Has your marketing agency been hired to create an influencer marketing campaign? Congratulations! To ensure its success, it’s in your best interest to have a proper agreement not only with your client, but also with the influencers you’ll be hiring as part of this campaign. This will allow you to meet your client’s expectations, while protecting you at the same time.
Here are 4 essential points to address in your marketing agency influencer agreements.
Please note that this blog post does not constitute formal legal advice, but rather legal information. If you have any questions about influencer marketing agreements, or contract drafting in general, get in touch!
1. Deliverables and deadlines
As part of your marketing agency influencer agreements, you’ll first want to define precisely the type of content that needs to be delivered, as well as the agreed upon timeline.
This usually includes
- The nature of the content (video, photo, story, etc)
- The publication platform
- Number of publications
As for the timeline, it’s important to take into account any possible delays (e.g. a request for modifications from the client), as well as any obligations stipulated in the agreement between the marketing agency and the client.
2. Restrictions on content to be created by the influencer
As with any other type of marketing, companies are subject to certain laws that dictate what can and cannot be said as part of an advertising campaign. These restrictions should be communicated to the influencer (who can’t know everything) and inserted into the agreement for reference purposes.
For instance, if you’re working on an influencer marketing campaign in the alcoholic beverages sector, it will be essential for the influencer to know about mandatory mentions regarding drinking in moderation, behaviors prohibited by law in advertising, as well as any other information that needs to be know by the influencer to ensure that the content created is not content through which the client breaches the applicable law in its industry.
Generally speaking, it’s always a good idea to remind influencers of what keywords they should be using, where to insert disclosures of the material relationship between them and the companies that hire them, as well as any other advertising law obligations that apply to clients, agencies and influencers alike.
3. Rights granted by the influencer for the purposes of the influencer marketing campaign
It is crucial to clearly define the rights that the influencer assigns to the marketing agency and the client as part of the campaign. This includes copyright on the content created, as well as image rights (which are two distinct elements)!
As far as copyrights are concerned, it’s important to specify whether the influencer is transferring ownership of the works or granting a license. The terms of the license (including duration, territory, permitted uses and whether or not it is exclusive) must be specified.
Authorizations regarding image rights should also be explicitly mentioned. The influencer (and any other individual featured in the campaign) must consent to the use of his or her image, voice and name in the context of the campaign, specifying in particular the where these elements will be used, and the duration of the authorization.
It will therefore be important to take into account clients’ needs for their campaigns, and to ensure that the clauses in the agreements to be signed with the influencers in question meet those needs.
4. Termination terms
When defining the termination terms in a marketing agency influencer agreement, it’s essential to think about the various reasons that may justify early termination of the collaboration. These may include the cancellation of a campaign by the client, but also circumstances such as the influencer’s failure to meet contractual obligations, or external events that make performance of the agreement impossible (force majeure).
Influencer agreements often include morality clauses, which allow for the agreement to be terminated immediately if the influencer behaves in a way or makes statements likely to damage the image of the client or the marketing agency. But what exactly is meant by behavior or statements likely to harm the image of the client or the marketing agency? Who is in a position to judge whether this criterion is met? It all comes down to the wording of these clauses! These provisions should therefore not be taken lightly, and should be drafted with care, to avoid any ambiguity in their interpretation and prevent potential conflicts.
Whatever the grounds for termination laid down in the agreement, it is crucial to ensure that the termination terms of the agreement between the marketing agency and the client are aligned with those of the agreement with the influencer, to avoid any inconsistencies or unnecessary liability for the agency.
If you have any questions about marketing agency influencer agreements, or require assistance in drafting or reviewing such agreements, please contact us!
