President Trump has been battling the media over "fake news" - and that issue plus a constantly changing media landscape is also affecting communications strategies.
While readers and listeners can be unsure which version of the news to believe, the credibility battle has also left advertisers scratching their heads over how and where to reach their customers.
Claudia Macdonald, managing director of Mango, the Auckland-based communications agency, and its head of digital PR, Dean Taylor, are leading many brands to an increasingly effective method of marketing: influencers.
But using social media creators and influencers to spread a company's message has to be carefully managed.
Macdonald says: "Word of mouth is the most powerful medium of all," quoting Bill Bernbach, a founder of the international advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach, now known as DDB.
"That's based on the insight that humans trust other people and what they say. They trust their friends or they trust an adviser. With the internet, people with an individual point of view have become a trusted voice; these influencers have become somebody consumers listen to and who influence their behaviour and decisions."
Taylor defines an influencer as "someone who creates content and posts it on a social media platform" - such as a blog, Youtube channel, Instagram or Facebook page: "They've developed a following, an interested audience who engage with that content."
He cites a 2016 survey of 20,000 people by the US agency Bloglovin'. It showed 63 per cent had used a new product or brand they wouldn't have previously considered due to an influencer; 64 per cent said they followed that influencer because of the niche topic they posted about.
Bloomberg reports US companies spend $US250m a month on influencer marketing and two-thirds of companies state they will increase their investment in the next 12 months.
"The rise of the influencer has come about because of the customisation of our news feeds. We follow people we want to follow - rather than the media offering us what the editor or programme director chooses, we are now our own editor."
Macdonald says: "Good influencers are people prepared to share their lives and their opinions and their insights with you. Influencers provide you with information about things you are interested in, and they are good at creating interesting content you want to engage with."
Taylor calls that "relatability" - people follow niche content because they relate to it. Quality content is crucial: "Facebook calls it 'thumb-stopping content' - as you scroll through your phone, what do you stop at?"
"While content is king, context is queen. If you are a new mum, you search for 'mummy bloggers' because you are looking for someone in that same parental situation, sharing the same experiences. If you're on a health journey, you'll search out nutritional advice from someone with that expertise and background."
Credibility can be an issue, meaning, Macdonald says, managing influencer programmes is important: "An agency will always make sure that whoever we are working with has credibility. It's not just the numbers of followers they have, it's their engagement - how many of those followers are active and how many can be moved to action?"
Tone is important, too. Taylor says, "There are a number of influencers in the entertainment sphere whose language is colourful. Does that sit well with certain brands? Probably not."
However, the influencer is also a brand - their own. "They know their audience best and they will guide us, at times, as to what they think will work."
Macdonald says influencer marketing can require a leap of faith for some companies, because the blogger or poster controls the content.
"Brands want to know what content they are going to see and we're saying, 'Just trust that person, they're going to produce the right thing for their audience but we're not necessarily going to dictate everything.
"There's a degree of trust involved, and I think that's why some companies have been a little reluctant to get into influencer marketing."
The agency maintains a database and a relationship with influencers, so it can partner the right influencer for a campaign; it integrates influencer marketing into a communications plan involving more traditional media, she says.
"Businesses have always tried to influence consumer behaviour by harnessing the credibility and endorsement of independent parties," says Macdonald. "What businesses are now realising is their customers are being influenced in new ways, via new channels, and if their brand isn't part of that conversation they are missing out."
