Listen to the episode HERE.
As influencer marketing continues to drive the evolution of beauty and personal care product advertising and marketing, brands must navigate an increasingly complex regulatory landscape to maintain consumer trust and compliance.
In our latest episode of CosmeticsDesign’s Beauty 4.0 podcast, we sat down with Laura Brett, Vice President of the National Advertising Division (NAD) at BBB National Programs, to discuss the latest regulatory updates and best practices for beauty brands.
Brett leads NAD, the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation founded over 50 years ago to boost consumer trust in advertising. She has helped develop NAD’s guidance in the evolving area of truthfulness and transparency for advertising in digital media, including the review of the adequacy of disclosures in influencer marketing and other digital formats, and is a frequent speaker on truthful and transparent advertising issues has contributed to numerous national media outlets, FTC panels, and industry discussions.
With the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) tightening its guidelines around influencer disclosures, testimonials, and fake reviews, the conversation is more relevant than ever. “The embrace of some ambiguous terms is something that every beauty brand should have on their radar,” Brett said, highlighting the growing scrutiny around marketing language and claims.
One of the key takeaways from the discussion is the importance of transparency in influencer partnerships. Brands must ensure that any connection with an endorser is clearly disclosed.
“If you have a connection with someone who is endorsing your product, just make sure that the connection is visible where the endorsement is made,” said Brett. “Consumers want to know when there is a connection between a brand and an influencer or endorser of that product.”
Beyond influencer marketing, self-regulation is an essential tool in fostering a fair and competitive marketplace. “Self-regulation is a resource to spread better practices,” she said.
Further, she added, “if you see your competitors are doing something that they should not be doing, you can challenge that practice,” as “that not only levels the playing field but is a step forward towards building a better marketplace.”
Additionally, she warned beauty brands about the risks of misleading advertising tactics, stressing that short-term strategies that drive clicks may not be sustainable. “Bring everybody into alignment on building trust in the brand, both your partners and your marketers… building trust helps build the brand,“ she said. ”A short-term strategy that generates clicks might actually not work in the long term,” she added.
For a deeper dive into these insights, listen to the full episode of Beauty 4.0 featuring Laura Brett here.
