Institute for Advertising Ethics

Trust is built by the people behind the work. 🤝 We’re looking for the next voices to feature in our Trust Builders community spotlight series. Every Wednesday, we highlight one professional who is committed to advancing ethical, transparent, and trustworthy advertising. If you are certified through the IAE, fill out our Trust Builders form for a chance to be featured across our channels and share your story with the industry. Join a growing community shaping the future of responsible marketing, one conversation, campaign, and commitment at a time. Tag a fellow Trust Builder below or apply through the link below. ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/g6bk4EW2 #TrustBuilders #AdvertisingEthics #EthicalMarketing #MarketingLeadership #BrandTrust #CEAE #AIShield #GreenShield #AdvertisingIndustry #DigitalMarketing #ProfessionalDevelopment #ThoughtLeadership #MarketingCommunity

It’s Myth-Busting Monday - time to separate assumption from reality in advertising ethics! Myth: Consumers can’t tell when brands exaggerate. Reality: Today’s audiences are informed and they notice more than brands think. With instant access to information, reviews, and peer opinions, consumers are more equipped than ever to spot inconsistencies or inflated claims. When messaging doesn’t align with reality, it doesn’t just get ignored, it gets called out. That’s why accuracy and transparency matter. Brands that prioritize truthful, evidence-based communication don’t just avoid backlash, they build credibility and earn long-term trust. In a world where everything can be verified, honesty isn’t optional, it’s essential. Do you think consumers are quicker to call out brands today? Join the conversation in the comments 👇 #MythBustingMonday #AdvertisingEthics #BrandTrust #Transparency #EthicalMarketing #TruthInAdvertising

Esther Uhalte Cisneros is IAE Certified in Influencer & Creator Integrity. It is now impossible to ignore that Trust is not something you consider or at the end. Esther has been working from that premise for some time. From Google to Estée Lauder to Mindshare, her focus has been in the places where influence is actually shaped, often before anything is visible, and well before anything can be reviewed or disclosed. By completing the full suite of Institute for Advertising Ethics certifications, including Influencer Integrity, she is making a professional choice that is on the rise: to treat standards as part of the work itself, vs. a post hoc signal about the work. That matters in the influence category. Basic disclosures are necessary, but hardly sufficient. i.e. not “Did we disclose correctly?," rather: “Was this constructed with a foundation of integrity in the first place?"Much of what determines outcomes, affiliate programs, creator selection, incentives, private direction, algorithmic amplification, happens upstream. It is not easily captured by after-the-fact review. So the question is less whether we can monitor influence effectively, and more whether we are designing it responsibly in the first place. Esther’s approach is clear on that point. Build it in early or you won’t recover it later. (Details on the certification in the comments.) louis jones Lou Paskalis Phil CowdellPeter Chun Viral Nation Influential Reed Duchscher Danielle Wiley Neal 🎙 Schaffer Mae Karwowski Brendan Gahan Nick Law Mark Avnet Leah Marshall Chris Degenaars Linqia Sibylle Stanciu-Loeckx Fernando Fernandez Ryu Yokoi Selina Sykes Meg Bass Pauline Leung Dana Paolucci Samy Social Media Agency Meghan Walters Price Lela Coffey Stacy Minero Francis Stones Tom Logan American Influencer Council (AIC) Influencer Marketing Trade Body Suzy Berkowitz Weksel Kaya Yurieff Jasmine Enberg

We were, pleased, proud, honored, grateful and delighted to have convened a remarkable and interdisciplinary group of leaders across industry, law, technology, regulation, standards, behavioral science, and capital markets. Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming advertising from a communications discipline into a global behavioral infrastructure shaping what people see, believe, trust, and buy. Yet while AI adoption is accelerating across marketing and media, the governance frameworks needed to ensure accountability, transparency, and public trust remain underdeveloped. With special thanks to IAE Advisor Jeffrey Greenbaum and Aurora Greenberg, of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz for being exceptional and generous hosts and collaborators, the IEEE Standards Association | IEEE SA and John C. Havens for participating as Knowledge Partner, and Rich Silivanch of GRAVITUDE Brand Lab for their graceful video stylings in capturing the session. What stood out most was the strength of viewpoint diversity and the simultaneous shared understanding that current systems are grossly inadequate and new interdisciplinary system thinking is required. Fortunately, we are not starting from scratch. We do not operate in a historical vacuum.The record offers strong clues where we have successfully navigated moments like this before, as an industry, across generations. In the early 20th century, print media confronted and curbed the deceptions behind so-called “miracle cures," and in doing so, helped build trust in a medium that endured for a century. In the 1950s and 60s, television established standards and practices, reviewing content before it reached the public, and again, earned trust at scale. Those were the moments the industry found what Joe Mandese demonstrated as "symmetrical" relationships with the public and made trust a function of how the system operates. The same is now required of us, i.e. 1] Clarity about what the system is. 2] Controls built into the system, not added after. 3] Alignment  across industry, technology, law, insurance, investment, government, civil society, the academy, and standards bodies. For those who choose to engage, there is a real opportunity to help shape how these systems are built and how trust is earned within them, and to win in market with trust. With appreciation to all who contributed their time, insight, and leadership, listed below. Should you, the reader, have interest in joining this effort a new IEEE Industry Connections Group is linked to in the comments below. Onwards to Session II! Jeffrey Greenbaum IEEE Standards Association | IEEE SA Doc Searls Alayna Kennedy Joanna O'Connell David Ryan Polgar Owen Davis Cass Sunstein Lynne d Johnson Sean Meier Dr. Dana LaFon David Richeson Andrea Bonime-Blanc, JD/PhD Anthony Katsur Joe Mandese JoAnn Stonier Moira S. Patterson

