EU study showing four out of five influencers don’t highlight commercial content shines a negative light on a digital sector which had “shaken off wild west” past

Influencers and digital creators who fail to disclose adverts and commercial content within their posts are damaging an industry which has managed to shake off the “wild-west” tags of the past.

That’s the view of influencer marketing agency, Disrupt, following a European Union study released this week, which shows that four out of five influencers on social media fail to disclose commercial content, as required under EU and UK law.

Stevie Johnson, managing director of Disrupt, said: “I’m astounded to see that around 80% of influencers are apparently not disclosing commercial content. So much good has been done to tighten up the rules over the last few years that this seems like a backward step and proves that brands – as well as influencers – are getting it wrong when it comes to influencer partnerships.

“These figures put a negative spin on an industry that has shaken off the wild-west tags of previous years. It shows that due diligence is required for brands to partner with the right professional talent who take these regulations seriously, and as a result won’t harm their brand by not using the correct disclosure.”

The European Commission report, released on Wednesday February  14^th, showed that of 576 influencers studied, 97% posted commercial content on social media including Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Snapchat, and Twitch. But only 20% systematically indicated that it was advertising.

Under EU and UK law, content creators are obliged to disclose adverts within their posts.

Johnson added: “Agencies like Disrupt ensure in our contracting process that all paid for content absolutely must be disclosed as an Ad, in line with Advertising Standards Authority and Competition and Markets Authority rules.”

“In our experience, influencers nowadays have no issue with disclosing ads. They want to be authentic and truthful to their audience, and don’t want to risk the negative impact of pulling the wool over consumers eyes.

“Similarly, audiences can be just as engaged with this disclosed, branded content, as regular content…if the collaboration between influencer and brand is authentic, and there is a similar shared ethos between the 3 parties – brand, influencer and audience.”

Author, poet, diversity activist and sociologist reveals she wants to create a reality show

Best-selling author, poet, creative sociologist, advertising strategist, speaker, diversity activist and playwright, Amy Kean admits to Status Update that at the beginning of her career in advertising she dyed her hair black, tried to change her voice and wore fake spectacles in a bid to be taken seriously.

These days, among her long list of accomplishments, she is CEO and Creative Director of a learning and development company called Good Shout – “a couch-to-5k for the voice” – with the aim of helping others to be heard.

As a working-class woman from Essex, despite having a great job, Amy didn’t feel anyone was listening to her and has, she says, always created her own platforms to be heard in an uninterrupted way.

Amy is the guest on Episode 5 of Status Update, the podcast from influencer marketing agency Disrupt, which features some of the world’s best known creatives.

The podcast, hosted by former Made in Chelsea star Stevie Johnson and co-host ‘voice of Gen Z’ Jake Crabb, is available on Apple and Spotify. It has been designed for listeners with an interest in the future of social and digital content.

Looking back at her early career, Amy says she felt she needed to change (herself) to progress and had carried that impulse throughout her professional journey. Storytelling, automatic writing, poetry are all devices which Amy believes can have a liberating effect on the creative process.

Amy tells the podcast the premise of her best-selling book ‘The Little Girl Who Gave Zero F*cks’ is that each little girl has a basket of ‘f*cks’ which she dispenses every time she gets embarrassed, or upset, or gets told off. One day she doesn’t give out the ‘f*cks’ and realises nothing really changes at all, except she worries less and it feels good.

Using creative tools, Amy says can help people get over the “paralysing effect” of self-awareness: “When you decide to let go of living with fear of judgement, it can set you free…

“In the first seven seconds of meeting someone they form eleven different judgements about you.” Teaching people to unpack those judgements is so important.

“It can help businesses with managing conflict, working together, relieve stress and improve integration and tolerance: Inclusion is terrible in advertising, really, really bad.

“Only 12 % of the workforce in advertising isn’t privately educated.  That didn’t used to be the case. In the 70s, the creative industries were working class industries…

“The advertising industry is prone to ‘self-symbolic completion’, where talking about stuff is as good as doing it.

“In 2016, hundreds of agencies pledged to get rid of the gender pay gap, the ethnicity pay gap. Because it was a leap year, the project was called ‘Take the Leap’. There was a logo and everything.

“Four years later, when the results were evaluated, the gender pay gap and ethnicity pay gap had widened…and the data was buried…

“We need to integrate better.”

Talking about the future of the digital space and where she sees the industry moving, Amy says real trends are based on social and political forces, not commercial desires.

