IMTB spoke at EASA's biannual meeting about responsible influencer marketing alongside European ad regulators, academics and leading marketers
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The IMTB shared insights on responsible influencer marketing with members of the European Advertising Standards Alliance (“EASA”) last week.
At the request of EASA, IMTB participated in the alliance’s first ever designated influencer marketing sessions at its biannual meeting held in Athens.
During discussions Scott Guthrie, IMTB’s director general, underscored the tenet that the trust influencer marketing enjoys is only earned when brands, agencies, platforms and creators act responsibly, taking seriously their obligations to each other and to consumers.
Responsible influencer marketing Guthrie emphasised means that, at a minimum, sponsored creator content should not contain online harms. However, as an industry we should be aiming higher - ensuring creator content is representative of its audience, fairly paid and best in class.
He went on to explain the work IMTB had undertaken to provide its members with access to better representation, information and community.
Guthrie joined a panel of experts to further discuss responsible influencer marketing. The panel included Dr Catalina Goanta Associate Professor, Utrecht University of Law, Mohamed MANSOURI Deputy Director, ARPP (the French advertising regulator), Céline Mouquet Global Influence Director Accor, Penelope Anastasopolou Greek influencer, radio producer and actor, and Otto van der Harst, Director SRC (the Dutch advertising regulator).
Marta Sanaugustin from the European Commission also presented to delegates.
EASA represents 27 advertising self-regulatory organisations from across Europe and 13 organisations representing the advertising ecosystem (the advertisers, agencies, the media) and 1 digital pure-play company. EASA is the single authoritative voice on advertising self-regulation issues in Europe.
About the Influencer Marketing Trade Body
The IMTB is a 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 has 21 member organisations: BENlabs, Captiv8, Disrupt, THE FIFTH, FleishmanHillard, Fourth Floor, Good Relations, impact.com, INCA, R&CPMK, Ketchum, Ogilvy, Open Influence, SEEN Connects, Smarts, Storm, Tagger, TAKUMI, Traackr, Whalar and What They Said.
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.