Brand Ambassador Agreements: An Overview
A brand ambassador agreement is essentially a contract between a personal representative of a corporation (the "Ambassador") and a company representative, usually an executive or manager. The Ambassador is not necessarily a high-level employee and could be a low-level employee or even an independent contractor. As a means of building a company’s brand, ambassadors serve as representatives to spread the word through face-to-face interaction or the internet and social media. Popularly used by many companies, a brand ambassador agreement is a form of business document that emphasizes the significance of a company’s brand. Brand ambassadors act as an external force aimed at spreading the word on behalf of the company . They are an important element to a company’s marketing strategy and growth. The publicly accessible Ambassador, as an individual, can become an influential spokesperson, and thus, must live up to certain expectations. These expectations, along with other obligations, are usually outlined in a written ambassador agreement. Using a written brand ambassador agreement, a company can clearly and concisely lay out the ambassador’s duties and obligations. The purpose of the agreement should be to ensure that both parties fully understand what they are and are not expected to do. As an added benefit, if a dispute ever arises between the parties, the written ambassador agreement should set forth clear answers.
Essential Components of a Brand Ambassador Agreement
To effectively work as a brand ambassador, you need to know what your responsibilities are with regard to the brand you will be representing. If you represent a product, these responsibilities might range from advertising or selling to providing technical support. Thus, it’s very important that you understand your obligations prior to signing an agreement with a brand. To avoid misunderstandings, it’s common practice to enter into a formal agreement with a brand that represents both parties and precises each party’s respective duties. It’s critical that a brand ambassador agreement includes the following elements: General Role Description: A general description of the duties of the brand ambassador as described above that might include attendance and/or participation at events, training and education, sales, customer inquires and support, brand promotion in the local community, etc. Be sure to customize this section according to your specific circumstances. Compensation Terms: Depending on the industry and scope of the work that you will be performing, compensation terms for brand ambassador work can range drastically. Nevertheless, parties typically interest into a compensation agreement that includes the following components: Confidentiality Terms: Like any other confidential information, a brand that you must protect typically includes any unique processes or systems that are utilized by the company or specific products developed by the company to carry out its business. A brand generally has no obligation to maintain the confidentiality of your business model or product. A brand ambassador agreement should define what types of information are confidential (to be protected) and what types of information are not confidential (which may be used by you or the brand). This way, both parties know what type of confidentiality terms are enforceable.
Steps to Craft a Brand Ambassador Agreement PDF
To create a brand ambassador agreement pdf, you need to first decide on the terms of the agreement. A brand ambassador can be any member or employee of your company, or a third-party influencer. Some things you’ll want to consider before creating this agreement are: Once you have the details finalized, you’ll begin writing the agreement. This is a legal document given to a company representative, so start with your contact information, including the date and signers for the agreement. Follow that by a detailed explanation of your company and its trademark. This should note that the new brand ambassador must protect this material as per the agreement and not use it inappropriately. From there, note how long the agreement will be active. Your goals could be between six months and two years, so create a timeframe that’s going to work for your business. Finally, you’ll need to create some terms that note the conditions of the agreement. This should include what the brand ambassador can and can’t do, your expectations for them, and more. Once this is done, have both parties sign and date the agreement. Now, you’re ready to create the PDF. Any document software will allow you to save a file in multiple formats, including a .PDF option.
Legal Aspects of Your Agreement
Regardless of the type of relationship you may have with your brand ambassadors, we generally recommend consulting with an attorney who specializes in these types of contracts to ensure that your legal bases are covered. Although it is not always required, an attorney can help make sure that your agreement complies with relevant laws . We recommend that you have an attorney look at the contract when you’re drafting it but also at various points down the line (for example, you may want to ask about a contract if you plan to change the affiliate commission structure).
Using and Distributing Your Agreement Template
Once you have your brand ambassador agreement PDF created, it is time to ensure that your business will be able to take advantage of it, but how? There are a number of ways in which you can employ your agreement, including making it available on your business website for potential ambassadors to download, filling out the template yourself with the potential ambassador’s necessary information and emailing directly to him or her, and/or setting up an application area on your business website or blog where an ambassador can provide his or her information so that you, or someone in your business, can fill out the remaining information and begin sending emails for the remainder of the contract.
Making the contract available on your website, blog, or other online presence is also a great way to spread awareness about your businesses ambassador program, as well as its expectations. The more people that are made aware of the terms of your brand ambassador program and are able to accept the terms via email or have a hard copy for yourself or your records, the more likely they are to take it seriously and work diligently at promoting your business. The same goes with how you make the agreement known to potential ambassadors.
Depending on whom you are marketing to, sending the PDF directly via email may be a good way of showing your business in a serious light. In this situation, it is a good idea to also include a printable and fillable version of the brand ambassador agreement PDF as well, so that the potential ambassador can download it, fill it out, and return it to you before the downloadable copy is no longer available.
Common Errors to Avoid
Even the most well-intentioned business owner or marketing director can make a few common mistakes when it comes to drafting their company’s brand ambassador agreement. Some of these key mistakes can have lasting negative effects on a brand and close the doors to a successful brand ambassador program before it has a chance to take off. To ensure that your next brand ambassador program is a standout success, avoid making mistakes such as these:
Lack of Understanding of Goals
When drafting any type of contract, businesses must have a clear and concise understanding of what they hope to accomplish. Without knowing how to measure the success of their program, brands may struggle to identify whether or not they are hitting their goals. Before drafting a brand ambassador agreement, a brand must first determine where they want their ambassador program to go.
Poorly Written Agreement
It’s not that business leaders don’t mean well — but oftentimes, those who are responsible for creating a business’ brand ambassador agreement simply don’t know how to write an effective agreement . If companies opt to create their own brand ambassador agreement using resources that are available online, they can easily misinterpret some of the provisions that are available. The end result is an ineffective agreement that has no guarantee of being enforced in court.
Forgetting About Your Audience
As is the case with almost any type of contract, it’s crucial that you pay careful attention to the audience that you are targeting. Failing to consider if having an ambassador program is right for your audience can be extremely disappointing down the line. One way to ensure that you aren’t making this mistake is to clearly define your demographics, and then use analytics to support your decision to move forward with a program.
Brand ambassadors can be an essential part of spreading the word about your brand, and creating one can be easy if you avoid these common pitfalls.