How to Mark Paid Cooperation With a Brand in Social Media

NativeHash: Should an influencer who established a paid cooperation with a brand, tag it, while writing a recommendation of their products or services. How should it be done properly?

Joanna Łyszczarz: Yes, each cooperation with brands must be tagged so that the influencer does not face negative legal consequences. We must remember that online creators have a huge impact on their followers and their purchasing decisions, and publications resulting from cooperation with brands are nothing but advertising and should stand out from other, "neutral" posts.

Nowadays, detailed guidelines have been prepared by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection from autumn 2021, but we already have some tips on how to correctly tag cooperation. You should write about it in the description of the photo or video - e.g. "the post was made in collaboration with ..." or add appropriate advertising hashtags - e.g. "#paid collaboration", "#post-advertising" or "#advertisement" so that Internet users have no doubts about the nature of your publication. In the case of longer posts, it is recommended to mention the ad in the description of the photo or video, and not just stop at hashtags, because few recipients will even read them. However, if the post is very short - one or two sentences, then you can stick to hashtags only, providing that the ad tag is at the beginning, not hidden somewhere among other hashtags.

Speaking of hashtags - English abbreviations such as "#ad", "#advert" will not be understandable for all Internet users. It is also worth putting them in Polish. Hashtags must also be precise and clearly indicate the collaboration between the brand and the creator, therefore, for example, the general hashtag "#cooperation" will not be fully understood.

What is more, it is also worth tagging the brand profile in the form of a pin in the photo or in the description, but indicating that it is cooperation - by just tagging the brand in the photo or adding a hashtag, for example "#Gucci", will not be enough. 

Without such clear indication, the post will constitute one of the acts of unfair competition, i.e. surreptitious advertising. In such case, if the interests of the consumer are violated by surreptitious advertising, he or she may demand from the creator, for example, making a public statement or repairing the damage caused.

Moreover, Internet users value honesty and transparency, so it is not worth "hiding" that we recommend something as part of collaboration.

NH: How does this issue look like in terms of barter cooperation? 

JŁ: Collaboration with brands should be understood very broadly - it is not only receiving money for uploading a post or video on social media, but also paying for a hotel, trip, invitation to an event, organizing a competition with gifts from the brand, renting a product for testing, associations or just barter cooperation. In other words - if the post is the result of receiving some benefits from the brand, and not the result of buying a product with the influencer’s own money, and is aimed at marketing, then it should be tagged.

NH: Does barter collaboration also have to be taxed?

JŁ: The barter agreement, though it is cash-free, involves receiving a financial benefit; not in cash, but in the form of a product or service, that is why it is subject to income tax and tax on goods and services.

Moreover, it is a financial benefit for both parties to the contract, both the brand and the influencer are "buyers" and "sellers", so each of them is obligated to make tax settlements on their side. The amount of tax is connected with the value of the product or service, which should be defined in the barter agreement.

NH: What if an influencer after testing the product, returns the it to the store or manufacturer and posts an unbiased review? Should he inform that the product was given to him free of charge for the duration of the tests? Or maybe he is not obligated to do that?

JŁ: If it really is an objective opinion, that is, considering all the advantages and disadvantages, then it would not be an advertisement, but neutral information. The question arises, however, what if the opinion was positive. Therefore, in my opinion, it is worth being honest with the followers and in each case emphasizing that the brand has made the product available for testing. It is difficult for me to imagine a situation that the influencer will be 100% objective and will not feel a sort of "pressure" to evaluate a product or service positively.

NH: What about sponsorships and brand ambassadors? Should a brand ambassador tag such collaboration by wearing clothes received from a sponsor and placing a subtle advertisement in the form of product placement in videos and photos posted on social media?

JŁ: Just like in the case of a single advertisement, brand ambassadors or sponsored persons whose task is to advertise a product or service should tag that the post is the result of cooperation. The rule is simple - if someone bought a product with their own money and liked it so much that they recommend it in their social media - this is not an advertisement according to law. However, if the recommendation is made as a part of cooperation with the brand, then such entry should be tagged. A publication should be tagged as an advertisement each time the products or services presented on it have a marketing value. Moreover, according to the survey conducted by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection - Internet users would like tagging cooperation to be varied, e.g. in terms of the length of cooperation and the form of payment.

Subtle product placement raises even more doubts, e.g. showing the clothes of a particular brand, but without indicating where the clothes come from and without a description encouraging to buy a given product, although from the brand's point of view it is difficult to imagine such a situation. However, it should be remembered that influencers often dictate trends and followers want to be like their idols, so they will probably want to buy similar products. In such case, it is worth being honest with your followers and even if the post has little advertising value, it is worth underlining that it is within the scope of collaboration. The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection also recommends that when we have doubts if we should tag a post as sponsored, it is better to do it to avoid possible unpleasant consequences or disappointment of our followers.