To continue this momentum, ARPP is announcing, on the occasion of the first thousand certified creators, the launch of a comprehensive educational program to help them better understand and comply with the new legal framework and ethical rules, and the adaptation of the certificate to the European level.
As early as 2017, the Autorité de Régulation Professionnelle de la Publicité (ARPP), in collaboration with all the stakeholders in the industry (professional organizations, brands, agencies and platforms), adopted the ethical rules of transparency and fairness applicable to the commercial influence sector and began creating tools to serve these best practices, such as the Responsible Influence Certificate or the eponymous Observatory. Since then, ARPP and the industry as a whole have succeeded in creating a positive dynamic. In recent months, all stakeholders have been involved in the discussions surrounding the new law governing commercial influence (a first in Europe), relying in particular on these tools.
The Observatory now reveals that the transparency of content creators has improved significantly in three years: while only 73% of content resulting from a commercial collaboration showed the beginnings of identification in 2020, by 2022 this rate had risen to 89%. The trend seems set to continue in 2023, thanks in particular to the impact of the Responsible Influence Certificate. Today, the priority is to help influencers understand the new legislative framework.
1. THE OBSERVATORY OF RESPONSIBLE INFLUENCE, A KEY TOOL IN THE EDUCATION STRATEGY
The entire sector has mobilized around ARPP to equip itself with a monitoring tool based on advanced technologies, in order to accurately measure the evolution of practices in the light of the major educational operations carried out in recent years. In the first half of 2023, over 56,000 pieces of content were screened for the latest edition of the Observatory of Responsible Influence. A record number!
They fall into two categories:
- a cold analysis of 31,004 pieces of content (publications from 2022).
- the ongoing analysis of publications by certified creators concerns 18,317 items of content; that of non-certified creators concerns 6,525 items (first half of 2023).
1/ A cold analysis of the 2022 publications
The cold analyses cover content posted on Instagram (55%), TikTok (25%) and YouTube (20%) throughout 2022. For the third year in a row, the transparency of the content analysed is improving: 27% of content was non-compliant in 2020, 17% in 2021 and 11% in 2022, i.e. 89% of publications from commercial collaborations that include at least the beginnings of identification (compliant or improvable).
The trend observed in previous years is confirmed: content creators in the long tail (fewer than 10,000 subscribers) are still the least transparent to their audiences. Although they continue to make progress, 23% of their sponsored publications still do not comply with the identification rules.
2/ Ongoing analysis of the first half of 2023
For the year 2023, the ARPP has carried out ongoing analyses in order, in particular, to be able to intervene more quickly in the event of a breach being observed, but also to monitor as closely as possible the trends in the practices of creators, which are constantly changing. In this context, the ARPP has set up a direct reporting channel for platforms, creators and brands.
Ongoing analysis of the content published by certified creators reveals some remarkable figures: only 0.78% of the 18,317 items of content analysed in 2023 did not comply with the transparency rules. As certified creators have undertaken to comply with the rules acquired at the time of certification, they risk having their certificate withdrawn in the event of non-compliance. For non-certified creators, although the figures are not as significant, they are still rising: with 87% of content compliant or improvable in 2022, they will rise to 93% in 2023. This is a trend that ARPP hopes to be able to confirm for its Observatory in 2024.
Find the complete 2022/2023 Responsible Influence Observatory (in French) here
2. A GROWING NUMBER OF CERTIFIED CREATORS
Thanks to the awareness-raising work, the number of certified influencers is growing exponentially. In September 2023, the milestone of one thousand content creators having obtained the Responsible Influence Certificate was reached. That’s three times more than at the start of the year. Their combined audience represents more than 450 million subscribers.
Some of them are among the most followed content creators in France, covering a wide range of subjects (humour, fashion, make-up, news, lifestyle, etc.).
« For more than 7 years now, ARPP’s member stakeholders have been working to promote good practice and transparency in the commercial influence sector. This work, disconnected from polemics and the culture of clash, has led to the introduction of effective tools to structure the market: an Ethics Recommendation in 2017, the Observatory of Responsible Influence in 2019, and the eponymous Certificate in 2021, which is in the process of being adopted at European level by EASA (European Advertising Standards Alliance) under the impetus of ARPP. Today, we are delighted to see that certified influencers commit less than 1% of breaches of the rules of transparency. With an ever-growing audience and an ever-increasing number of certified creators, the creation of the Certified Creators’ Club will enable us to continue the positive dynamic that has been underway for several years.»
Mohamed Mansouri, Deputy Director of the ARPP.
3. THE ARPP-CERTIFIED CREATORS’ CLUB, THE LATEST EDUCATIONAL ‘BRICK’
Having just passed the 1,000 mark for certified profiles, the ARPP has announced the launch of the Club des Créateurs Certifiés (Certified Creators’ Club), a comprehensive educational programme to help them better understand and comply with the new legal framework and ethical rules.
A number of practical initiatives have been launched to bring this community to life, including
- A regular meeting to review the latest legislative and regulatory developments, ethics and best practice in the sector, and to answer members’ questions.
- Since September, Club members have been receiving all the latest news relating to the regulation of the sector, via “Le Rendez-vous des Créateurs responsables”, a newsletter dedicated to them.
- Creators who have already obtained the Certificate will be able to take part in a new refresher course on the new legal requirements and the Guide to Good Practice published by the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty.
- The organisation of masterclasses on specific topics (environmental claims, gambling, cosmetics, etc.).
Link to the ARPP actions timeline:
www.arpp.org/influence-responsable/frise-influence-responsable/
Link to the list of certified creators:
www.arpp.org/influence-responsable/createurs-de-contenus-certifies/
Link to the Certificate FAQ:
www.arpp.org/influence-responsable/faq-certificat-influence-responsable-arpp/
Contacts ARPP
Stéphane Martin, Directeur Général, Contact, +33 (0)1.40.15.15.26
Mohamed Mansouri, Directeur Délégué, Contact, +33 (0)1.40.15.15.21
Paris, September 29, 2023