We are all familiar with celebrities and social media stars using their social media accounts to promote brands and products. For some, it is their main source of income and they can make millions in endorsement and sponsorship deals. Major TV and sports icons can command hundreds of thousands of pounds per post, which

UK-based media agency, the7stars, recently announced it would adopt the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers’ (ISBA) template agency agreement—an arrangement designed to foster a transparent relationship between advertisers and media buying agencies.

Since K2 Intelligence released its report on the U.S. media buying industry in June—a report which detailed non-transparent business practices employed by media

The Advertising Standards Authority, ASA, announced on the 1st September 2010 an extension of its regulatory remit, from March 2011, which will give the Regulator jurisdiction over all marketing communications on the Internet including those on corporate websites and social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as over advergames and user generated content.

This controversial move has been introduced without any public consultation, and includes new serious sanctions for advertisers. Exemptions to the new regulation include “heritage advertising”, ‘investor relations’, and marketing communications promoting “causes and ideas”. Nearly all other marketing promotions on-line will need to comply with the CAP Code. Some areas of concern include how the ASA will deal with the fine line between editorial and promotional material; how the extended remit will be adequately funded; how sanctions can be effectively enforced against companies with sites based overseas or indeed against those thousands of smaller on line advertisers who are blissfully unaware and ignorant of the CAP Code and whose advertising can change in seconds in this fast paced media environment.

All this comes into effect on the 1st March 2011, which does not give businesses long to review their on line promotions and marketing plans. The changes to the CAP Code ironically comes literally days after printed versions of the revised CAP and BCAP Codes were sent out to purchasers, and only a few months after a public consultation, which excluded these latest provisions.Continue Reading Regulation Spreads to Advertisements on Corporate Websites and Social Networking Sites

In addition to the Advertising Standards Authority, there are many other UK regulators relevant to the advertising and marketing industry.  Here, you will find links to most important bodies.

Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)
The ASA is the UK’s independent regulator of advertising across all media, including TV, internet, sales promotions and direct marketing.

The Committee