WE ARE SOCIAL – SUPPLIER POLICIES & SUPPLIER PRIVACY NOTICE
- Social Media Guidelines for Suppliers
INTRODUCTION
When advertising in an online environment, it is very important to be considerate of the relevant Laws.
Under most advertising law, it is unlawful to ‘mislead’ consumers. This is a very broad concept, but it includes:
- promoting a brand’s products or services when you have been paid by the brand, but without making it clear that your services
have been paid for by the brand in any manner; and - creating the impression that you are publishing material as a consumer, or not in relation to payment from a brand, when
publishing material about that brand’s products or services and you have been paid to do so in any manner.
Pursuant to the Terms and Conditions, before you publish content, amongst other things, you must send it to Agency to review, however you are responsible for ensuring that your content is compliant with Laws. This document has been prepared for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice, so is not to be relied upon as such. As a result, should you have any queries, you should raise these with Agency, who may require that you take independent legal advice at your own cost. Even when Agency approves your content, Agency accepts no liability whatsoever and does not waive its rights against you should such content breach the Term Sheet, the Terms and Conditions or Laws.
GUIDANCE ON HOW TO STAY SAFE
To seek to ensure that your content is lawful, you must make your connection with a brand clear. It is important that a consumer understands that you have a business relationship with a brand when publishing material, so that they can judge its credibility.
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and similar sites
If you are communicating content via social media, your post must include a hashtag which explains that there is a
connection between you and the relevant brand, for instance:
- #ad
- #iworkfor[brand]
- #paid
Where your post is purely a visual or audiovisual asset without the ability to create associated post copy (such as an Instagram story post), your post must include a hashtag as above as text over the visual or audiovisual asset.
Mentioning the product, brand or related hashtags, tagging the brand or posting links to the relevant products or brand will also assist you in disclosing your commercial relationship, but you should always use a hashtag as set out above. Any disclosure should be clearly visible on the asset, without the need for those viewing it to expand the text or comment, or interact with the asset in any way. Disclosures such as #spon, #sponsored, #partner or #partnership are not acceptable.
Snapchat
If you are communicating content by SnapChat, your post must include a hashtag as text over the relevant content which explains that there is a connection between you and the relevant brand, for instance:
- #ad
- #iworkfor[brand]
- #paid
Mentioning the product, brand or related hashtags, tagging the brand or posting links to the relevant products or brand will also assist you in disclosing your commercial relationship, but you should always use a hashtag as set out above. Any disclosure should be clearly visible on the asset, without the need for those viewing it to expand the text or comment, or interact with the asset in any way. Disclosures such as #spon, #sponsored, #partner or #partnership are not acceptable.
YouTube and similar sites
If you are posting content on YouTube or similar sites, you should, in a manner, volume and speed that can be clearly understood, state your relationship with the relevant brand. If the post is solely related to a brand’s products, then your statement should be made at the start of the video. If the post is only part related to a brand’s product, then your statement should be made at the relevant time, but before promoting the product. You can communicate your relationship in a number of ways, for instance:
- I received [product] from [brand]…
- [Brand] send me [product]…
- I am partnering with/working with [brand] to promote [product]…
- I was paid by [brand] to mention [product]…
- I work with [brand] and have had the opportunity to try [product]…
A similar comment should also be included in the written description of the post or hashtags (such as #ad, #iworkfor[brand], paid or #gotitfree) used. Any disclosure should be clearly visible, without the need for those viewing it to expand the text or comment, or interact with the post in any way. Posting links to the relevant product and brand will also assist you in disclosing your commercial relationship. Disclosures such as #spon, #sponsored, #partner or #partnership are not acceptable.
Blogs
If you are communicating content in a blog, you should consider using one of the following comments to disclose your relationship with the relevant brand.
- I received [product] from [brand]…
- [Brand] send me [product]…
- I am partnering with/working with [brand] to promote [product]…
- I was paid by [brand] to mention [product]…
- I work with [brand] and have had the opportunity to try [product]…
You should also consider stating that the product(s) are “c/o” care of the relevant brand and posting links to the relevant product(s) and brand will also assist you in disclosing your commercial relationship.
Podcasts and similar
If you are creating a podcast, you should, in a manner, volume and speed that can be clearly understood, state your relationship with the relevant brand. If the podcast is solely related to a brand’s product then your statement should be made at the start of the podcast. If the podcast is only part related to a brand’s product, then your statement should be made at the relevant time, but before promoting the product. You can communicate your relationship in a number of ways, for instance:
- I received [product] from [brand]…
- [Brand] send me [product]…
- I am partnering with/working with [brand] to promote [product]…
- I was paid by [brand] to mention [product]…
- I work with [brand] and have had the opportunity to try [product]…
A similar comment should also be included in the written description accompanying the podcast (if any). Any disclosure should be clearly visible, without the need for those viewing it to expand the text or comment. Posting links to the relevant product and brand will also assist you in disclosing your commercial relationship.
- We Are Social Anti-Discrimination Code of Conduct For Suppliers
We create more meaningful connections between brands & people by embracing differences and championing diversity. This extends beyond the connection of consumers and brands to include how we treat each other and the relationships we have with Suppliers.
Our Diversity & Inclusion Charter for change holds us to account as an agency. This can be found on our website (www.wearesocial.net).
This Code of Conduct compliments our Diversity & Inclusion Charter and outlines an anti-discrimination code of conduct that we expect our Suppliers to adhere to, in order to ensure that together we create an environment that embraces our differences and
champions the benefits of diversity.
We have defined the following key behaviours that we expect of our Suppliers, so that together we embrace diversity and actively promote inclusion.
- We expect all personnel to be treated with dignity and respect.
- We will not tolerate discrimination on the grounds of age, race, racial group, colour, ethnic or national origins, gender, pregnancy, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief.
- All allegations of discrimination will be taken seriously and the appropriate action taken.
- All Suppliers demonstrate diversity within their own workforces and within their supply chain, or will show a commitment and action plan towards this.
- A brief that encourages or incites discrimination, racism or racial segregation will not be accepted.
- There will be no association with any organisation that promotes hate or funds supremacist activity.
- Supplier Privacy Notice
This privacy notice provides information on how the Agency collects and processes your personal data when you are contracted as a Supplier under this Agreement. It is important that you read this privacy notice together with our website privacy policy which contains more detailed information about our data processing and can be accessed here.
- Important information and who we are
The Agency is the controller and responsible for your personal data.
We have appointed a data protection lead. If you have any questions about this privacy notice or our data protection practices please contact [email protected] or at the address stated at the top of the Agreement.
- The data we collect about you
We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you as follows:
- Your name and contact information.
- Your financial details for purposes of payment.
- Your social media profile data.
- CV data or other information about your previous experience
We use different methods to collect data about you, which are explained here.
- How we use your personal data
We will only use your personal data for the purpose for which we collected it which include the following:
- To register you as a new Supplier.
- To manage your relationship with us and the provision of Services for/on behalf of the Brand.
- To permit analysis of your social media channels performance as part of the Services
Our lawful bases for processing are as follows:
- necessary for the performance of contract; and
- our legitimate interests. Please contact [email protected] if you object to this basis of processing.
- How we share your personal data
We may share your personal data within the We Are Social group / with external third parties including the Brand.
- International transfers
We may transfer, store and process your personal data outside the UK. More detail can be found here.
- Your legal rights
Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data including the right to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK regulator for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk).
More detail can be found here.
- Further details
If you are looking for more information on how we process your personal data including on data security, data retention and lawful processing bases, please access our website privacy policy.