Do you get your on-air talent to do endorsements for products that they've never actually tried or used? You might wanna stop that!
In the USA, On Air endorsements are a super popular item for media sales and account reps to sell to their clients. It's also a really quick way for on air talent to make a few extra bucks a month.
But if the client isn't prepared to give you the product for the talent to try prior to doing the endorsements, you might want to reconsider...
The FTC have just settled with Google and iHeart Media over a promotion of a Google smartphone. Google and iHeart will now have to pay out more than $9m in penalties according to The Verge. Ouch!
I've personally never been a fan of talent endorsed products on the air. They've to me, always sounded fake and sometimes forced. But a talent endorsing a product to a P1 listener is big business and those listeners pay attention and act!
I guess this is a warning to all operators and talent alike. If you ain't tried it, don't endorse it!
I first read about this story on RadioInk's website.
