Moral Problems in Online Advertising, Especially Influencer Marketing Ethics Sample

Ogilvy
Date: March 29th, 2021
TO: Adam Tucker, Global Leader, Advertising
FR: Ke Jin, Freelance influencer, KOC
RE: Moral Problems in Online Advertising, Especially Influencer Marketing Ethics
Influencer marketing has become one of the most recent trends concerning technology and business. The rise in social media implies that conventional advertising systems face a major competitor in their advertising revenue. In the quest to secure the bag' as they say, many influencer marketers at Ogilvy have turned into unethical practices, with the precise focus being on their misrepresentation of products through words or altering of images in the process of posting them on their timelines. This practice is utterly wrong considering the firm's quest to improve and be the best in the industry (Ogilvy, n.d.). Ogilvy has been around for more than a century, and thus, it is bound to protect its reputation and that of its clients.
The Challenge
It is very important to recognize the dangers of such unethical behavior on the reputation of the entire organization and its clients. Customers today exist in a perfectly competitive market and, thus, gain information relatively quicker. Consequently, their purchases convey support for organizations that conduct their operations ethically (Zbuchea, 2013). To this end, we should ensure that our influencers' posts are up to the expectations and meet organizational standards that have guaranteed the longevity of this firm for this long. Appropriate reactions need to be devised. In addition to referring to Ogilvy's code of conduct, honesty, fairness, respect, loyalty, and promise-keeping are important elements (Ogilvy, n.d.). In the process of looking for influencers, the company should pay more attention to influencers' personal qualities, and the company should not force influencers to release false statements in order to increase sales.
First and foremost, the company's credibility needs to be protected, and thus, influencers are to sign a legal disclosure policy in the contract agreement. In this case, the policy is to be formulated concerning the dynamics underlying the respective media kit. A legal disclosure policy is a major instrument to curb the cunning nature of influencers. They are much likely to be biased and thus, deviate from what we as the organization had agreed initially. The influencing niche consists of several concepts, including persuasion, compliance, obedience, and socialization, and thus, it is up to the management to make stringent measures that protect both the firm's and clients' interests (Balaban & Mustatea, 2019). Further, the legal disclosure policy should include other guidelines that the firm finds crucial to meeting its objectives.
Secondly, the firm is going to keep track of their influencers' content to ensure compliance. Our company has several influencers that, at times, we are unable to establish whether they have accomplished their tasks as asked. This responsibility is quite challenging for the organization considering that it is conducted manually. Nevertheless, it has to be done; otherwise, the firm will begin making unnecessary losses. To this end, the organization is to employ an influencer management platform's services to ensure that related procedures are accomplished. The hired firm brings a consolidated report of each piece that has been sent to influencers. In this way, the firm can ensure that its advertising fees are being used appropriately and, more importantly, in compliance with the disclosure policy. Besides, the firm gains the advantage of turning their attention to more important operations in the organization and, more precisely, those that cannot be outsourced.
Finally, once we are done with these two propositions, we will shortlist the most authentic influencers and work with them. This crop of individuals will ensure that we have minimal inefficiencies when it comes to compliance. Authentic influencers provide honest opinions about commodities. Customers appreciate authenticity even though the truth may be less appealing. Nevertheless, the shortlisted candidates must be vetted so to guarantee optimal returns from the entire process. For instance, the vetting process can establish whether there is bias when promoting products or if they are overly promotional. The desire to know the influencer better ensures the firm has sufficient information about their business partner.
The Approach
Therefore, it is imperative to identify the dangers of those unethical practices, which might destroy the reputation of the whole organization and its clients. In contemporary society, customers exist in the competitive markets, and thus they gain information quickly. In this end, we should ensure that the influencers post meets the expectations and the standard that have been guaranteed in the organization.
The ethical issues are hard to discuss. They are usually not clear, and therefore it is easy for the company to cross the line entirely. Thus it is tough to discern the brand toe. The perspective changes the companies' credibility needs to be protected, and the influencer has to sign a legal disclosure policy(Writer, 2019). A legal disclosure policy is a primary method to reduce the cunning nature of the influencers. The influencing niche consists of several concepts that include morals, persuasions, obedience, and socialization. Hence, it will be unethical to treat the customers so that the brand will not be appreciated. David Ogilvy states that you do not advertise your brand, which you wouldn't like your relatives to read.
If the brand is unethical, it risks its reputation and the clients' trust. The company will either die or live with its reputation (Writer, 2019). Once you lose the client's trust, it is nearly impossible to get it back. The reputation can call for law or criminal prosecution. It is up to the management to take stringent measures to protect both organization and its clients (Mustatea, 2019).
Some MCN institutions will buy 10,000 fans first to each of their influencers' accounts. After that, begin to rise up the popularity of the LIVE room, start to do the advertisement and promotion. Later, merchants might be discovered that many MCNs or influencers often faked their data. Not only did influencers fail to increase sales, but they also caused customers to distrust the businesses/merchants themselves. Under the popularity of influencers, the influencer economy supported by fans' consumption is devouring the trust and enthusiasm of fans in the hidden fraud.
For instance, I followed one of the moral problems that related to honesty, fairness, respect, loyalty, and promise-keeping, which involved a content sharing e-commerce platform Xiaohongshu (Little Red-book), which is a content-sharing e-commerce platform; and a representative influencer who called Yuhan Wang, who has 38000 followers on Xiaohongshu.
Xiaohongshu's APP, which is popular with young people, has been removed from the Android APP store. The reason for the removal of the Red Book is actually very simple, that is, too much false information frequently appeared, and there are many problems with influencers on this platform, such as Yuhan Wang.
Yuhan Wang lied a lot when she was promoting a brand. The brand PR sent her the product, and she started taking pictures without actually trying it out. Then, only based on the information provided by the brand, she began to make things up, showing off her greatest skill in lying. This so-called influencer was recommending products that she has never used. Also does not have her own real user experience and feelings. When her followers found that the things she recommended didn't match her description, they gradually lost their trust in her and began to doubt everything she promoted. She faked the data after finding that the number of followers decreased and the platform data decreased. It was a vicious circle, and brands have also lost most of their potential customers because of her...