and audience data exists and is maintained.
  • Verification time per creator is measured to identify if processes encounter infrastructure or resource frictions.