25 Red Flags to Avoid When Collaborating with Brands (Part 1)

Creators
Written By Selene Snippe

Are you going to be collaborating with brands? I’m sharing exactly what red flags every creator and influencer must look out for when working with brands to protect their personal brand and money.

Collaborating with brands for your income is a dream, but if you’re anything like me, you want to make sure that the brand pays you and does not do anything to hurt you. As a lawyer myself who helps creators and influencers like you, I am sharing all the red flags you must avoid and how to protect yourself against them.

You will learn about the major red flags when collaborating with brands, which apply to any type of brand collaboration on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and any other SM platform, and how to protect yourself in any influencer collaboration with brands.

After learning about all the key red flags to protect against, you’ll be fully protected and earn your value.

This post is all about the red flags to protect against when collaborating with brands to earn and keep your money.

Collaborating with Brands

The major red flags in any influencer collaboration with brands

Red flag #1: Unwilling to sign a contract

The issue

The first major red flag to look out for when collaborating with brands is when a brand does not want to sign a contract.

Here are some examples:

  • A brand might insist that you proceed with creating a campaign based on just an informal chat. In that case, run.

  • A brand might make promises verbally but not want to put anything in writing. In that case, run faster.

  • A brand might want to put everything in an email only or a brief attached to the email but not create a formal agreement. Sure, an email can be binding, but it will lack all the rights you need to protect yourself, like these things:

    • Deadlines for the brand to approve your content and give feedback

    • What happens when a brand does not approve the content you put your sweat and tears into

    • Your right to creative freedom

    • What rights are granted to the brand

    • What the brand can not do with your content

    • When and how you will get paid

You can’t legally enforce a verbal agreement, and an informal email may not provide enough protection in case things go wrong.

The solution

Always require a contract to be signed and shut the door on the brand if it won’t.

Send the brand your contract and ensure your contract includes all the protections you need. We’ll get deeper into what protections and legal terms you need in this series, but you can read about the basics in these blog posts:

Red flag #2: No room for negotiation

The issue

Another red flag when collaborating with brands is the refusal to negotiate the terms of the deal.

While some brands refuse to present and sign a contract, other brands will immediately send you their contract (in a PDF form that you can’t even change) without the willingness to discuss the terms. They’ll be something like this:

  • “We’ll send you our contract through DocuSign, and once you’re ready, you can sign it.”

  • “This is our standard contract that every creator signs.”

  • “This is all market practice.”

  • “We never get that request from other creators.”

  • Or simply: “These terms are non-negotiable.”

No, not every creator has or will accept their terms, no matter what they may claim.

Everything in life is negotiable, especially when collaborating with brands. Their contract is not the exception.

Truthfully, the brand does not respect you if you (1) just sign the contract without looking at it or (2) ask for changes first but then back down when they say “no” the first time and follow through on their terms.

The solution

There are three things you can do when a brand sends you their contract:

  1. Request for the brand to make changes: Give them a list of terms you want to have changed or included in the contract, and have them change it. You can even share example clauses you use in your own creator-friendly influencer contract template or UGC contract template (which my clients do all the time).

  2. Make the changes yourself: Ask them for the Word version of the contract and make the changes you need yourself.

  3. Counter with a completely different contract: I would not recommend this just to anyone, but sometimes, depending on the deal, the size of the brand, your reputation, and how bad the brand wants you, you can be a bad b*tch and send them your contract instead.

Red flag #3: Unclear deliverables

The issue

Another red flag when collaborating with brands is a lack of clarity on what you are supposed to deliver to the brand.

Here are some examples:

  • The most vague would be when a brand asks for “content for social media” without specifying platforms, type of content, length, number of content pieces, or format.

  • The brand may specify the type of content, length, platform, and format but not specify any requirements for what should be included in the content. Do they want you to include a specific product? Does it want you to talk about a specific feature of that product? Does the brand want you to be at a specific location? What should you be doing with their product? Do you need to use certain hashtags or specific captions?

  • Or the brand could be vague about the tone, style, format, or branding guidelines, leaving you completely confused about what they envision.

The solution

Make sure that the brief, at the very least, states the following:

  • Content format

  • Platform (including the account(s) on which it will be published)

  • Quantity

  • Length of the video or word count

  • What products and objects must be included in the content

  • Any dont’s, like not mentioning certain things about the product or brand, using curse words or wearing something green

But make sure that the following is not included in the brief:

  • Style or tone

  • Mood or vibe

  • “good quality content”

  • Anything else that is not measurable or open to interpretation

Red flag #4: No creative freedom

The issue

Another major red flag when collaborating with brands is any form of restriction on your artistic or creative freedom.

