When two clients want the same creator, pause new promises and ask a reviewer outside both account teams to check the commitments. Review each client's agency agreement, the creator's agreed restrictions, and any confidential plans involved. Then decide whether both projects can proceed, need changes, or require one team to withdraw. A shared shortlist entry should trigger a review, not an automatic ban on working with competitors.
The form and workflow below are illustrative operating tools. They are not drawn from private agency documents and are not legal advice. Have qualified counsel review disputed restrictions, confidentiality obligations and jurisdiction-specific questions.
Separate the reasons for the conflict
Start by naming the issue. Different problems require different decisions.
| Issue | Evidence to review | Possible response |
|---|---|---|
| Creator exclusivity | Agreement, amendments, covered category, channels and dates | Change scope or dates, seek an authorised waiver, or choose another creator |
| Agency-client restriction | Client agreement and any conflict-consent process | Obtain required consent or decline the conflicting work |
| Confidential information | NDA, brief access and permitted use | Restrict access and decide what can be disclosed |
| Competing schedules | Creator's confirmed availability and deliverables | Ask the creator to assess a revised schedule |
| Client preference | Recorded concern without an identified contractual restriction | Discuss options without presenting the preference as an agreed prohibition |
A signed document is a starting point for the review. Include accepted offers, amendments, holds and relevant correspondence. Do not dismiss an existing commitment because the final contract file is missing; escalate uncertainty about its effect.
Modash's guide to influencer exclusivity describes restrictions that vary by category, competitor, platform, content type and duration. Use those dimensions to read the actual terms. Avoid turning a restriction on one product category into a ban on every business a client considers a rival.
For help defining those limits in a future agreement, use the guide to creator exclusivity without blocking unrelated work.
Fill in one restricted conflict intake
Each account lead should submit their own facts to the reviewer. Do not circulate both briefs to both teams to save a meeting.
This is an illustrative intake form. Store the supporting documents in their existing restricted locations and link to them for authorised reviewers.
| Field | What to record |
|---|---|
| Case and reviewer | Case ID, reviewer, decision deadline and escalation contact |
| Creator | Profile URL and authorised representative, if one is involved |
| Each request | Client code, account lead, proposed work and current negotiation stage |
| Commitments | Offers, acceptances, holds, contracts and amendments, with dates and document links |
| Restricted scope | Named brands or category definition, products, channels, formats, territories and time window |
| Agency obligations | Conflict, consent and confidentiality terms in each client agreement |
| Information already shared | Recipient, date, purpose and authority for any non-public disclosure |
| Uncertainty | Missing document, disputed interpretation or unconfirmed availability |
| Options | Changed dates, narrower scope, alternate creator, waiver or withdrawal |
| Decision record | Decision, reason, authorised approvals, conditions and next review trigger |
Use a shared status such as "review pending" only where staff are authorised to see it. Keep budgets, unreleased products and the other client's identity out of broadly visible notes. Even a campaign's existence may be confidential.
For personal data within UK GDPR scope, the ICO's data minimisation guidance requires information to be relevant and limited to the purpose. Apply that principle when choosing what the register contains and who needs the supporting detail. The ICO currently flags this guidance for review following the Data (Use and Access) Act. A small register does not, by itself, resolve all data-protection duties.
Give the decision to someone outside the pitch
Use this escalation sequence as an agency policy recommendation. It is not a platform rule.
- Pause new commitments. Stop new offers, exclusivity promises and disclosures that could deepen the conflict. Preserve existing obligations and flag any approaching deadline to the reviewer.
- Appoint a neutral reviewer. Choose an operations or leadership owner who is not rewarded for either account winning. If the agency also represents the creator, record that role and escalate the competing interests.
- Compare the evidence. Read each restriction against the proposed work. Mark an unclear term as unresolved rather than filling the gap with an account lead's preference.
- Request a bounded clarification. Ask the relevant client or creator representative about the disputed category, dates or deliverable. Share only information cleared for that recipient. Use counsel when the question concerns legal effect.
- Choose and approve a route. Record whether the work can proceed, needs changes, awaits consent, or must stop. Identify who has authority to approve each change.
- Communicate separately. Give each team and the creator the decision and conditions relevant to their work. Confirm changed terms through the appropriate approval process before restarting outreach.
Do not use "first account lead to add the creator" or "largest client budget" as a substitute for reviewing obligations. If no restriction prevents either proposal, let the creator assess availability and choose whether to accept them. The agency should not promise to allocate a creator it has no authority to book.
Set a review deadline before the next external commitment. The guide to client approval deadlines covers how to prevent an unresolved internal decision from becoming a promise to a creator.
Check confidentiality before explaining the decision
A client may reasonably ask why a preferred creator is unavailable. That does not mean the account team can disclose another client's launch date, fee or product plan.
The UK Intellectual Property Office's NDA guidance advises defining the information covered and its permitted purpose. It also warns against assuming conversations with advisers are automatically confidential. Use the relevant agreement to decide what can be shared, with whom and for what purpose. Ask a qualified adviser when those limits are unclear.
For example, if true and cleared for disclosure, an account lead could write:
We cannot confirm this creator for the proposed scope yet. Our commitments review is still open. We will return with confirmed options by the agreed decision deadline.
Do not invent a scheduling excuse. Do not imply that the creator has accepted another campaign when all you know is that another team has approached them.
Technical access needs a separate check. TikTok Business Center documentation says Standard members work on assigned accounts and assets, while Admins have broader management powers. Review those assignments for the people handling the case. Being able to open an account does not settle whether the agency may use its information for another client. For the ongoing setup, see keeping creator data separated across agency clients.
A hypothetical decision
Suppose Client A has an agreed restriction covering sponsored Instagram posts for named running-shoe competitors through October 20. Client B wants a November 5 YouTube video about a backpack. Both have selected the same creator.
The reviewer checks whether Client B, the backpack, the channel or the proposed dates fall within the actual restriction. They also check the agency-client agreements, amendments and any broader commitments. On the stated facts, calling both clients "sports brands" is insufficient to decide that the work is prohibited.
If the review finds no applicable restriction, the agency can ask the creator about availability without revealing Client A's confidential plans. If Client B changes the request to an October 15 Instagram running-shoe post for a named competitor, reopen the review. Seek a properly authorised change or select another creator before promising the work.
For your next overlapping shortlist, assign the reviewer first. Have each account lead complete the intake before either team sends another offer.
