Influencers do not notice advertising on Norwegian holidays well enough – VG

Among those who have shared photos with the characteristic green glacier water in Stryn, and are both high and low in the mountains and fjords, are the influencers Vita and Wanda Mashadi (28).

On Tuesday, Vita Mashadi posted photos on Instagram’s story function «Instagram Stories». Here she answered questions about her stay in Loen and the trip Via Ferrata.

None of these posts were marked as advertising.

Login • Instagram

On Friday last week, Vita shared an instagram story that showed the view from the hotel room the influencers were to stay in during their visit to Loen. This was marked as an advertisement for hotel Loenfjord.

VG has asked Vita and Wanda Mashadi questions about labeling advertising from the Loen trip. The influencers have also been asked about their collaboration with Loen Active.

Loen Active has the climbing trip Via Ferrata Loen as its flagship, and operates equipment rental and zipline from the mountain Hoven.

After VG got in touch, several of the Loen posts of the Mashadi twins have been marked as advertising, including a picture of Wanda on a kayak trip.

– Vita and Wanda are generally concerned with good and clear labeling and are careful about this when they make commercial collaborations. We will of course go through our own routines and see if there is something Vita and Wanda can get even better at, writes their manager, Linn L. Halstensen, in an SMS to VG.

Will not comment on Norwegian tour sponsorship

General manager Erik Brendefur in Loen Active tells VG that they do not enter into agreements with influencers.

He does not want to say anything about influencers they have agreements with or what kind of agreements have been entered into. Vita and Wanda Mashadi do not answer this either.

– We do not use influencers actively for marketing. It is the influencers themselves who ask to come here, and then it happens that we say yes to it. Then they may get a free ticket from time to time, says Brendefur in Loen Active.

What this free ticket entails, he does not answer.

Furthermore, Brendefur says that it is impossible to measure the advertising value of influencers for Loen Active. He states that the trip Via Ferrata is fully booked until 5 August.

—

VG has also been in contact with CEO Richard Grov at Hotel Loenfjord who does not want to comment on the matter.

– It is difficult if neither the influencers nor businesses are open about advertising or sponsorship, it is something everyone benefits from being open about. Advertising is just as durable, and influencers have in many ways become the new advertising channel, says director Elisabeth Lier Haugseth of the Norwegian Consumer Agency.

She adds that the Norwegian Consumer Agency provides guidance, not only for influencers, but also for businesses that have discovered how effective it is to market their products through influencers.

Businesses have a completely independent duty to ensure that the influencers follow the rules and guidelines in the Marketing Act. The law is quite clear, it must be clear that it is advertising. Consumers have a right to know that what they see is advertising, and that it is not necessarily the influencer’s personal opinion behind the boasting of products, services and goods.

—

Pay attention to the influencers’ holiday

– This is their job, and a lot of what they put into their accounts, they make money on. What they post on social media hardly expresses only personal opinion, says Haugseth.

Influencers can be sponsored for the activity they do, accommodation at the place they are and the means of transport they use, in exchange for posting photos and publicity on social media.

On Instagram, Lene Orvik has in recent days shown magnificent, changing nature from Lovatnet. She has traveled here with a sponsored car.

– She has an agreement with Tesla, and where Tesla is in a picture, it is marked with advertising. Everything else is at your own expense, writes manager David Eriksen in an SMS to VG.

In an Instagram post on Wednesday, which is marked as an advertisement for a borrowed car, Orvik writes that it was a magical experience to camp in the car and wake up to a view of Lovatnet.

Orvik, on the other hand, a few days earlier shared an unmarked post with similar text and photos on Instagram.

– Lene certainly did not think of this as an advertisement, just as a fun post as the car is not pictured. But we see the point and add “advertising” to the post, Eriksen answers questions from VG if this should not also have been advertised.

The Norwegian Consumer Agency advises influencers to mark all posts from sponsored stays well.

– It is the influencers themselves who know what is advertising, and not. It takes a lot for images shared from the same stay to be defended by not being advertising, says Haugseth in the Norwegian Consumer Agency.

– It is always most neat to be open that there is advertising, and mark this clearly and distinctly in all posts. If they are unsure, they are welcome to contact the Norwegian Consumer Agency, so that they do not make mistakes.

The Consumer Agency’s opinion is that not everyone is equally good at tagging advertising on social media.

Here, Instagram’s story function in particular, Instagram story, is highlighted, where the photos are mainly only visible for 24 hours. These can also be saved in highlights from the story later on the profile.

– We have had several supervisory sanctions against influencers. We see that what is often missed is “stories”, she says.

Haugseth points out that most influencers are unlikely to post something they cannot vouch for.

– Advertising must also be true. Nevertheless, it is important for the consumer to know that the influencers have most likely been paid to post praiseworthy reviews, says Haugseth and emphasizes:

– Consumers must not forget that, and neither must the influencers. My advice to consumers is to be aware of the influencers’ Norwegian holiday.