Authenticity and transparency key to solid celebrity endorsements
With the proliferation of online and social media and the decline in reach and impact of the traditional 30-second television spot, the use of endorsements and testimonials through social channels is increasingly becoming a popular way to entice consumers to interact with your brand. In many ways, this is not new. High-profile endorsements have been used as far back as the 1890s, when Pears soap used stage actress Lily Langtry to proclaim “Since using Pears Soap, I have discarded all others.”
Fast forward to the present and a celebrity can let you know what soap they are using in real time from the comfort of their own home. The rise of social channels and a 24-hour celebrity news culture allows consumers to follow every twitch, grunt and tweet from their Hollywood idol or other trusted sources of advice. An endorsement from a doctor or health professional remains the gold standard for trust in products and we live in an age where people like Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz blur the line between medical professional and celebrity. And now even regular folks can earn the trust of consumers for their opinions and shared life experiences. Popular mommy blogger Alice Bradley, who blogs about the joys and challenges of being a mom at Finslippy, has almost 60,000 Twitter followers.
People are bombarded with celebrity and consumer endorsements or testimonials in traditional media, but social media sources often lend an air of personal commentary that makes it difficult to distinguish between what is a real-life comment and what is a paid endorsement. This confusion led the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the U.S. to release updated guidance a few years ago on the use of endorsements and testimonials in the new media age. While there is not yet similar guidance from the Competition Bureau in Canada, it would be prudent for Canadian brands to follow the FTC’s advice.
Endorsers—whether a celebrity or mommy blogger—who receive cash or in-kind benefits to endorse or review a product must clearly and conspicuously disclose this relationship in their online communications. Celebrities must also disclose any financial relationship with a brand that they mention outside of the traditional advertising context, such as on a talk show or on their Twitter feed.
As you engage brand ambassadors to help you reach consumers in key demographics, be sure to use these FTC principles to start your relationship off on the right foot. Whether your endorsement comes from a celebrity or the person next door, be sure their comments about your brand reflect their honest experience with it. For example, be sure they actually used the shampoo they are tweeting about. If unsure, consider obtaining an attestation (a certification by endorsers stating they used the product and reviewed it honestly) to protect your brand. More importantly, disclose any relationship between the endorser and the company. You will notice that most mommy bloggers disclose having received free products from companies that are looking for reviews online. This form of product seeding is likely a great idea for word-of-mouth marketing, so just complement it with the appropriate disclosure. Most consumers will realize that a serious blogger will not compromise their credibility by posting a positive review simply because they got some free stuff. Disclosure will just add to the level of trust they are building with their audience.
Start using these practices now, as these waters will be even more difficult to navigate in the near future. Increasingly, there are agencies that specialize in pairing brands with celebrities and other online influencers to provide customized social media endorsements. Celebs and everyday people have clout that is being leveraged in online marketing. To determine your own social prowess, check out Klout.com to rank the value of your personal brand on a scale of one to 100. With a Klout score of 88, Khloe Kardashian can reportedly command $8,000 per tweet—not bad for a hundred or so keystrokes.
Five easy steps to effective celebrity love
• Disclose your relationships (e.g. payment, in-kind donation, employee, etc.)
• Where less space is available, a shortened version would likely suffice. For example, the FTC suggests using the hash tags “#paid ad” or “#ad” for tweets
• Create a social media policy for your company to guide employees, agents and ambassadors
• Under no circumstances should anyone providing an endorsement falsely pose as an ordinary customer or independent reviewer
• Consider having the endorser sign a certification letter (attestation) verifying the authenticity of his/her use and statements about the product
Rules of Engagement is Marketing’s regular legal column. This article appears in the Sept. 10 issue.
Sara Perry is a lawyer with the national firm of Heenan Blaikie LLP. She practices in the Marketing & Advertising and Entertainment law groups and is called to the bar in New York and Ontario. This is her first column after taking over from our legal columnist Erin O’Toole, who is planning to run for public office.
