Two coffee brands, one creator
Your agency ran a campaign for a coffee brand in the spring, with six months of category exclusivity for the creators. In the summer, a different account manager starts a campaign for a new client, a coffee pod company. One of the spring creators is perfect for it. The account manager makes an offer, the creator accepts, and the content is filmed.
The spring client sees the new post and asks how their exclusivity was broken by their own agency. At the same time, another creator on the new campaign mentions, after signing, that they are exclusive to a different coffee brand through a deal their manager did directly, which they had not thought to say.
Why exclusivity clashes happen
Exclusivity is simple in each contract and complicated across all of them.
- Clauses define categories in words, such as "hot beverages" or "coffee and coffee alternatives", that do not match between contracts.
- Periods start at different points and run for different lengths.
- Account managers do not see each other's campaigns in detail.
- Creators have deals that did not go through your agency and may not mention them.
- The check, if it happens, relies on someone remembering.
What a clash costs
A clash with your own client's exclusivity is the worst kind: it damages trust in the agency directly, and the client may ask for compensation under their terms with you. A clash with a creator's outside deal puts the creator in breach with another brand, and your campaign may have to lose the content after it has been paid for and filmed. Either way, the account manager spends days unpicking it.
There is a quieter cost too. Account managers who have been burned start avoiding any creator who has worked in a nearby category, which shrinks your usable pool unnecessarily.
An exclusivity check at the point of booking
- Every exclusivity clause in your creator contracts is recorded with the brand it protects, the category in your own standard terms, the period, the start and the end.
- Categories use a shared list your team maintains, so "coffee" in one contract and "hot drinks" in another are linked where they overlap.
- Creators are asked, when onboarding to a campaign, to declare current exclusivity with any brand, and the answer is recorded with a date.
- When an account manager adds a creator to a shortlist, the system checks their exclusivity against the new client's category and dates.
- Clashes appear before outreach, with the contract clause shown, so the account manager can decide, check with the other client or drop the creator.
- Your clients' own exclusivity requests for new campaigns are checked against existing creator commitments too.
- A calendar shows when each creator's exclusivity ends, which is useful for planning future campaigns.
| Creator | Exclusive to | Category | Ends | New campaign |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creator A | Spring client | Coffee | Recorded date | Clash: coffee pods |
| Creator B | Outside deal, declared | Coffee | Recorded date | Clash: declared |
| Creator C | None | N/A | N/A | Clear |
Whether two categories overlap in a legal sense is for your contracts and lawyers. The check makes sure the question is asked before the offer, not after the post.
Booking with the clashes already visible
The coffee pod campaign's shortlist shows the spring creator flagged, with the end date of their exclusivity. The account manager chooses to plan them into the second phase of the campaign, after the date. The other creators confirm their declarations when they accept, and one declares a clash, which is found before a contract is sent.
Across the agency, directors can see which categories are heavily committed with which creators, which helps when pitching for new clients in the same space.
Are you exposed to this?
- Exclusivity is tracked in contracts, not in a searchable list.
- Account managers do not see each other's creator commitments.
- Creators are not asked about outside exclusivity in a recorded way.
- Category wording differs between contracts.
- You have discovered a clash after content was filmed.