An Open Letter to Our Industry: A Podcast and Marketing Self-Audit

An Open Letter to Our Industry: A Podcast and Marketing Self-Audit

To the fabricators, installers, suppliers, distributors, and manufacturers of our industry:

Our industry is under a microscope. California regulators are weighing what can be cut and sold. Courtrooms are examining what was said about our products and when. National media are telling our story, often before we tell it ourselves.

In that environment, one question deserves an honest answer: are we contributing to the scrutiny by not fully understanding the rules that govern how we communicate?

Podcasts, videos, webinars, and social posts have become some of the most trusted voices in our industry. That trust is valuable. It also carries obligations. As the CEO of a nonprofit trade association, I believe part of my job is to share those obligations, so every business in our industry can spot the roadblocks before they become liabilities.

This letter accuses no one. It offers questions. I am asking every voice in our industry to answer them, starting with ISFA.

What the rules say

The rules are older than podcasting, and they apply to every medium. Section 5 of the FTC Act prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce. The FTC has applied it to audio, video, and online content for years.

Three principles matter most for industry media:

1. The source of a message must be clear. The FTC's Enforcement Policy Statement on Deceptively Formatted Advertisements holds that promotional messages are deceptive if they lead people to believe the content is independent, impartial, or not from the company behind it. The FTC has challenged infomercials presented as regular programming and paid spokespersons who appeared as impartial experts. A format can be deceptive even when every product claim in it is true.
2. Financial ties must be disclosed. Under the FTC's Endorsement Guides, 16 CFR § 255.5, a connection between a speaker and a product that the audience would not expect must be disclosed clearly. That includes payment, free product, employment, ownership, and distribution relationships.
3. Disclosures must be heard and understood. In audio, the FTC expects disclosures in a volume, speed and cadence an ordinary listener can easily hear and understand, made at the time of the message, not in the credits.

The FTC judges the overall impression a reasonable listener takes away. It also considers the target audience. Our audience is fabricators and the homeowners they serve.

Questions for every podcast, video, and industry channel

If you host, sponsor, or appear on industry media, I invite you to ask yourself these questions honestly.

Who is behind the message?

• Would a first-time listener know who owns, funds, or produces this show?
• Is the show presented as independent or neutral? If so, is that true?
• If a company owns the show, is that stated where listeners will hear or see it?

Who is speaking, and what ties do they have?

• Do hosts or guests have financial ties to products, companies or positions they discuss? Think of employment, ownership, distribution, sponsorship, free product, or referral fees.
• Would listeners expect those ties? If not, are they disclosed clearly and now they matter?
• Are guests presented as experts? Do they have the expertise the show implies?

Is the content what it appears to be?

• Is paid or sponsored content clearly separated from editorial content?
• Does a sponsor segment sound like an independent interview?
• Are disclosures spoken plainly at normal speed, and repeated in show notes, clips, and social posts?

Are the claims supported?

• When a product's safety, silica content or performance is discussed, is there evidence behind the claim?
• Could a true statement leave a false impression? For example, does a fact about a slab's composition get heard as a promise about shop safety?
• Are competitors' products described fairly and accurately?

Whose interest does this serve?

• Is the content trying to inform our industry, or to move demand toward one product or one side of a policy fight?
• If it is advocacy for a position, does the audience know that?

Questions for the marketing we use and repeat

Fabricators are not only audiences for these messages. We repeat them to homeowners, builders, and designers every day. When we pass along a manufacturer's language, it becomes our language, and our responsibility.

• Do I understand what the product is made of, or am I repeating a brand's description of it?
• Do the words I use, such as "natural," "low silica" or "safe," match what the product is?
• Could my customer hear a claim about the finished countertop as a claim about the dust in my shop, or the reverse?
• Do I know where a claim came from, and could I support it if asked?
• Am I being enlisted, knowingly or not, in a contest over whose product is better, instead of what is best for my customers and my workers?
• When I recommend a product, is that recommendation shaped by a rebate, incentive, or relationship my customer would want to know about?

None of these questions assumes bad intent. They assume what is true, the words we choose carry legal and moral weight, and our industry is being judged on them.

What ISFA commits to

We will hold our own podcast, Countertop Confidential, to the same standard we ask of others.

1. We will say who we are. ISFA is a nonprofit trade association. We do not manufacture, distribute, or sell slabs.
2. We will name our sponsors. Every sponsored segment or episode will be identified as sponsored, out loud, at the start, and again in show notes and clips.
3. We will keep paid and editorial content separate. Sponsors will not control editorial episodes or the questions we ask.
4. We will disclose guests' ties. When a guest has a financial interest in what they discuss, listeners will hear it.
5. We will ask for evidence. Claims about safety, silica content or performance will be supported, or we will say they are unverified.
6. We will stay out of the fight over whose product wins. Our job is to help fabricators protect their workers, serve their customers, and stay compliant, not to move market share.
7. We will publish a sponsorship and disclosure policy so anyone can check our work.

An invitation

I am not asking anyone to stop talking. Our industry needs more honest conversation, not less. I am asking that we make it easy for every listener to know who is speaking, what ties they have, and whether a message is information or a sales pitch.

If we hold ourselves to that standard, we answer our critics with conduct instead of argument. If we do not, others will set the standard for us.

ISFA's staff is available to help any member review its own media and marketing against these questions. This letter is general guidance, not legal advice. For specific situations, please consult your own counsel.

With respect for the work, we all do,

Laurie Weber
Chief Executive Officer
International Surface Fabricators Association