Raleighwood Media Group + Raleighwood Event Group

Traditional & Digital Marketing + Commercial Event Planning Based in Downtown Raleigh

  • Branding
  • Marketing
    • Website Design
    • Email Marketing
    • Social Media Management
    • Public Relations
    • Influencer Marketing
    • Direct Mail
    • Information Marketing: iheartretail.com
    • Information Marketing: DTRNews.com
  • Design
  • Events
    • Event Rentals
      • Rental Inventory
    • Raleigh Food & Wine Festival
    • Coming Soon: Raleigh Cocktail Week
    • Private Beer, Wine, and Spirits Tasting Events
    • Past Events
  • Raleighwood Wifi
  • News
  • About
    • Our Vision, Mission, and Values
    • Meet Our Team
    • Careers
    • Rates & Agreements
    • Preferred Vendors & Affiliates
  • Contact
    • Requests for Proposals
    • Social Influencer Program
You are here: Home / advertising / FYI for Bloggers and Brands

December 11, 2009 By Lisa Jeffries

FYI for Bloggers and Brands

Unless you’ve been hiding from media headlines since October, there’s a good chance to heard something about how the FTC (Federal Trade Commission – whose job is to “(work) for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them”) is changing how bloggers and brands can represent each other online.

To read the full news release from the FTC, visit http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm.

The changes actually affect all testimonial advertising, bloggers, AND celebrity endorsements. But let’s just assume you’re not a celebrity, or hiring a celebrity, for a moment 😉

So how does this affect you?

The short and sweet is that when a review is given with non-typical results, typical results must be clearly outlined. The other point is that the connection between the consumer and brand must be disclosed. ie: The posting blogger must disclose that he/she was contacted by the brand and what the terms were, if it’s a brand they’re personally representing, doing it for a family member, etc., etc.

And for Heaven’s sake, never create misleading content. It’s a big no-no in advertising and blogging crosses into that territory.

Of course, this blog post in no means constitute any sort of legal advice and you should always, ALWAYS read the rules for yourself and consult your own legal counsel if you have any questions about how to interpret any guidelines.

Visit http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm and look under “related items” to download the latest guidelines for endorsements. (These are always subject to updating and revisions, so I’m not posting a link to the current document – instead, I’m telling you where you can find the most recent version.)

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Lisa Jeffries
Founder, Principal Consultant at Raleighwood Media Group + Raleighwood Event Group
A good old-fashioned Southern girl - at home in the modern world.
Latest posts by Lisa Jeffries (see all)
  • Five Tips for Lead Generation - July 15, 2020
  • Using Email Marketing to Support All of Our Business Deliverables - July 10, 2020
  • Raleighwood’s Lisa Jeffries Talks Email Marketing with ZeroBounce - December 13, 2019

Filed Under: advertising, blogging, endorsements, Marketing, social media, Using Technology

Comments

  1. Lisa says

    December 20, 2009 at 11:56 pm

    Here's a great additional summary on the FTC changes from my friends at Southern Weddings Magazine!

    http://www.swsmag.net/blog/2009/12/1/new-ftc-regulations-explained.html

Consultations by Appointment Only

4904 Waters Edge Drive
Suite 100
Raleigh, NC 27606
1-919-229-9725
Info@RaleighwoodMedia.com
Monday through Thursday: 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Friday: 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.
  • Raleigh Food & Wine Festival
  • iheartretail.com
  • Downtown Raleigh News

Copyright © 2021 · Raleighwood Media Group + Raleighwood Event Group · Raleigh, NC