Come to BlogWell: How Big Brands Use Social Media on February 2 to hear Toyota, Texas Instruments, REI, Kellogg’s, Dell, Coldwell Banker, Sabre Holdings, and InterContinental Hotels Group share social media case studies. You’ll learn how to get started, get past roadblocks, and make your social media program phenomenal — and you’ll see some brilliant […]
Social Media Ethics Briefing: Staying Out of Trouble — live from BlogWell
January 6, 2011
How a 21-year-old can humiliate your brand and cause a world of legal trouble
October 26, 2009
Do you know what your marketing assistant is doing online? 1700 people outed a Sports Illustrated staffer for trying to rig Digg by bribing people to pump up the votes for his site — while asking them to hide the relationship. See it here and here. This is against the law. It’s not a matter […]
Disclosure is easy
October 24, 2009
Did you see how I met the FTC guidelines in the last post? One simple sentence that discloses my relationship with a client (and what kind of ladies’ clothes I wear). You don’t need some giant legal statement to do good, honest disclosure. Just tell people what your deal is. Here’s another easy example: Put […]
Clearing up the myths of FTC social media regulations in Ad Age and NPR
October 11, 2009
(Read this, this, and this for background on the FTC social media issue.) Here’s a column I wrote in Ad Age called Why the FTC’s Social Media Guidelines Are Great News for Marketers (Dan Gillmor’s debates the other side): The FTC gave advertisers three gifts this week: Clear rules on how to work in social […]
How to stay in compliance under new FTC social media regulations
October 8, 2009
For a quick crash course in staying ethical under the FTC’s new rules on disclosure and ethics in social media, check out my live presentation from our recent BlogWell in Minneapolis. In addition to the live video, also check out: My detailed breakdown of the FTC document A quick summary of what the new regulations […]
FTC to Social Media Marketers & Bloggers: Y’all play fair now!
October 7, 2009
Marketers are dumping cash and gifts on bloggers. Bloggers have been hoovering up freebies. And everyone has complained about the idea of FTC regulation. The truth: False advertising and fake endorsements have always been illegal. Just because it’s social media doesn’t mean you get a free pass. Now that the FTC has clarified the rules […]
What do the “FTC Guides re: the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials” mean for Social Media Marketers?
October 5, 2009
Yesterday the FTC issued its “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising“. This is the new regulation that covers social media and word of mouth marketing. As you know, I have been a leading advocate for ethics in word of mouth. After a detailed read of the document, I can say: I’m […]
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