In late April 2022, the “JEP” (in full: Jury on Ethical Practices on Advertising) published Recommendations for Influencer Marketing. The FPS Economy also published new Best Practices. As a creator, it is best to be aware of this: non-compliance can lead to fines, and if the JEP issues a ruling, it can publish you online with name, fame and blame.
So, does your content sometimes have a ”commercial relationship” with a brand?
Then note the following:
Define the Relationship: commercial?
If you can receive a benefit by making something known to your audience, then there is a commercial relationship.
- Such a benefit is filled broadly, so it should not be a specific amount of money.
Are thus also seen as a benefit: products you receive; a spot on the guest list; or the commissions from affiliate links.
- As creator your part in the commercial relationship is then your
content.
You are going to (better) introduce your audience to a product, service, brand or organization. For that, you can go and promote something very straightforward, but equally you can use a giveaway, a poll, a collab,… to put that same something in the foreground .
Do these situations look familiar to you?
Then check to make sure you are posting the right entries everywhere.
In doing so, it is important that the commercial relationship is also immediately clear to your audience. So, for example, what you best not do is hide the hashtag, disregard the language of your followers, or only start spotlighting your partner at the end of your video.
Hello dear followers -#Advertising?
Summary:
You get a benefit for your content? If, in doing so, any of these situations apply to you:
- Your content contains affiliate links, or a promo code;
- A contract has been drawn up with your client/partner;
- The deal is that you do (minimum) x number of posts;
- There must be mandatory certain content in your post; or you must get approval first
Then place a tag or mention ”Advertisement” with it in full. May also include: ”Publicity” and ”Advertisement’‘.
But: abbreviations – such as ”Pub” or ”Ad,” on the other hand, are not allowed.
You receive a benefit, but none of these situations apply to you?
- You will still need to be clear about the commercial aspect of your content. Then state”Sponsored,” or”Product Placement.”
Note that the tags provided by Instagram or Youtube are not sufficient on their own. Its use, however, is encouraged.
Also know that both the creator and the client (or partner) are responsible for complying with all these rules.
JEP… Recommendations
The JEP is the self-regulatory body of the Belgian Advertising Industry. They work with a jury composed 50/50 of people from the industry and the general public. JEP verifies compliance with the rules established by the advertising industry itself. As for the content of advertising, the JEP also has recommendations, codes and covenants (e.g., on cosmetics, alcohol, advertising directed at children, etc.). So someone who would find your content not so transparent – or even misleading – can turn to JEP for that as well.
Back in 2018, JEP had released recommendations for influencers . That was a while ago, and with the JEP having been able to gain some practical experience in the meantime by dealing with influencer-related complaints, they have now given those recommendations a refresh. Also good to know is that Facebook (Meta) sees the JEP rules as an addition to their own ad policies.
Of course, in addition to the self-regulating effect of the sector, there is also simply the law (e.g. Trade Practices Act, the Media Decree, etc.), and supervision organized from the government (e.g. VRM, Economic Inspection, etc.). Naturally, there are also rules in this area for, among other things, the mentions and content of advertisements, as well as for certain categories of products, and for each channel chosen.