We want to reintroduce Thomas Mercier! Thomas is the Director of Media Operations at WildBrain and Marketing Co-Chair & Advisory Council member at the Institute for Advertising Ethics. Through his leadership in media operations and industry collaboration, Thomas is helping advance more transparent, responsible advertising practices across the marketing ecosystem. As a CEAE, Green Shield, and AI Integrity Shield certified professional, he is committed to building trust through accountability, education, and ethical leadership. Learn more about how Thomas is helping shape a more trustworthy future for advertising in our Trust Builders Spotlight, linked below. ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/gFeSgjNy #Advertising #TrustInMarketing #EthicalAdvertising #MarketingLeadership #IndustryLeadership #TrustBuilders #IAE

It’s Myth-Busting Monday - time to separate assumption from reality in advertising ethics! Myth: Trust is built through great campaigns. Reality: Trust is built through consistent, transparent communication over time. A single creative campaign might capture attention, but trust isn’t created overnight. It grows through repeated actions, honest messaging, clear disclosures, and a commitment to treating audiences with respect. When brands communicate consistently and transparently, they show audiences that their values aren’t just part of a campaign, they’re part of how the brand operates every day. In a marketplace where consumers are increasingly skeptical, trust isn’t won with one moment of creativity. It’s earned through ongoing integrity. Do you agree that consistency matters more than one great campaign? Share your thoughts in the comments 👇 #MythBustingMonday #AdvertisingEthics #BrandTrust #Transparency #EthicalAdvertising #TrustInAdvertising

What balances can we craft? There is a widening gap between what AI mediated advertising systems can do and how they are governed. That gap is where trust is either built or lost. On April 22nd in New York at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, we are convening delegates from industry, standards bodies, and public policy to focus on a threshold question: How does accountability work when decisions are distributed, automated, and not fully visible? Formal rules tend to lag. The objective is to surface the right questions necessary to build frameworks that can be implemented across the advertising ecosystem, not just discussed. What we define and enforce now starts to set the terms. This is early work, to raise the right questions, and it will shape what follows. Join us, do! (Attendance is free, space is limited). Special thanks to Alayna Kennedy JoAnn Stonier John C. Havens Doc Searls David Richeson Anthony Katsur IEEE Standards Association | IEEE SA Joanna O'Connell David Ryan Polgar Owen Davis Lynne d Johnson Sean Meier Andrea Bonime-Blanc, JD/PhD Dr. Dana LaFon Cass Sunstein Jeffrey Greenbaum Aurora Greenberg

Abigail Annantuonio is an IAE TrustBuilder. Influencer marketing is now a $30B+ system shaping consumer behavior and the standard is rising, which means spotting manipulation, advocating for transparency, and leading with human-centered AI wins in the marketplace. Abby’s takeaway is the signal: Make ethics accessible to those with their hands on the keyboard, and decisions change - usually in ways that drive stronger business performance. Laura Brett Guy Parker Sibylle Stanciu-Loeckx Jasmine Enberg Kaya Yurieff Peter Chun Gary Vaynerchuk Scott Guthrie Devesh Raval Will Violette Nader Alizadeh Lou Paskalis louis jones Juan Mundel Anna R McAlister Logan Chrisinske Fernando Fernandez Leandro Barreto Leah Adams Artemis Patrick Parker Damato Christopher Hill Viral Nation The Goat Agency Obviously The Influencer Marketing Factory - Influencer Marketing Agency Billion Dollar Boy NeoReach CreatorIQ Upfluence Captivate Max Kalehoff Edward East Chris Degenaars Mammoth Brands Moroch Super Awesome Friends Coterie Marketing @#paid

Current industry discussions have become acutely focused on trust and transparency. The revenge of the real is underway. People want to work for ethical companies. People want to buy from them. Customers want to work with them. And investors want to invest in them: Ethisphere reports that its 2026 World’s Most Ethical Companies honorees (companies that can show ethical leadership) outperformed the global benchmark by 8.2 %,  However, this is not sustained where ethics remains a cosmetic messaging exercise. On the other hand, where ethics functions as a decision-making capability, companies outperform with better decisions. It shapes judgment, steers conduct, and provides a basis for trust at a moment when speed, complexity, and reputational and legal risk are all rising at once. This is where certifications begin to separate demonstration from declaration. The recent launch of influencer certifications is a useful signal. The category itself acknowledges that trust in modern marketing systems cannot be assumed, it must be operationalized. However, the real test is not whether a standard exists, it is whether it can show that it changes behavior. IAE structured certification programs have been shown, through independently peer-reviewed research, to materially increase individuals’ ability to identify unethical practices and their willingness to act on them. In that sense, they introduce a form of external validation, closer to audit than assertion. That is the bar. In this clip, Executive Vice President, People Director at RPA @Laura Small is clear on how ethical judgment is increasingly informing real choices, particularly in hiring and leadership.

It’s Myth-Busting Monday - time to separate assumption from reality in advertising ethics! Myth: Disclosing partnerships hurts influencer credibility. Reality: Transparency strengthens credibility and builds audience trust. Today’s audiences are more informed than ever. When influencers clearly disclose partnerships, it signals honesty and respect for their audience. Instead of weakening trust, transparency shows confidence in the relationship between creator, brand, and consumer. Clear disclosure helps audiences make informed decisions—and that openness is what builds long-term trust in the creator economy. Ethical influencer marketing isn’t about hiding partnerships. It’s about being upfront about them. Do you think transparency makes influencer partnerships more trustworthy? Share your thoughts in the comments 👇 #MythBustingMonday #AdvertisingEthics #InfluencerMarketing #Transparency #BrandTrust #EthicalAdvertising