Buzz marketing techniques illegal from May, IPA warns

by Hayley Pinkerfield, Revolution UK 02-Apr-08, 09:15

LONDON - The IPA has warned that commercial communications via the internet will become more strictly regulated and in some cases illegal when new rulings come into force from late May.

According to the IPA's warning, The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations contains a clause which makes the following a criminal offence:

Seeding positive messages about a brand in a blog without making it clear that the message has been created by, or on behalf of, the brand.

Using "buzz marketing" specialists to communicate with potential consumers in social situations without disclosing that they are acting as brand ambassadors.

Seeding viral ads on the internet in a manner that implies you are a simple member of the public.

Marina Palomba, IPA legal director, said: "If advertisers and their agencies ignore the ethics of responsible advertising, the damage to the advertising and marketing industry generally will be considerable, undermining all commercial messages, their effectiveness and the self regulatory systems."

Palomba advises that agencies and marketing teams should assess their activities and whether they comply with the new regulations to avoid potential fines or even prison sentences.

The new regulations come into effect on 26 May 2008.

Comments

Chris Applegate - 02/04/2008

This is something that not many people in the industry know about yet, it's crept in without a lot of fanfare, and it could take some by surprise. I blogged about this last week - http://www.outsideline.co.uk/blog/2008/03/26/how-a-change-in-the-law-could-affect-online-marketing/ - and while researching it I was surprised at how little it has been talked about so far. - Chris Applegate, Outside Line

Robert Frost - 02/04/2008

This will make it easier for legitimate websites with excellent content to compete against websites that spam forums and blogs with a view to improving their search engine rankings. Rob, AdStorm

jez jowett - 03/04/2008

Why do people always assume that seeding is about spamming sites? Fair enough in the early days (and by that I mean 6-10 years ago) when there was lots of infiltration going on- newbies going into forums with no profile or post history and link dumping. But these days seeding and buzz marketing are legitimate communication routes. it's not about 'paying someone' to endorse a message. If the message or content sucks then the advocate loses his credibility. Successful seeding is about placing branded content in relevant destinations to allow people to have an opinion on it. It's online pr. It's going to be interesting seeing how this is regulated. If I choose to post to my connectors the latest campaign I'm working on, after hours- does this qualify? If one of my connectors then chooses to post 'Jez has just made this. What d'you think?- is that an infringement?

Robert Frost - 30/04/2009

I don't think anybody assumes that all seeding is spamming. Everybody knows that only the unwanted rubbish that you find posted all over the place is spam. If you choose to post positive comments about brands who pay you money to do so then you have to declare it, as you are clearly biased and if you don't declare it you are misleading readers who might otherwise assume that you are an impartial consumer.