As more of us turn to peer reviews on a host of websites and blogs, who is really influencing culture today? View More

Film studios, from small to huge, still hunger for glowing reviews from critics and use them extensively in their marketing. A one star rating from a critic can close a new restaurant within weeks. Music bloggers introduce us to new music and can propel an artist from their bedroom to the BRITS. Fashion writers can build up labels and looks or send them straight to the bargain basement. But are the professional critics and reviewers still as powerful as they once were? How do brands respond to the power of critics who can undo a long planned marketing campaign with the stroke of a pen? And as social media drives the value of opinion, are critics becoming brands in their own right? As more of us turn to peer reviews on a host of websites and blogs, who is really influencing culture today? View Less