Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct for the Word of Mouth Marketing Association
- The code was officially updated 9/21/2009.
WOMMA (the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, of which MeHype is a member) recently updated their Code of Ethics in order to address an upcoming FTC guideline "Concerning Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising"(See 16 C.F.R. §§ 255.0–255.5.) You can download a copy of the FTC guidlines here
Preamble
The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (“WOMMA”)
is an official trade association that represents the interests of the
word of mouth and social media industry. WOMMA is committed to building
a prosperous industry that is based upon best practices, effective
standards, and responsible leadership. A central mission of WOMMA is to
create an environment of trust between consumers and marketers. Members
of WOMMA seek to enhance the meaningful development of their fellow
members, the industry, and their customers, and are committed to
compliance with laws and regulations that govern the prevention of
unfair, deceptive or misleading marketing practices.
Therefore, members of WOMMA strive to:
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Maintain the highest standards of business conduct, by using only legal and ethical means in their business activity; |
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Observe all applicable laws, regulations, and rules pertaining to their marketing practices; |
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Actively promote and encourage the highest level of integrity within the industry; |
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Cooperate in every reasonable and proper way with other members and work with them in the advancement of the industry; |
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Lead by example and adhere to ethical standards that even may exceed those required by law; and |
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Commit to the development and use of the most effective standards and practices to promote consumer protection. |
Conditions for Membership into WOMMA
To qualify for and maintain a membership in WOMMA, the applicant or Member shall:
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Share
in the core values as set forth in the Code of Ethics and strictly
abide by the “Standards of Conduct Required of WOMMA Members;” |
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Supply
accurate and complete information on the nature of the applicant or
Member’s business and background, including information concerning the
company’s principals and management personnel; |
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Not having been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude or fraud by a court of competent jurisdiction; |
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Cooperate with and abide by WOMMA’s self-regulatory efforts, its complaint resolution programs, and other association rules; |
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Promptly
respond to all complaints forwarded by WOMMA or from any official
complaint resolution program, make a good faith and reasonable effort
to resolve all such complaints in accordance with generally accepted
and proper business practices, and to comply with the terms of any
findings issued; and |
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Meet its financial obligations, including, without limitation, financial obligations to WOMMA |
Purpose of the Code of Ethics
WOMMA
has adopted a Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct as a requirement
of membership into the association, with the hope that the Code and
Standards reflect an attempt by industry members to “do the right
thing” by engaging in responsible self-regulatory efforts concerning
their marketing practices. The fulcrum of the Code and Standards is the
Guides Concerning Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising
promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission. See 16 C.F.R. §§
255.0–255.5.
WOMMA, however, is obviously not an agent or representative of any
governmental regulator or law enforcement agency, and its views are not
intended to represent any formal or informal interpretations of any
laws or regulations.
Standards of Conduct Required of WOMMA Members
Standard 1 – Disclosure of identity: A WOMMA member shall require their representatives1
to make meaningful disclosures of their relationships or identities
with consumers in relation to the marketing initiatives that could
influence a consumer’s purchasing decisions.
Standard 2 – Disclosure
of consideration or compensation received: A WOMMA member shall
require their representatives to disclose meaningfully and prominently
all forms of consideration or compensation they received from the
member, marketer or sponsor of the product or service. In other words,
WOMMA members shall not engage in marketing practices where the
marketer/sponsor or its representative provides goods, services, or
compensation to the consumer (or communicator) as consideration for
recommendations, reviews, or endorsements, unless full, meaningful, and
prominent disclosure is provided.
Standard 3 – Disclosure
of relationship: A WOMMA member shall require their representatives
involved in a word of mouth initiative to disclose the material aspects
of their commercial relationship with a marketer, including the
specific type of any remuneration or consideration received.
Standard 4 –
Compliance with FTC Guides: A WOMMA member shall comply with the Guides
Concerning Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising
promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission. See 16 C.F.R. §§
255.0–255.5.
