Caroline Swain
Caroline is an Associate in the Commercial Team at Charles Russell Speechlys. Working typically with retail and sports clients she advises on marketing and advertising activities, working with influencers and celebrities, events and sponsorship arrangements, manufacture and distribution terms and terms of sale.
Caroline has experience advising on consumer law, data protection and advertising regulation. Caroline regularly acts for large multi-national corporations, innovative start-ups and family businesses and has completed secondments at Westfield and a luxury fashion brand.
Practice Area
Panel
- Contributing Author
Qualified Year
- 2014
Education
- BA, Theology, Nottingham University
- GDL and LPC, BPP University
- MA, Business with Law, BPP University
2 Contributions by Caroline Swain
PRACTICE NOTES
Drafting and negotiating influencer marketing agreements: key clauses, reputational safeguards and ASA/CAP/CMA compliance under UK advertising and consumer law
This Practice Note chiefly targets brands seeking to engage influencers for specific social marketing campaigns and promotional advertising. It provides a high-level summary of the clauses commonly included in influencer contracts and flags the main points to weigh up when assessing an influencer agreement. For a template, refer to Precedent: Influencer agreement. For fuller guidance on regulating influencer activity and safeguarding them against online harms, see Practice Note: The regulation and protection of influencers.
The influencer landscape is changing at pace and, although many have not ascended to the status of conventional celebrities (such as sports personalities, film actors, musicians or royals), dedicated service and support teams now work for influencers, assisting with branding and commercial dealings. Some may retain PR teams, legal advisers and financial backers, while others may never have seen or evaluated a services contract. Sensible due diligence, coupled with practical judgement, will help the parties determine a suitable negotiating stance for the influencer at hand.
What benefits a brand might get from using an influencer
Influencers are so...
TMT
PRACTICE NOTES
UK influencer marketing: ASA/CAP/CMA compliance, DMCCA 2024, enforcement risks and contract drafting essentials
This Practice Note is for brands engaging influencers (or other talent) on social marketing and advertising campaigns in the UK.
What constitutes an influencer? In the UK:
Content amounts to an influencer ‘endorsement’ or advertisement where an influencer collaborates with a brand to create material for their own channel and:
the influencer has received ‘payment’ from the brand for that content, and
the brand exerts some level of ‘control’ over the content
Both ‘payment’ and ‘control’ must be present for content to be an advertisement regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). If there is ‘payment’ but no ‘control’, consumer protection legislation applies, enforced by Trading Standards and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
‘Payment’ is interpreted widely and covers money, gifts, experiences, events and any promise of future payment. It can also be indirect: where an influencer has a paid commercial relationship with a brand, any related content is ‘paid‑for’ even if it is not technically...
TMT
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