ISBA, the body representing UK advertisers, has drafted the first ever contract for advertisers to use when working with ‘social talent’.
According to ISBA, YouTube stars are seen to be 90% more authentic and 17 times more engaging than mainstream celebrities, making them a key part of many brand strategies.
However, the relationship between advertisers and vloggers has become increasingly blurred over the last few years, with a number of YouTubers landing themselves in hot water with the Advertising Standards Authority.
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“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,” said ISBA’s director of consultancy Debbie Morrison.
“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 and IP at Lewis Silkin, the law firm that helped draft the contract, 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.”
Matt Donegan, managing director, Social Circle, said: “We welcome the ISBA drafting these contracts, as this highlights a step in the right direction for an industry that needs to agree best practice.
“As an agency that has developed talent contracts through working on dozens of influencer campaigns over the last year alone, we understand the importance of structure and clarity when working with social influencers. In our experience the complexity and nuance of working with influencers can mean that a standard boilerplate approach rarely satisfies actual needs.”
ISBA expects the new contract template to be constantly reviewed as the market adapts to the relatively new media channel.
More details on ISBA.