This ‘restriction’ can be expressly stated or implied. Here are a few examples of how the brand can limit your creative freedom:

  • A detailed brief with exact wording, visuals, or editing style

  • No right for you to deviate in any from the brief

  • Explicit restrictions on how you can incorporate your own style, tone, or preferences into the content

  • Detailed brand guidelines limiting creativity

  • The ability to withhold approval of your content for any reason

  • The (implicit) freedom of the brand to dictate how to create and edit your content (because there are no restrictions on the brand’s editing requests in the contract)

The solution

To avoid these restrictions of the brand, include the following protection in your contract:

  • Right to deviation: Include the right to deviate from the description provided in the brief, including an explicit exclusion of liability for any deviations from the brief

  • Approval limits: Include a limit on the extent to which the brand can approve or request revisions and the right to finalise the content after the last revision round agreed upon without needing any additional approval

  • Creative freedom disclaimer: Include a creative freedom disclaimer stating that the following:

    • You retain full creative control over the production of the content, including, but not limited to, the style, tone, approach, and artistic elements, unless otherwise expressly specified in the brief.

    • The brand acknowledges that creative work is inherently subjective, and your professional judgment shall prevail in matters of artistic expression.

    • You disclaim any liability for dissatisfaction arising from stylistic choices, creative interpretation, or perceived deviations from the brand’s expectations in relation to the content.

Red flag #5: Brand alignment

The issue

Another major red flag when collaborating with brands is a misalignment between your values and the brand’s image or objectives. The brand’s messaging, values or products could, at the start of the brand collaboration or at any time thereafter, contradict your brand, values, or audience.

For example, you might be asked to promote products or say something about those products or the brand that doesn’t match your experience, opinions, or your audience’s interests.

This will ultimately result in you not only doing or saying things you do not disagree with but also losing authenticity and, ultimately, losing your audience.

The solution

Include the following protections in your contract:

  • Cooperation obligation: Include an obligation for the brand to provide its full cooperation in time and to give you all the information necessary for you to be able to properly perform your work and create content (and that all damages due to the brand’s uncooperative behaviour will be for the account of the brand)

  • Authenticity disclaimer: Include an authenticity disclaimer stating at least the following:

    • You retain the right to communicate authentically with your audience and will not make any statements that contradict your personal beliefs, values, opinions, or experiences.

    • You will not make exaggerated claims, warranties, or representations about the brand or its products or services beyond your genuine experiences.

    • The brand acknowledges that your authentic messaging may include personal opinions and experiences, which may not always align perfectly with the brand’s marketing message.

    • You disclaim any liability for any statements in the content that do not meet the brand’s expectations or marketing goals and for audience interpretation or misrepresentation of statements made in the content.

  • Termination right: Include a termination right for you to terminate the contract (and remove content) if the brand’s reputation changes in a way that may affect your brand (to be determined by yourself)

The other 20 red flags

In this blog post (Part 1 of the 5-part series), I only discussed 5 of the 25 red flags in brand collaborations.

We haven’t even touched upon the other 20 red flags of this 5-part series, which are the following:

  • Vague approval rights

  • No approval process

  • No limit on revisions

  • No deadlines for you

  • No deadlines for the brand

  • Crippling exclusivity clause

  • Content ownership

  • Perpetual licenses

  • No usage rights fees

  • Third-party use

  • (Shipping) costs are not covered

  • Product returns

  • Unclear compensation

  • Conditional compensation

  • No fees for additional work

  • Unclear payment schedule

  • No (partial) upfront payment/deposit

  • No termination rights for you

  • Consequences upon termination

  • Penalties

Find out about the next 5 red flags in Part 2: 25 Red Flags to Avoid When You Collab with Brands (Part 2).

The ultimate contract templates for any brand collaboration on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and podcasts

As discussed in this blog post (and in Parts 2 through 5), all you need is an iron-clad creator-friendly contract to protect against the major red flags.

In my contract shop, I sell creator-friendly contract templates for all kinds of collaborations with brands to completely safeguard creators like you with the legal armour you need.

Get all the protections you need with these contract templates for your collaborations with brands:

Get all the protections you need to safeguard against red flags with these contract templates for your collaborations with brands:

What to charge for collaborations with brands

Want to know what to charge when collaborating with brands? Read these blog posts to earn the most from your collaborations with brands:

How to collaborate with brands on YouTube

Are you collaborating with brands to create sponsored content for your YouTube channel? And are you wondering how to collaborate with brands on YouTube?

Then, read this blog post next on the 9 Must-Haves for Your YouTube Sponsorship Contract Template to Earn More & Keep Your Money.

This post was all about red flags to watch out for when collaborating with brands to protect your business and bottom line.

Get all the protections you need against red flags with these contract templates for your collaborations with brands:

Selene Snippe
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25 Red Flags to Avoid When You Collab with Brands (Part 2)
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The 21 Most Common Coaching Issues and How to Avoid Them (Part 3)