Astute.Work provides management consultancy, PR and marketing to organisations wanting to articulate their purpose, manage change, engage with stakeholders and build profits both ethically and sustainably
As part of its industry give back, the agency founded and invests in an opensource learning and development community called #FuturePRoof. Here Astutes managing director Sarah Waddington provides the low down on a new #FuturePRoof guide covering influencer marketing governance so everyone can follow best practice.
Influencer relations is growing in popularity as brands recognise the opportunity that comes with harnessing the networks of high-profile individuals, but this emerging area is fraught with potential pitfalls.
The new #FuturePRoof guide aims to share the latest advice around the critical area of governance for influencer marketing. Its a challenging area of practice which sits between marketing and public relations and earned and paid media. The guide has been written by Scott Guthrie, an independent influencer marketing consultant, and Stephen Waddington, managing director of Metia and visiting professor at Newcastle University.
It includes contributions from Jake ONeill, senior marketing manager, Vuelio; Rupa Shah, founder and director of Hashtag Ad Consulting; and Andrew Terry, partner and head of intellectual property & media, Eversheds Sutherland.
Spotlighting the growing issue of influencer marketing governance
There were more than 16,000 complaints made about 14,000 online ads and social media posts last year according to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) Annual Report 2018.
According to MarketsandMarkets, the global influencer market is currently estimated at £4.5 billion in 2019.
In the UK influencer campaigns are governed by existing ASA and Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) laws. Members of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) are also covered by their codes of conduct.
The #FuturePRoof guide characterises the market, includes applicable media law and guidance from advertising, marketing and public relations. It also covers guidance for campaigns where no money is exchanged, gifts in kind such as accommodation or travel, and financial payment.
Governance impacts agencies, brands and influencers
The tension between earned and paid campaigns isnt only a challenge for marketing and public relations practitioners. It has also led to influencers themselves breaching advertising and trading standards law.
The #FuturePRoof view is that there is a growing need and opportunity for formal representation for influencers. Insurance company Hiscox launched an influencer and public figure protection insurance policy in September 2018.
Here are the top six take aways from the guide:
1. Everyone involved in a campaign has a responsibility to adhere to relevant advertising and media law. This includes agencies, brands and influencers.
2. Influence is often confused with popularity. Influence is the ability to shape or change a persons opinion or behaviour.
3. Marketing approaches influencer marketing from the perspective of high control and low trust. PR deals in low control and high trust. Marketing is often marked by short term and tactical campaigns. This is set against PRs bedrock skill of building long-term, mutually-beneficial relationships.
4. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) set out how to abide by media laws and regulations.
5. If you are an organisation pitching a story and an influencer creates organic content based on that pitch but there is no exchange of payment or value, then there is no need for disclosure on either side.
6. Disclosure of a paid influencer marketing relationship should be obvious. It should be easy to understand, unambiguous, timely and prominent. Use hashtags such as #ad, #advertisement or #advertising
You can access the guide at www.futureproofingcomms.co.uk/we-are-all-influencers-now
