On Jan. 2, in the year’s first edition of Newslinks, we began by ruminating over changes in the licensing business during the just-concluded decade. “There have been lots of surprises,” we wrote. “For one thing, did you even know what an influencer was ten years ago?”

The answer for most was that the phrase “influencer marketing” is a rather recent addition to the business lexicon. Of course, there’s an element of “Everything old is what’s new again” to the notion that influence is a recent discovery; it’s always been an element of endorsements by celebrities, athletes and the like.

Innocent beginning

But the current cycle began rather innocently with bloggers who achieved viral visibility by giving their opinions on things such as cool fashion looks, beauty tips, and places to shop. On a Licensing Expo keynote panel a few years ago, CEO Henry Stupp of Apex Global Brands (then known as Cherokee), told of a skirt that Target suddenly couldn’t keep in stock, even though neither he nor Target had done any special promotion. It turns out that a blogger had enthused about the skirt to her followers and…

“Influence” quickly mushroomed into a much more professionalized undertaking in which those practitioners are paid for their mentions, and everyone madly seeks that elusive quality called “authenticity.”  That quest acknowledges a fundamental truth: The nature of the online environment creates a more personal relationship between creator and consumer than was possible before.

Modern icon

It seems shiny and new. But even the modern era of influencer marketing dates back to the early 80s, when a book called “Entertaining” proved to be the launching pad for a media and licensing empire that flourishes even today. Its author, Martha Stewart, will be inducted into the Licensing International Hall of Fame on May 19 during the Licensing International Excellence Awards, which takes place in conjunction with Licensing Expo in Las Vegas.

Stewart was one of the pioneers of the modern licensing model, showing off a lifestyle built on her sense of taste and design — beginning with her trailblazing direct-to-retail deal with Kmart in the late ’90s — which continues to this day.

Join us on May 19, both to honor Martha Stewart and to celebrate the best of the licensing business. It will be a fun and meaningful evening. For information, visit the Licensing International website. We hope to see you there.