And she tells the podcast she wants to create a reality show, expanding on her Good Shout theme, where people can uncover a lot about themselves, and learn to use their voices well: “A little bit like Queer Eye, where I have a body language expert and a comedian on the panel of judges.”

Stevie Johnson, co-host and managing director of Disrupt says: “We like to showcase the work of creatives on Status Update and Amy Kean is among the most innovative.

“She is constantly creative and looking for new ways to allow other people to find and use their voice, to overcome the experiences that silence them. She is brilliant at achieving that…in fact, she coached me!”

Previous episodes feature Rob Mayhew, Creative Director at digital innovations agency Gravity Road..

World-renowned photographer Misan Harriman appears on Episode 2. Activist, campaigner and creative Jamie Klingler features in Episode 3, and entrepreneur and content creator Dom McGregor is the guest on Episode 4.

The next episode of Status Update will be released on Wednesday November 22nd. You can listen back to previous episodes on Apple or Spotify.

The co-founder of the ‘Reclaim These Streets campaign, Jamie Klingler, has revealed that her decision to invest in herself, after years of heavy drinking and partying, is the most valuable step she’s taken, despite it making her poorer.

Klingler is a guest on ‘Status Update’ the new podcast from influencer marketing agency Disrupt and features some of the world’s best-known creatives.

The activist, writer, and Tedx speaker says the Covid pandemic “gave me the opportunity to change everything” and she credits that action with enabling her creativity.

The podcast, hosted by former Made in Chelsea star Stevie Johnson and co-host ‘voice of Gen Z’ Jake Crabb, was launched on October 27th and is available on Apple and Spotify. It has been designed for listeners with an interest in the future of social and digital content.

On the third episode of the podcast, Klingler describes how in London, in March 2021, the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by serving policeman Wayne Cousins prompted her to use social media to organise a vigil, along with two local councillors.

When the police banned the vigil and threatened individuals with heavy personal fines, Klingler used Twitter, now renamed X, to raise £600,000 to take the Met to the High Court for infringing their human right to freedom of speech and assembly, and won.

She told the podcast: “For me, coming off a long history of (my) drinking way too much and partying way too much and getting home unscathed, Sarah had done everything right… Had the police let us hold the vigil legally we’d have gone back to our lives on the Sunday.”

Describing herself as an ‘accidental activist’, Klingler’s background in creating social content and events management meant she was able to utilise those skills to co-found the ‘Reclaim These Streets’ campaign. She says she feels “a huge responsibility to speak for women who can’t fight back.”

The campaigner tells the podcast that what she has learned from the wider issue of police reform has ‘radicalised’ her and given her focus.

“Waking up with purpose, I don’t have a hangover, and caring about everything…Having a moral code is a lot more complicated and now I don’t wake up with any shame…So having good habits, liking myself more, has made the creative process a lot easier,” she says.

Klingler tells ‘Status Update’ that she’s lived her life very publicly on social media for 17 years. She says in creative terms: “We all need the freedom to make mistakes and to screw up. We all need to fail.”

Her background in creating social content gave her the space to do that: “All kinds of kids flourish by causing a little mayhem.”

She argues that creatives need to “lean into their weird” to develop their ideas and says inspiration and collaboration are an important part of that journey. She advises creatives: “Know your strengths. Find those partnerships that you spark off and use them.”

Stevie Johnson, Status Update co-host and managing director of Disrupt says: “Jamie Klingler is a force for inspiration. We’re delighted that she’s joined us to share her experience.

“Status Update is the podcast that shows how powerful social media and digital creatives can be. Jamie demonstrates that and is passionate in her encouragement of others to develop their own creative digital content.

“In the series, we hear from all sorts of inspirational social creators, activists, authors, poets and comedians. Come and join us on Status Update because, as you’ll hear each week, the future is undeniably creator-led.”

The first episode features Rob Mayhew, Creative Director at digital innovations agency Gravity Road,who is often described as the ‘King of Agency Comedy’.

In the second episode award-winning and world-renowned photographer Misan Harriman speaks about his ongoing battle with self-doubt.

Co-host Jake Crabb, Disrupt’s marketing manager says: “Status Update is about inspiring creators with the phenomenal stories of inspiring creators. By joining us on the journey, we hope to create a whole new generation of social media and digital creators.”

The latest episode of ‘Status Update’ will be released on Wednesday November 8th. You can listen back to previous editions: Episode 1 with Rob Mayhew and Episode 2 with Misan Harriman on Apple or Spotify.