What #ASE11 Sessions I’m Voting For
Let the games begin! Voting has opened up for Affiliate Summit East 2011. While some people have not been happy with this voting system, I think it evens the playing field nicely. As well, it clears any conspiracy theories about how sessions are chosen.
Before I begin, I will say I have a horse in this game. I’ve submitted a panel, The Future of Coupons in Affiliate Marketing, for consideration. If picked, I’ll be moderating this panel with industry coupon veterans Mike Allen (Shopping-Bargains.com), Connie Berg (FlamingoWorld.com), Carolyn Tang Kmet (Groupon.com), and Kim Rowley (ShoppingBookmarks.com). Please take a moment to register, confirm, then vote for our panel!
Okay, that being said, these are the panels I’m voting for. All of them have very intelligent speakers, well thought out ideas, and will offer merchants and affiliates great insight into the topics.
- It’s Not Your Mother’s Affiliate Program
- Creatives Deliver Success
- Evolution of Local Search
- Do-Not-Track? Not-So-Fast
- Killing the Affiliate Nexus Tax Dead!
- Got an Idea? Make it a Reality.
- 10 Questions for a Prospective Affiliate Manager
- A World Without Cookie Tracking
- How to Convince Online Shoppers You’re Real
- Learn to Create a Likeworthy Facebook Page
- Social Media in Niche Markets
- Merchant ABCs – Launching a New Merchant Program
- How to Avoid FTC Scrutiny in Advertising
- Affiliate Improv!
- Are Your Affiliates Adding Value?
ASE09 Session: Hot Topics in Marketing Compliance and Enforcement
Session Description: Hear from regulators and industry insiders on critical legal issues facing affiliate marketers today, including advertising practices, affiliate liability, and enforcement priorities. The panel consisted of:
- Jeffrey Greenbaum, Partner, Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC (Twitter @jeffgreenbaum) (Moderator)
- Leonard Gordon, Director, Northeast Region, Federal Trade Commission
- David Graff, General Counsel and Sr. Vice-President, Corporate Development, Epic Advertising
- Peter Marinello, Director, Electronic Retailing Self Regulation Program, Council of Better Business Bureaus
With all the talk about disclosure going on lately, I thought this session would be a great chance to learn more about how the FTC expects to enforce the over-zealous disclosure they’re now talking about requiring. I was disappointed that there was no mention of it until the end of the session and that no one asked about it before I had to leave. The session went long and I had to run to get to GeekCast Live. It was definitely a wealth of information; I just wish Jeffrey hadn’t talked and gone through his slides so fast!
Bullet Point Review!
- Affiliates need to be careful about the types of endorsements they use.
- Affiliates can get into trouble using celebrity pictures and trademarks.
- Epic Advertising does their research to make sure testimonials used are legitimate and documented.
- There’s no silver bullet.
- Noncompliance is more lack of attention to detail than maliciousness.
- Even if a celebrity endorsement is true, you need their explicit consent to use it.
- What is Advertising?
- Traditional Media
- Company Sites
- Public Relations
- Spokespeople
- Branded Content
- Viral Videos
- Product Placement
- Review Sites
- Facebook Pages
- Blogs
- Tweets
- What Rules Apply?
- Federal
- State
- Local
- Deception
- Tell the truth and don’t mislead.
- Keep your promises.
- You’re responsible for express and implied claims.
- You must have prior substantiation to back up your claims.
- FTCv. CVS Pharmacy Case
- Accused of misrepresenting how they were protecting customer privacy.
- Found that discarded customer information was thrown into dumpsters behind the stores that were accessible by anyone.
- Held accountable.
- Disclosures
- Is qualifying information necessary to prevent a claim from being misleading?
- Disclosure must be “clear and conspicuous”.
- Mouse type probably won’t do the truck.
- Is the disclosure in close proximity to the claim?
- Disclosures are judged by a performance standard.
- No pre-checked boxes.
- Disclosures must be separate from terms and conditions.
- Endorsements
- Must be real.
- Honest, unbiased opinions.
- Accurately reflect performance.
- You can’t use an endorser to make a claim that you couldn’t make yourself.
- Subject to FTCreview.
- “Results Not Typical”
- Unfairness is about harm, not about deception.
- ERSP is a self-regulating body.
- No real punitive damages; can only recommend changes to be made.
- Clinically proven claims have to be reliable and competent evidence.
- Clinical Testing Data
- Independently conducted (double blind study, placebo controlled).
- Adequate sample size.
- Conducted over a reasonable period of time.
- Statistically significant results (95% confidence level).
- Claims = data.
- Affiliate has the responsibility to confirm that the claims are true.
- There are some obviously questionable categories of offers that should always be questions before run, like nutritional supplements, weight loss, etc.
- You as an affiliate can be held individually liable for damaged in a lawsuit.
- FTC has two responsibilities – consumer protection and anti-trust.
- The Obama administration has put pressure on the FTC to look to protect consumers heavily affected by the economic downturn.
- Extra scrutiny of loans, mortgage, jobs, debt consolidation advertising.
- Be careful when marketing to children as the rules are becoming more strict.
- Is it okay to collect data when a consumer consents?
- Consumers don’t understand terms and conditions – the FTC thinks it’s borderline absurd to think that they do.
- Disclaimers should be written with the same panache as the ads themselves.
- Terms need to be crystal clear.
- Consumers don’t understand how online ads work.
- FTC doing more research of “green” ads and hope to publish more guidelines soon regarding claim standards.
- FTC is expecting to be partnering with the FDA more to regulate health and safety advertising.
I talked to another attendee of the session, Rebecca Madigan from the PMA, who said the session went on for about another 15 minutes after I just had to leave to get to my next speaking engagement on time. I hope she posts more about the session somewhere! Jeffrey, Peter, and David all had their own presentations, but the only one on SlideShare is Peter’s. Here’s the presentation:
