Since last October 1, the Spanish advertising industry has a new Code of Conduct on advertising through influencers, promoted by Autocontrol, the Spanish Association of Advertisers (AEA), and IAB Spain. And to facilitate its understanding, the self-regulatory body has collaborated with the L’Oréal Group, one of the brands that is most committed to communication with creators, and the SAMY agency to promote training sessions.
The sessions have sought to promote the understanding of the code and its application
These took place in mid-October and brought together influencers and professionals from talent representation agencies to explain the main new developments in the regulations and the good practices that should be applied from now on. The objective of the initiative has been, as the agency points out in a statement, to ensure understanding of the new code, and to strengthen the relationship between creators, advertisers and consumers.
As SAMY shared through LinkedIn, the meetings included the participation of Graciela Freire and Teresa Galgo, from the L’Oréal Legal team; as well as with Amaia Iraundegui, Head of Advocacy & Influencer Marketing at L’Oréal; and Patricia Hernando and Alejandro Prieto, from Autocontrol. All of them shared their vision and experience on the importance of building a more transparent and responsible advertising environment.
In a statement, the agency points out that the purpose of the meetings has been to train and raise awareness in the community to reduce the risk of sanctions and avoid reputational impacts. In the sessions, practical cases and real examples were presented to facilitate the correct application of the standard in daily work.
The initiative has responded, among other things, to the L’Oréal Group’s desire to be pioneers in the construction of the new stage of influencer marketing in Spain. “It is an area with enormous potential and the one that presents the most opportunities, but its rapid growth requires us to establish clear processes that guarantee honest and transparent communication with consumers.“, Amaia Iraundegui said in a statement.
The training sessions help, as SAMY explains, to move towards more transparent and professional influencer marketing. “It is essential that agencies understand the new regulations in detail to be able to correctly advise their clients and the talents with whom they collaborate. Only in this way can we minimize confusion and maximize opportunities for all actors in the ecosystem.”, commented Fabiola Guerrero Ros, Head of Influencer Marketing at SAMY Iberia.
In the sessions, the online course and the basic training certificate in advertising regulation for influencers have been promoted
In addition, the online course and the basic training certificate in advertising regulation for influencers that Autocontrol offers in Spain have also been promoted in the sessions. The certificate is part of a European program promoted by the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA) and in our country there are already more than 500 certified creators.
The new influencer code
The new code seeks to reinforce the commitment to responsibility of those who adhere to it. Among other things, it is expressly noted that, in the absence of reliable evidence, the advertising nature of a content may be affirmed after evaluating a series of indications extracted from the content or the circumstances in which the dissemination is carried out. That is, the consideration of advertising is expanded.
These indications may be the existence of proof of previous or future collaboration between the brand and the influencer; the use of a markedly laudatory tone towards an advertiser’s products or services; the presence of affiliate links; or the mention of specific prices for a brand’s products or services.
The new Code also clarifies issues related to how to properly identify the advertising nature of content. Thus, it does not consider correct generic or unclear indications such as “information”, “legal”, “Colab”, “Sponso”, “sp”, “Thanks to (brand)”, “Gift from (brand)”, “Sponsored trip”; or indications in a language other than that of the communication such as “Ad” or “Advertising”.
The update of the standard includes measures related to content generated with artificial intelligence or underage creators. New digital platforms are also added to the annex, indicating how to identify advertising in each format offered on them.
“The objective of this new regulatory framework is to provide the industry with tools to work with ethics and responsibility, through self-regulation. It allows influencer marketing to evolve with transparency, providing security to advertisers and influencers, and clarity to consumers.”, stated José Domingo Gómez Castallo, General Director of Autocontrol, in a statement.
The text has been updated with the collaboration of the Monitoring Commission of the Protocol for the Promotion of Self-regulation on Advertising in Digital Media, made up of representatives of the Secretariat of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, the Secretariat of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and the Association of Communication Users (AUC).
More info.: New Influencers Code of Conduct (2025)
