Last week the Influencer Marketing Trade Body (“IMTB”) co-hosted a webinar with the Advertising Standards Authority (“ASA”) focusing on whether the advertising regulator was doing enough to keep pace with the burgeoning creator economy. 

Recent rulings by the ASA against creators including Grace Beverley and Steven Bartlett have brought the UK’s ad watchdog into sharp focus. In a 45-minute interview, IMTB’s Scott Guthrie put a series of creator marketing regulation questions to Emma Humber-Smith, Operations Manager, Copy Advice at Committee of Advertising Practice (“CAP”) - the ASA’s sister organisation responsible for writing and updating the rules on advertising in the UK via the CAP (Non-broadcast Advertising) Code.

Areas covered in the webinar included:

• Whether complaints against creators are representative.
• The ad regulator’s transition from “complaints-handling department” to pro-actively searching for potentially non-compliant ads via AI capabilities and what this means to influencer marketing in terms of scale and representation.
• At what point someone becomes so well known that they don’t need to disclose - so becoming “clearly synonymous” with a brand - a phrase used by the ASA recently in an article designed to provide context to its ruling against Grace Beverley’s company, TALA Limited. 
• How the ASA applies rules that are currently underpinned by the consumer protection regulations (“CPRS”), and how these rules will be replaced next year by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024

Emma Humber-Smith explained that 95% of the complaints received by the ASA about influencer marketing still focus on hidden advertising - where influencers fail to make obvious that the ad they have posted is an ad. This has a negative impact on consumer trust along with heightening concerns from MPs and government.

However, other advertising regulations apply to influencers as well. Humber-Smith emphasised that influencers “need to be mindful of all the relevant sections of the CAP code that apply to whatever it is they're promoting. There are rules on misleading advertising, harm and offence, environmental claims as well as sector specific sections such as alcohol, gambling, and motoring.”

Humber-Smith spelt out the rules around influencers who decide to run giveaways or prize trials or competitions. “There are very specific roles about how you are supposed to run prize draws and competitions to ensure that they're fair for all the participants” said the CAP representative. 

About the Influencer Marketing Trade Body

The IMTB is a UK-based not-for-profit professional membership organisation dedicated to building a robust, sustainable future for the influencer marketing industry through increased accountability, governance and a unified voice.

Launched in October 2021 with six founding members, the IMTB now counts circa. 30 progressive creator economy companies as members.

Member organisations sign up to a code of conduct when joining the IMTB. The code articulates specific requirements for members. These are the behaviours that members must demonstrate when they are providing business services and ensure our members are always responsible, accountable, transparent and competent.

IMTB represents influencer marketing on the Committee of Advertising Practice ("CAP") as a member. CAP is responsible for writing and updating the rules on advertising in the UK via the CAP (Non-broadcast Advertising) Code. 

CAP is the sister organisation of the Advertising Standards Authority ("ASA") - the UK’s independent advertising regulator that administers the CAP Code to keep ads legal, decent, honest and truthful.

IMTB co-owns the Influencer Marketing Code of Conduct alongside ISBA. The Code, first launched in September 2021 and updated in May 2022, aims to standardise good practices and guidance with brands, agencies and creators. It covers areas including disclosure, transparency, pay parity, and effective representation.