With the invention of “influencer marketing”, product placement has jumped from the silver screen to the smartphone screen. But now, in Australia, the free-for-all is over. New advertising standards mean from next month brands will have to disclose their influencer marketing deals.

James, Nic and Sarah take a close look at marketing and advertising deals and why it’s important to disclose them.

Here are some key take-outs:

• Traditional media has always had to acknowledge when content is sponsored. This is clearly the regulators trying to catch up.
• Don’t social media users already innately understand product placement?

“What concerns me here is someone is trying to over-regulate this. This won’t work; this thing lives by its own rules.” — Nic

• Is influencer marketing the best way for brands — particularly small businesses — to communicate their message?
• Could this be more about the revenue concerns of traditional media?

“There’s a lot of speculation about whether or not influencer marketing works. There are no good metrics around about how it’s measured. In influencer marketing the ability to prove there was any kind of profitable customer action because somebody put up an Instagram post, it gets weaker and weaker.” — Sarah

• Just because someone has a big audience, does that mean that audience is going to do something for your brand?
• There’s a question of authenticity with the audience, too. Does the influencer really believe in or use the product? What damage can it do if they get caught using a competitor’s product?

“If brands choose the right person, they can strike it lucky. They can get a lot more bang for their buck.” — James

Here are the links you might need

• Here’s an article on the new Australian advertising standards.

On My Desk

• Sarah’s recommended the book Stories that Sell by Casey Hibbard.
• Nic’s recommendation was to amplify your appearances in traditional media by reposting them to your own channels, especially YouTube.
• James talked about the ads that appeared in the Super Bowl, which “captured the conversation” by taking a very political angle.

Like what you’ve heard?

Last week the team discussed attack marketing:

And recently they spoke about diversity in marketing:

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