Congratulations!!! You’re ready to partner with this awesome brand and then...

You see the words EXCLUSIVITY or COMPETITIVE PROTECTION on the contract and panic because...

You didn’t discuss being exclusive or
You’re not sure who needs the protection

WHAT IS EXCLUSIVITY OR COMPETITIVE PROTECTION?

Are you starting to wonder:

What is exclusivity or competitive protection?
What does that really mean?
How long should you agree to be exclusive for a brand deal or sponsorship?
What is Paid vs Organic Exclusivity?

Let’s take this step by step so you have an opportunity to understand this clearly.

WHAT IS EXCLUSIVITY?

This is an agreement that you make with a brand that you won't talk about a competitive brand for a certain time period. There are two types of exclusivity we should explore.

2 TYPES OF EXCLUSIVITY

The two types of exclusivity are:

Paid Only

That means you won't forge another paid partnership with the brand in the same category.

Organic Exclusivity

That means that you won't even mention them in organic content.

Then you’ll want to discuss the exclusivity categories with the brand.

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CATEGORIES OF EXCLUSIVITY

Let's break down exclusivity categories so you can understand how exclusivity works.

So, let’s say you're a tech reviewer and you’re partnering with Samsung TVs. You will need to make sure that the category of exclusivity is either:

TV's or
Consumer electronics

You will want to avoid agreeing to:

Any competitor to Samsung or
Any competitor in any category to Samgsung

At the end of the day, Samsung makes a lot of products so you will want to keep that in mind when discussing exclusivity categories with the brand.

Now, let's say that LG wants to send you a refrigerator two months after partnering with Samsung.

You may not be able to partner with them because Samsung also makes fridges!

For reasons like this, you should try to get them to list specific competitive brands in the agreement. You can ask them to list out those brands that they consider competitive so that it's very clear who you can and can't work with.

Oftentimes, the brand will use language like “including but not limited to these specific brands.” Although that's okay, just try to get that list ahead of time into the contract so that you're able to come to an agreement about what you're committing to.

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DURATION OF EXCLUSIVITY

Let's talk about the duration of exclusivity. The rule of thumb is that you should always try and limit it to as short as you can.

If you're partnering with a brand for a long period of time, like a year long ambassadorship, it's common for them to want you to be exclusive to them for that time period.

So here’s what you can do in that situation…

Typically you can say that you want to confine it to 30, 60 or 90 days or something like that. Some brands may want to partner with you multiple times throughout the year. They may also want some degree of exclusivity but they understand that it's prohibitive to prevent you from posting about all competitors for that time.

Just make sure to NEVER violate the exclusivity agreement in the contract.

VIOLATING EXCLUSIVITY

What happens if you don't adhere to the exclusivity?

Unfortunately, this does happen and the most common reason I've seen that people violate these competitive clauses is that THEY’RE NOT ORGANIZED!

They either:

Don't know what they're agreeing to in the contracts or
They didn't realize that they agreed to exclusivity until they actually make the post with the competitor

Then, when the original brand that you partnered with sees the post, they freak out!I mean, you did violate the exclusivity clause, afterall right?!

CLAUSES

Most brands build out clauses into the contract. Typically, the consequences will range from:

Asking you to take down the posts with the competitor
Dissolving that partnership
Reducing your pay
Refusing to pay you all together
Coming after you legally

I’m sure you’re pretty MIND BLOWN knowing that all those options are ACTUALLY possible if you violate the clauses in your contract.

So, just don't do it! Always ask the brand for approval ahead of time in writing if you're unsure and JUST STAY ORGANIZED! That's literally the best way to prevent this from happening to you.

Disclaimer:

This is not legal advice, please consult a lawyer before entering into any contract or agreement.

Also, watch this video to learn more about how to narrow the category of Exclusivity and what could happen if you violate your exclusivity or competitive protection contract clause.