Rules and ethics
Part of Sponsorship rates: the UK ad rules that shape your fee
When UK sponsorship deals need ad checks
A UK guide to sponsorship rates compliance: when creators should check ad labels, CMA and ASA guidance, email marketing, broadcast rules and deal terms.
What to take away
- Paid sponsorship can involve more than one UK regulator: the ASA applies the CAP Code, while the CMA has a consumer-protection role.
- The ASA still applies the CAP Code to influencer ads, and disclosure is judged on how a viewer reads the post.
- Emailing a brand's audience needs a lawful basis under the UK GDPR, which is a separate question from ad labelling.
- When negotiating sponsorship rates, agree who handles compliance tasks and reflect those responsibilities in deliverables, usage rights, exclusivity and payment terms.
Who polices a paid sponsorship in the UK?
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) administers the CAP Code, and the ASA and CAP explain how UK advertising regulation is split between self-regulation and statute. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also enforces consumer-protection rules, including the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 where applicable. The ASA and CMA's 'Influencers' guide to making clear that ads are ads' explains how creators should make commercial relationships clear. A post counts as an ad when the brand pays the creator or otherwise incentivises them. Cash, free products and affiliate commission all count.
Who polices paid sponsorship
- Brand pays or incentivises creator
- Post counts as an ad
- Label at start of caption
- ASA enforces CAP Code
- Trading Standards for statutory cases
- Ofcom adds broadcast layer
In practice the code asks for one thing: a viewer should know the content is an ad before they engage. CAP Code rule 2.1 requires marketing communications to be obviously identifiable as such; rule 2.3 requires commercial intent to be clear if it is not obvious from context. Use a clear label such as 'Ad' or '#ad' at the start of a caption. A hidden label fails even when the brand approves the wording.
The codes apply across the UK, so the labelling duty is the same in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The ASA publishes rulings, and cases needing statutory weight go to Trading Standards.
Broadcast work adds a second layer. Ofcom licences broadcasters and sets standards for the services it regulates, and Ofcom's regulator page lists those duties. For broadcast advertising, check the BCAP Code; Ofcom's Broadcasting Code contains sponsorship rules for the services it regulates. A slot on a licensed channel sits under that regime as well as the CAP Code.
When setting a rate card, agree who handles ad labelling, data work and records, then include those responsibilities in the deliverables and fee. Also settle usage rights, exclusivity and payment terms in the deal.
When does a brand deal need a lawful basis?
Data protection questions arrive before the invoice. Any campaign that involves emailing a list needs a lawful basis under the UK GDPR, plus a check under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR), which govern electronic marketing. The ICO's guidance on choosing a lawful basis for direct marketing sets out consent, legitimate interests and the other options.
The sender carries that duty, not the brand paying the fee. A creator who rents out a list, or forwards one for a paid send, takes on the risk.
Consent is not the only route, and it is not automatic. Legitimate interests can cover an existing customer relationship, provided you document a balancing test first. Decide which basis applies before the first message goes out.
Does a higher sponsorship rate change your legal duties?
No. The labelling duty applies to a small gifted post and to a five-figure campaign alike. Nothing in the CAP Code turns on the size of the fee.
What grows with the fee is paperwork. Larger deals tend to bring written contracts, exclusivity windows and invoicing terms. A modest deal stays simpler. Once turnover passes the VAT registration threshold, the invoicing rules change, so check HMRC's current figure.
This article is general guidance only. Contract terms, tax treatment and liability depend on your own facts, so take advice from a qualified adviser before you sign.
What belongs on a compliance checklist before you publish?
Use these three checkpoints in order:
- When agreeing the brief and deliverables, decide whether payment, a free product or affiliate commission makes the post an ad, and agree who will supply the label.
- Before sending any campaign email, confirm the sender, who controls the list, the lawful basis and whether PECR allows the message.
- Immediately before publication, check the final label is clear, the creative matches the agreed brief, and the required records are ready.
- Label the ad with a clear term such as 'Ad' or '#ad' so a viewer recognises it before reading the caption.
- Keep that label above the fold, not buried in a hashtag block.
- Log what the brand provided, whether cash, product or commission.
- Confirm who controls any mailing list and who holds the data protection duty.
- File the brief, the contract and a screenshot of the live post.
For a campaign using an audience list, record who controls it, who sends the message and which lawful basis applies alongside the brief and contract.
Common questions
Does a gifted product count as a paid partnership?
Usually yes. The ASA treats payment as covering money, free items and other incentives, so a product sent in return for coverage needs the same label as a fee.
Can I email a brand's customers without consent?
Only with a lawful basis you can document. Consent is the cleanest route for a cold list, while the soft opt-in may cover your own previous customers.
Do Ofcom's online safety duties apply to individual creators?
Generally not. Those duties fall on services and broadcasters rather than a stand-alone channel. They can reach you if you run a platform hosting other people's content.
