As influencer marketing continues to evolve, and brand/influencer relationships become increasingly valuable, brands (and their agencies) are tasked with implementing stronger protective measures—including morality clauses, comprehensive vetting processes, and proactive monitoring—to safeguard both their investment and their brand reputation.
The Evolution of Brand Protection
Contractual safeguards in brand partnerships aren’t new. The Motherhood agency helped to formalize the approach in the early years of what we now know as influencer programming – drafting and securing some of the very first influencer/brand contracts that took informal exchanges of product into mutually beneficial business transactions. What was once facilitated by an email and a shipment of cereal in exchange for a blog post is now no different than a brand/celebrity spokesperson deal.
Why Brand Safety Matters More Than Ever
According to Anjali Bal, associate professor of marketing at Babson College, protective measures have become more important because of cancel culture and how consumers respond to behavior, with social media making these behaviors more transparent than in the past. Cancel culture, political divisiveness, and even AI-generated misinformation mean that controversies can erupt without warning.
Sarah La Voi, a partner at BakerHostetler, notes that when brands engage with influencers, they’re giving up some control and accepting more risk, since anything can go viral in either a good or bad way. However, she adds that these unique risks are tough to avoid but smart contracting helps.
What are Industry Best Practices for Prioritizing Brand Safety Online?
At The Motherhood, we understand that protecting your brand’s reputation requires a proactive, multi-layered approach. We’re experienced at creating the most brand-safe programs in the industry.
With 20 years of best practices, we’ve developed a comprehensive campaign environment where brand messaging is presented clearly, accurately, and in full compliance with brand, legal, medical, regulatory, FDA or FDIC and FTC guidelines (as relevant), plus any additional content protocols provided by our clients.
Our Multi-Layered Approach to Brand Protection
Layered Influencer Vetting We work collaboratively with your team to vet every influencer. You review and approve all influencer recommendations before any campaign invitations are issued—ensuring alignment from the very start.
Contractual Safeguards Engaged influencers enter a contractual relationship with The Motherhood that includes integrity clauses and a code of conduct, clearly communicating the professional guidelines they must adhere to throughout the partnership.
Clear Content Guardrails We develop specific and non-negotiable guardrails for influencer content development, along with a concise program brief outlining key messaging, content guardrails, brand word preferences and nuances. These do’s and don’ts ensure everyone is aligned on what constitutes appropriate content.
Rigorous Review Process Concept and content approvals by your team and legal department are built into our process, per your request. We never move forward without your sign-off.
Active Campaign Monitoring Our commitment to brand safety extends throughout the entire campaign:
- Daily monitoring of published influencer content to ensure full accuracy and compliance
- Comment surveillance during the campaign period—we’ll notify you immediately of any comments of concern and enact an approved response protocol
- Content Compliance Statements facilitated with each influencer, per your request
This comprehensive approach means brands working with The Motherhood can confidently reach engaged audiences while minimizing risk—because we’ve already done the heavy lifting when it comes to due diligence, compliance, and brand protection.
The Bottom Line
While partnering with influencers offers tremendous opportunities to reach engaged audiences, it requires careful planning and oversight for brand safety in influencer marketing. While vetting, smart contracting, and proactive monitoring can help protect your brand when unexpected situations arise, the smartest move for any brand is to consistently work with experienced partners who deeply understand and prioritize brand safety, weaving this into every part of the campaign strategy from beginning to end.
Sources: Industry insights from legal experts at Venable, BakerHostetler, and brand counsel from Ulta Beauty, as well as marketing perspectives from Babson College and the Digital Dept.