(International) Influencer Marketing in Germany: #ad might not be enough
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I am an expert in the field of trademark law, for all questions concerning advertising and unfair competition law, copyright law and trade secrets. In the field of advertising law, I regularly provide guidance on questions of environmental advertising.
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After turning a blind eye to the influencer marketing practices of companies for quite some time, competitors and competition watchdogs have now repeatedly and successfully requested German courts to put a stop to influencer marketing that does not comply with the strict German advertising regulations. In contrast to the UK or US, German regulations seem to set a higher bar for the disclosure of paid advertisements; in other words, the hashtag #ad will most likely not be sufficient. Instead, influencers should use the full German terms #werbung or #anzeige (translated to #advertisement) as the very first element of any post. This is a particularly international point as foreign brands and marketers can be brought before a German court if the marketing has an intended effect in Germany. In this article, Constantin Eikel discusses how Germany is tightening up on the influencers…
Following influencers is not only fun, but it’s also a very successful advertising strategy for companies around the world. Followers get a first-hand experience of their favourite star’s life, luxuries and travels while consuming any content the influencer publishes. Inevitably, this has led to paid influencer marketing: companies noticed that there’s almost no other form of advertisement which is so eagerly consumed by their target audience.
Read the full article on MediaWrites.
