ISBA today launches the first ever template contract for advertisers to use when working with social talent. Created in partnership with law firm Lewis Silkin the new contract also had input from major brands and social talent agents.
Brands are operating in a new era of influence where 92% of consumers turn to people they know for referral above any other source, and YouTube stars are seen as 90% more authentic and 17x more engaging compared to mainstream celebrities.
The rise and explosion in popularity of the vlogger in the past few short years has been nothing short of a cultural and social phenomenon. There is no doubt that, the use of vloggers has opened the doors to a new form of highly effective marketing for some brands.
After consulting with its members, research by ISBA showed that best practice when appointing vloggers was in its infancy, and in particular, brands were unclear on how best to contract with vloggers. ISBA therefore decided to create the first ever suggested terms for the appointment of vloggers by brands.
ISBA’s Director of Consultancy Debbie Morrison who spearheaded the projected said:
“With interest in the relationship between brands and social talent from regulators, the ASA and Competition and Markets Authority, increasing and having listened to ISBA members asking for direction we decided to try and create a contract that was a comprehensive and easy starting point. As ever, the suggested terms are not set in stone, and are merely intended to give ISBA members good drafting tools and options when contracting with vloggers. But we do hope they will help to raise standards around this growing activity”
Jo Farmer, Head of Brands & IP at Lewis Silkin who led the drafting on this new template said:
“We are really proud to have worked on such a ground breaking new template for ISBA members. We know from our own work in this space that a number of brands simply don’t know where to start when contracting with vloggers and influencers. This new ISBA template will give brands the right tools to enable them to contract with vloggers and will also help brands to develop best practice in this space.
Notes
The contract was launched at an event held jointly with Ogilvy where a panel of social influencers including William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (WME) clients Ben Phillips (prankster with over 8.3m Facebook followers) and Olivia Wollenberg of Livia’s Kitchen (Healthy baker with her own range of deliciously indulgent yet healthy treats). Also participating were Michael Zee of Symmetry Breakfast (A foodie instagrammer with over 600k followers on Instagram) and up and coming blogger Jess Dante of “Love and London” offering tips and travel advice. Shared their thoughts on the good, the bad and the ugly of working with brands.
Ben Phillips commented “Successful campaigns are built on real partnerships, where brands trust the influencer – as collaborative creativity produces authentic content – and overall, everyone has fun!”
Olivia Wollenberg commented “Great brand partnerships are based on shared values between the brand and the creator. Brands need to have a good understanding of the creator’s voice and values, and the creator has to be fully comfortable using their voice to promote the brand’s product. Creators should always be authentic, and can remain so by working with brands who not only they bring value to, but bring value to them. True partnership is mutual and collaborative and both parties should have fun with it.”
Also sharing their views were Phil Hughes COO of Gleam Futures, who represent some of the biggest social influencers like Zoella; the Competition and Markets Authority who reminded the audience to be open and honest when commissioning social talent to represent their brands and to ensure paid promotions are clearly labelled so consumers are not misled.
The contract template will be constantly under review in the fast growing, fast evolving relationship between brands and social influencers and we fully expect to issues up-dates going forward.
About ISBA – the Voice of British Advertisers
ISBA is the only body focused solely on the interests of advertisers in the UK. With over 450 advertisers in membership representing in excess of £10bn spend on marketing communications, ISBA protects its members’ freedom to advertise responsibly and maximise their effectiveness in deploying their marketing spend.
ISBA is the advertiser member of the UK Advertising Association, and advertisers representative on CAP and BCAP the UK advertising code owning body. We are also active members of the International Chamber of Commerce Advertising and Marketing Commission, and members of the WFA based in Brussels.
