Brand Guidelines & Campaign Playbook

1. Purpose & Standards Overview

Kandid exists to make micro-creator marketing performance-driven, reliable, and mutually beneficial. High-converting creator campaigns require two ingredients: authentic creator trust and professional brand clarity.

These Brand Guidelines outline the standards expected of all brands, DTC founders, performance marketers, and agencies ("Brands") operating on Kandid. By launching a campaign brief, you agree to these operational standards.

2. Brief Creation & Deliverable Specs

High-converting creator collaborations begin with clear briefs. When posting a campaign brief on Kandid, Brands must clearly specify:

• Exact Deliverables: State the precise format (e.g. 1x 9:16 vertical TikTok Video, 1x Instagram Reel with audio demonstration, or 3x UGC raw cutdowns).
• Product Value Proposition: Summarize 2 to 3 core benefits or hooks rather than a rigid 30-line script. Allow creators room to integrate the message naturally into their personal storytelling.
• Do's and Don'ts: Clearly outline any critical compliance rules (e.g., "Do mention 24hr hydration," "Don't mention competitors by name").
• Fixed Payout: State the exact compensation per creator. No vague commission-only offers without guaranteed base payout.

3. Product Gifting & Shipping Standards

When a campaign requires physical product demonstration or unboxing:

• 100% Free Shipping: Brands must cover all shipping costs, import customs fees, and duty charges. Creators should never incur out-of-pocket delivery expenses.
• Product Ownership: Gifted products belong to the Creator upon delivery, unless specialized high-value loan arrangements (e.g., luxury jewelry, professional cameras) with prepaid return postage were established upfront.

4. 100% Upfront Escrow Commitment

To eliminate non-payment risks and maintain creator trust across the marketplace, Kandid requires 100% upfront escrow funding:

Funds remain protected and cannot be unilaterally withdrawn while production is active. Escrow funds are disbursed automatically upon your review and approval of final deliverables.

5. The 5-Day Review & Approval Window

Creators rely on timely payouts. To maintain fair marketplace velocity:

6. Revision Policies & Creative Freedom

Kandid enforces clear revision parameters to protect creative momentum:

• Maximum 2 Minor Revision Rounds: Standard campaign agreements include up to two (2) reasonable revision rounds (e.g. trimming a clip, re-recording a product name pronunciation, or updating an on-screen caption) that directly align with the original brief.
• New Concept Protection: If a Brand requests a totally new creative direction, a script re-write, or new filming locations not specified in the original brief, the Brand must deposit supplementary compensation to compensate the Creator for additional production time.
• Respect Organic Style: Micro-creators succeed because their audience trusts their authentic voice. Over-scripted, sterile corporate mandates harm conversion rates.

7. Paid Ad Boosting & Whitelisting

Running top-performing organic UGC as paid social ads is one of the highest-leverage strategies on Kandid:

Ad boosting permissions are strictly limited to the duration outlined in the brief (e.g. 30, 60, or 90 days). Once the boosting window expires, the Brand must cease active ad spend unless a license extension is funded through the platform.

8. ROAS & Shopify Sales Attribution

Kandid provides direct revenue attribution per creator:

• Unique Tracking Links & Codes: Brands agree to provide dedicated promo codes or UTM tracking parameters to allow accurate calculation of per-creator Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).
• Transparent Reporting: Brands integrated with the Kandid Shopify app receive real-time dashboard analytics displaying attributed order volume, gross revenue, and customer acquisition cost per creator.

9. Prohibited Conduct & Product Rules

Brands agree strictly to refrain from the following prohibited practices:

• Promoting counterfeit goods, pirated intellectual property, or unsafe consumer products.
• Promoting deceptive health claims, multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes, or predatory loans.
• Circumventing Kandid escrow to solicit offline payments for partnerships discovered on the platform.
• Harassing creators, demanding unpaid revisions, or refusing approvals without legitimate brief-based justification.

10. Dispute Handling & Mediation

If content submitted by a Creator does not meet explicit brief specifications, or if a Creator is unresponsive, Brands may escalate the deal to Kandid Dispute Mediation.

Our trust team evaluates the original brief, uploaded deliverables, and revision timestamps. If a Creator failed to meet the clear guidelines of the brief after reasonable revision notices, escrow funds will be refunded to the Brand.

11. Brand Safety & Trademark Usage

Brands may display the "Kandid Verified Partner" badge and refer to their active collaborations on Kandid in marketing collateral. Brands may not alter, distort, or misrepresent Kandid logos, trademarks, or proprietary audience quality scoring algorithms.

12. Brand Success & Partnerships Desk

Our dedicated brand strategists are available to help optimize briefs, advise on creator matching, and configure ROAS tracking: