The club is defined by sponsored work, and sponsored work is governed by law. This document records the standing rules the desk follows when reading briefs and when guiding members through disclosure — so that the member is in good standing with the regulator of their jurisdiction, and so the brand knows what the post will look like before it goes live.
Rev. 2026-04-30 · Read in conjunction with the House Rules
Payment, gift, free product, free trip, affiliate link, family or employment tie — any of these is a material connection. Where there is one, there is a disclosure. The standard is the recipient's reasonable read, not the sender's stated intent.
The label sits at the top of the post — first line of the caption, first frame of the video, before the call to action. Disclosure that requires the reader to expand a caption, swipe to the end, or hover a hashtag does not meet the test.
An English caption requires an English disclosure. A Hindi caption requires a Hindi disclosure. The label belongs to the audience the post is written for; it does not get translated to the regulator's first language.
#ad, #sponsored, #PaidPartnership, “in partnership with” — clear words clear of ambiguity. #thanks, #ambassador, #collab without a brand name, hashtags set in a thinner colour or buried in a stack of unrelated tags — these do not meet the test.
Where AI-generated voice, likeness, or visual material appears in a post, it carries a label noting so — even when the synthesis is in the brief. The label sits with the disclosure, in the same plain words.
The standing rule is the rule of the holder's jurisdiction — where the member is based and the audience is being addressed. The desk reads briefs against the rule below before the campaign opens.
Any material connection — paid post, free product, affiliate link, family or employment tie — must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously, near the top of the post, in the same language as the post.
FTC Endorsement Guides →Disclosure label must be upfront, prominent, in the same language as the post. Acceptable labels include #ad, #sponsored, #collab, #PaidPartnership; #thanks, #ambassador alone are not enough.
ASCI Guidelines for Influencer Advertising →Disclosure must be obvious from the start. The label #ad is the recognised standard. Buried disclosures in a hashtag stack do not meet the test.
ASA Influencers' Guide →Commercial communication must be identifiable as such. Member states (Germany, France, Italy, Spain) may impose specific labelling — when working in-country, the local rule governs.
UCPD 2005/29/EC →Material connection must be disclosed clearly, prominently, and in the same language as the post. #ad / #sponsored / #PaidPromo are accepted.
Ad Standards Disclosure Guidelines →Sponsored content must be obviously distinguishable as advertising. ACCC guidance on misleading practices applies in parallel.
AANA Code of Ethics →The list above is illustrative, not exhaustive. The regulator that governs is the regulator of the holder's jurisdiction. If you are working outside a region named here and want a written read on the local rule before a brief opens, write to standards@thenexusclub.org.
A brief specifies a campaign — the message, the window, the deliverables. It does not specify the voice. Members write captions in their voice; brands cannot demand the use of a script the member would not say in their own words.
What the brief states is what the brief is. Posts are not retroactively scored against view counts to alter pay; that clause is one we refuse to read past, on either side of the desk.
If a brief drifts after kickoff — new asks, new windows, new approvers — the change is written, the member confirms, and the dispute path is open if the change is unworkable. No silent re-scoping.
The brief names a single brand-side approver per campaign. Members do not chase approvals through three desks. Where the named approver is unreachable, the desk steps in.
Category exclusivity, where requested, names a category, names a window, names a geography. Open-ended exclusivity is not in scope; a brief that asks for one is sent back.
Posts published as part of a campaign are not silently un-published by either party after the window closes. Removal — for any reason — is named, dated, and recorded with the audit log.