Advertising Standards Guidelines: Bloggers must declare all marketing communications

The Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland has introduced a new set of guidelines addressing what it calls the “Recognisability of Marketing Communications”. The aim of the document is to ensure Irish consumers are not misled by online advertising disguised as innocuous blog posts, tweets, snaps and more.

The ASAI states that while primary responsibility for transparency in marketing communications lies with the advertising company, all parties have a duty of responsibility. To achieve this, the body encourages the use of a clearly identifiable hashtag  such as #Ad or #SP (meaning advert, or sponsored post).

Many of the world’s leading social media influencers, as they are known, have adopted this approach successfully, and the ASAI hopes that Irish contingent will do the same.

ASAI CEO Orla Twomey says that the guidelines were developed after extensive conversations about concersn consumers had about “influencers” not declaring a commercial interest in their endorsements. “The new ASAI guidelines aim to address these concerns,” Twomey said, “and develop a uniform set of standards applicable to both companies and the bloggers who deliver the marketing communications.”

Source ShelfLife 25 January 2017

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