Legal firm Sheridans offers legal tips for running a social currency campaign using Twitter
Legal firm Sheridans, sponsors of the Dadi Awards and Social Buzz Awards, has compiled a list of tips for social media managers and community managers running a social currency campaign on Twitter.
Tahir Basheer, a partner at Sheridans, explained to The Drum: “Brands often want to try and add in an element of control to make sure their social media promotion has positive impact and also to reduce legal risks.”
Two weeks ago, Kellogg’s opened a pop up shop called the Tweet Shop where customers ‘paid’ for a packet of Special K Cracker Crisps by sending a tweet about them.
Self–regulated codes for advertising: Under the CAP code, advertising on Twitter must be obviously identifiable as a marketing communication to the average consumer. The disclosure of hash tags #ad or #spon can help brands avoid falling foul of the CAP code - with Nike becoming the first to fall foul of this in June 2012.
Transparency: As well as making sure that customers can tell what is an advertisement, be aware that if consumer comments/reviews (e.g. by way of Tweets) are monitored and amended by the brand (so that only positive comments/reviews are made available) the Advertising Standards Authority are likely to take a dim view of this.
Terms of service: Brands should review Twitter’s terms of service, rules and best practices before proceeding with the campaign to ensure that the specific ad campaign is not expressly prohibited by Twitter. Twitter regularly evolves its Terms so this should be done regularly.
Intellectual Property Rights of third parties: Ensure the Tweets don’t fall foul of local intellectual property laws including copyright and trade mark laws.
Lighthouse effect: Ensure the campaign fits in with the brand’s ethos and makeup.
Reputation management: Be aware that the Tweets might be negative as well as positive – such as the recent Waitrose Reasons campaign.
Obviously, if you can minimise the possibility of a negative Tweet (e.g. Kellogg's made sure the Special K girls checked the Tweets before sending) then this is ideal. However this may not always be possible so you should always have a damage limitation strategy (which should be thought about before the campaign) to ensure your brand reputation is upheld. If it is monitored and amended (so only positive reviews are made available) it is likely to be subject to ASA rules.
Check out this year's finalists for the Social Buzz awards, in association with iomart.