ASA online marketing regulations: How will they impact your firm?
Posted by Neil Davey in Marketing, Social CRM on Fri, 03/09/2010 - 00:24
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What are the implications of the new ASA code for brands using internet, Facebook, Twitter and PPC ads?
This week it was announced that businesses have six months to ensure that their online communications comply with new regulatory standards by the Advertising Standards Authority.
The Committee of Advertising Practice’s (CAP) code for non-broadcast advertising, sales promotion and direct mail will apply to all marketing communication on websites and social media platforms. (Click here to read the full CAP code.)
The ASA will be able to demand that marketers remove any online advert found to be in breach of its regulations, with Chris Smith, the ASA’s chairman, describing the move as "the most comprehensive approach to the regulation of advertising in website space anywhere in the world."
The move has been warmly welcomed in some quarters. Last year the body received over 4,500 complaints but over half of the adverts were outside of its remit as only paid-for marketing communications such as pop-up and banner ads, paid search and viral ads were covered. And the new regulation seeks to close this gap.
"This is a vital step forward for the industry and it will mean that the consumer has greater protection due to increased transparency of online vendor website claims and advertising. No longer will the consumer be misled due to false claims and statements on websites or indeed untrue price comparison websites, helping them separate credible suppliers from opportunists," says Andy Burton, chairman of the Cloud Industry Forum and chief executive of Fasthosts.
"The ASA activity is aligned to our own belief that it is essential to build trust online by having transparency of online operations, as well as clarity of a vendor’s capability and accountability. This increases effective consumer protection and ensures fair competition."
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Paul Byrne, senior account manager at search and social marketing agency Greenlight, also believes that the ASA’s greater involvement will be welcomed by advertisers – particularly given Google’s recent trademark stance change which allows many more advertisers to use brand and trademarked terms in ad copy.
"The ASA has been an active player in dealing with misleading and controversial advertisements in the UK for many years. It will likely operate as it does offline and wait for a complaint to be raised before conducting an investigation and taking action," he explains.
"How would it go about removing a misleading PPC ad? If you dig a little deeper, the extra funding for this new extended remit has come from Google. It has reportedly contributed £200,000 to the new scheme. With such support from the world’s biggest search engine, the ASA would appear to have a readymade solution to have ads taken down when advertisers are not behaving. The new regulations also give the ASA the ability to position ads in the place of those of a malicious advertiser. As such, come March 2011, advertisers will need to be careful how they describe their competitors and/or offers. They will also need to be wary when bidding on competitor keywords or trying risqué copy to catch a potential customer’s eye."
Byrne adds: "For site owners who host ads from the Google Display Network or other ad networks, the regulations could mean their site can be liable for hosting ads that are considered misleading or malicious.
"Although the change in regulations does throw up a number of questions, it could possibly help popular brands who are victims of companies selling illegal copies of their products through PPC or other online channels. If the ASA focuses more on products-based advertisers rather than content, they potentially could remove advertisers who drive up the cost of branding online, damage the perception of a clients brand through cheap copies and irrelevant content, and make PPC in particular a less competitive space on certain keywords."
Social media platforms
While social media has traditionally not been as regulated as other advertising fields because of its recent emergence, Byrne believes that advertisers will now need to be more wary about what is being communicated on their official tweets, Facebook ads and Facebook pages.
"With the new regulations, businesses will likely be held responsible for comments made on their Twitter and Facebook pages which viewers deem to be offensive," he suggests. "They will need to implement stringent and rigorous measures to ensure they are fully aware of exchanges so they can act appropriately. There have been several examples where employees have been known to send malicious or foul language tweets under their companies’ official listing. Under the new regulations, these firms would most likely face complaints and possibly fines from the ASA."
However, some are concerned by the implications of the regulations for social media. Having looked through the CAP code, Ian Hendry, CEO of WeCanDo.BIZ, has highlighted the following potentially problematic areas of the new code:
- Distance selling rules
Have you recently tweeted something along the lines of "Only a few of our Elton John pepper grinders left, just £20. Get them here..."? Oops. This tweet could fall foul of the CAP Code's Distance Selling rules, which state, amongst other things, that "marketing communications must make clear the marketer’s identity and geographic address... include the main characteristics of the product; the price including VAT; the delivery charge; the estimated delivery time; [detail of how] consumers have the right to cancel orders for products; any other limitation on the offer (for example, period of availability); a statement on whether the marketer intends to provide substitute products (of equivalent quality and price) if those ordered are unavailable and that it will meet the cost of returning substitute products on cancellation..." I am only on point 9.2.8 of 9.9. But you get the idea. That's a lot of bumph to fit into 140 characters!
- Privacy
Here is a big one. Do you disagree with other tweeple through your Twitter stream? Ever made a personal statement about another Twitter user? Well you need to watch your Ps and Qs. Note: "Marketers must not unfairly portray or refer to anyone in an adverse or offensive way unless that person has given the marketer written permission to allow it. Marketers are urged to obtain written permission before referring to a person with a public profile." Now THAT'S interesting language -- is a Twitter profile a "public profile." Should I be obtaining the permission of people I mention on the WeCanDoBIZ Twitter stream before I mention them?
- Harm and offence
OK, so none of us are likely to tweet racist or sexist comments trough our company Twitter profiles. But can you be absolutely certain that what you sometimes tweet, even if just retweeting a joke or witicism from someone else does "not contain anything that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence"? Watch out or you could have the full weight of the ASA down on you.
- Comparisons with idenfiable competitors
Who hasn't mentioned a competitor in a tweet or even a blog post which you tweeted (double whammy as the ASA can get you on both)? As of March 2011 you'll need to ensure that you "must compare products meeting the same need or intended for the same purpose; and must objectively compare one or more material, relevant, verifiable and representative feature of those products." No casual mentions of competitors and how you do specific things better any more.
- Substantiation
Ever tweeted "Our product can save you £100 a year" or "We have three times as many customers as our closest competitor"? Then you'd better be prepared to back that clam up as "marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation."
- Exaggeration
Have I ever exaggerated the capabilities of WeCanDo.BIZ? I don't think so. Might I have tweeted "Our website will increase your sales substantially"? Perhaps something similar. I could be on shaky ground. The CAP Code again: "Marketing communications must not mislead consumers by exaggerating the capability or performance of a product." Even if I say that using WeCanDo.BIZ could lead to a happily and fulfilled life for a joke? Yep.
As the regulations only apply to businesses, Hendry recommends starting a personal Twitter stream that is not company official, states that clearly and keeps your company named Twitter account specifically for official communication.
"You see the problem," he concludes. "There will be no more informal jokey tweeting and personal opinion permitted if your Twitter account has the appearance of a company marketing communication. Your tweets will be subject to a revised CAP Code and subject to regulation on a whole host of things, only a small number of which I have highlighted."
Speaking earlier this week, an ASA spokeswoman admitted there will be "teething problems" and some "grey areas". Nonetheless, come March, businesses will be expected to comply with the regulations. And there is the possibility that the code will only be the thin end of the wedge.
"Time will tell, but the ASA’s step into the online world will require advertisers to be more watchful of how and what they communicate online, where they advertise and also the chance to work with a regulated advertising body to hopefully better protect their brands online," concludes Byrne. "In addition with online advertising spend forecast to grow, this can only raise the profile of the industry, possibly encouraging other similar regulatory bodies globally to follow suit."
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