The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has released guidelines into the payment for editorial content to specifically promote a brand, product or service within a social media environment.
The guidelines – developed by the IAB’s Social Media Council and supported by ISBA, the Voice of British Advertisers - offer concise practical direction with the express aim of providing transparency for consumers. The document aims to help brand owners and marketing practitioners comply with consumer protection law. They feature six relevant social media scenarios to demonstrate how the guidance may work in practice:
These are:
1. Video Placement
2. Blogs
3. Video Blogs
4. Twitter
5. Forums
6. Facebook
The good practice guidelines have been released at a critical time for the social media industry, with the discipline growing faster than ever before and a need for practical guidance to help brand owners and marketing practitioners comply with consumer protection law. The guidelines have been released in conjunction with a helpful Q&A which offers additional clarity and information on why they are necessary and how they will be kept relevant and up to date as the market evolves.
The guidance has been developed in consultation with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Committee for Advertising Practice (CAP) Secretariat. The regulatory subgroup of the IAB’s Social Media Council played a pivotal role in ensuring the guidelines are as useful as possible by forming the six social media scenarios in the document.
Nick Stringer, Director of Regulatory Affairs at the IAB said: “Transparency is key to ensuring that consumers are aware of marketing communications within social media. The IAB - ISBA guidelines offer brand owners and marketing practitioners ways to do this when paying to promote a product within editorial. We hope that, in following our good practice approach, it will help uphold the integrity of social media.”
Robin Grant, Managing Director at We Are Social and member of the IAB’s Social Media Council said: “Despite legislation coming into force over three years ago, there are still brands unknowingly putting themselves at risk. The IAB’s Social Media Council felt it was time to step-up and develop clear guidelines, along with practical examples, that help brands comply.”
Ian Twinn, Director of Public Affairs at ISBA said: “Advertisers welcome this timely and clear guidance on social media. ISBA has worked closely with the IAB to produce practical guidelines. This is a good example of advertising self-regulation delivering consumer transparency and advertiser funding of social media".