Standard 5 – Genuine
honesty in communication: A WOMMA member shall not tell their
representatives what to ultimately state in their communications about
a particular product or service, so as to enable the consumer to
reflect his or her honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences.
Standard 6 –
Respect for venue: A WOMMA member shall respect the rights of any
online or offline communications venue (such as a web site, blog,
discussion forum, traditional media, and live setting) to create and
enforce its own rules as it sees fit.
Standard 7 –
Marketing to children and adolescents: A WOMMA member shall not include
children under the age of 13 in any of its word of mouth marketing
programs or campaigns; and shall comply with all applicable laws
dealing with minors and marketing, including the Children’s Online
Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”). See 16 C.F.R. § 312.
Standard 8 – Compliance
with media-specific rules: A WOMMA member shall comply with existing
media-specific rules regarding marketing to children.
Review of the Code of Ethics
The Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct constitutes a
“living document,” that is intended to evolve given the development of
new technologies and media and enactment of new laws and regulations.
As a result, WOMMA has adopted two mechanisms for the membership and
third parties to comment upon the Code and Standards.
The first mechanism is the annual review process that is announced at
the beginning of November each year and which concludes in February of
the immediate following year. It is designed to be transparent and
inclusive, seeking thoughtful input and dialogue.
Here is MeHype's contribution to the Living Ethics Blog where WOMMA posed the question: "Should there be a different form of disclosure for receiving cash vs. receiving product to review?"
I don’t think there should be any difference in the disclosure
requirements for cash versus product/service. The main issue here (to
paraphrase Ted Murphy of Izea) is “value”. If something of value is
gained by the consumer who is offering an opinion, in whatever form
(verbal, text or visual), then there needs to be disclosure by both the
consumer and the brand being represented. To differentiate between cash
reward versus product/service reward is irrelevant. - Tyler LeCompte, Director for MeHype
The second mechanism is a review that can be
triggered by a petition concerning a specific issue to WOMMA’s
Executive Director by three members in good standing. Specifically,
once the petitions by the three members are received, the following
steps will occur:
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The Living Ethics Blog will
be made live within five business days and an announcement will be made
to the membership both via email and on our web site.
|
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There
will be a comment period for thirty days. The dates will be announced
via email and WOMMA’s web site concerning the time frame and the topic
under review. |
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Once
the comment period is officially opened, the implementation of that
particular issue of the Code or Standards will be held in abeyance for
a period of sixty days.
|
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All
of this information received will be made public on WOMMA’s website so
that the entire process will be transparent, inclusive, and robust. |
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At
the conclusion of the comment period, the Board will take all
communications received and render a final and binding decision. |
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The Board’s decision will be announced to the membership via email and website. |
Once the Board’s decision has been announced, there will be a one
hundred and eighty (180) day compliance period, which will be clearly
set out for the membership. If any member is unable to comply, the
affected member will be asked to resign from the membership.
Enforcement of the Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct
Any member of WOMMA may be admonished, suspended or expelled for cause
due to conduct, acts, or omissions that are contrary to the spirit and
letter of the Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct. This
disciplinary review process is enforced through WOMMA’s Membership
Ethics Advisory Panel (“MEAP”), a Board-appointed group that is focused
on monitoring the industry, educating WOMMA members on best practices
in marketing ethics, and investigating allegations of Code violations.
Specifically, the MEAP is responsible for reviewing (a) prospective
member companies who are found in the membership application process to
have questionable practices; and (b) allegations of unethical,
deceptive, misleading, or unfair practices from current WOMMA members
by other members of WOMMA. It acts in an advisory capacity to the
Board of Directors.
MeHype fully supports WOMMA and its membership in it recent decision to address compensation for endorsements (text, audio or video) in any marketing practices by its members or their clients. We look forward to seeing changes in the Word of Mouth Marketing industry in the coming months as these changes and guidelines are adopted.