Deal types and terms
Brand deal
A brand deal is a paid agreement in which a creator produces and publishes agreed content for a brand in exchange for a fee, product, or commission.
Also called brand partnership, sponsorship.
A complete brand deal specifies five things: the deliverables, the timeline, the fee and when it is paid, the usage rights, and any exclusivity. Deals that go wrong almost always turn out to have left one of those five vague.
The word covers everything from a single story frame in exchange for product through to a year-long ambassador contract, which is why the specifics matter more than the label.
Common questions
- What should be in a brand deal contract?
- At minimum: the exact deliverables and platforms, posting dates, the fee and payment terms, how long the brand may use the content and where, whether the creator is restricted from working with competitors and for how long, approval rounds, and what happens if either side cancels.
Related terms
- Campaign brief
- A campaign brief is the document a brand gives a creator setting out the goal, the deliverables, the key messages, the dos and don'ts, the timeline, and the disclosure requirements.
- Usage rights
- Usage rights define where a brand may reuse a creator's content, in what form, and for how long. Without them, the brand may not repost or advertise with the content even though it paid for the post.
- Exclusivity
- An exclusivity clause stops a creator from working with a brand's competitors for a defined period, in a defined product category.
- Payment terms
- Payment terms set when a creator is actually paid after invoicing. Net 30 means payment is due 30 days after the invoice date, net 60 within 60 days.
- Deliverable
- A deliverable is a single specified piece of content a creator has agreed to produce, such as one feed post, a set of three story frames, or a 60-second video.
Distinct is the workspace where brands and creators run the work behind these terms. For brands, for creators, or back to the full glossary.