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Influence Weekly Roundtable: 70 Experts on What Brands Get Wrong About Long-Term Creator Partnerships

The gap between what brands say they want and how they actually operate is where most partnerships fail.

Author

Nii Ahene
March 09, 2026

Long-term creator partnerships have become a stated priority for brands and agencies in 2026. Whether they actually build them is another matter.

A recent IAB study found that nearly 60% of brand and agency buyers ranked creator partnerships as their top ad priority for the year. Yet many programs still operate on a transactional basis, governed by rigid briefs, slow payments, and a paid-media mindset that treats creators as distribution channels rather than strategic partners.

The gap between what brands say they want and how they actually operate is where most partnerships fail.

70 industry professionals weigh in on that central question in this week’s roundtable