Top 4 Legal Issues In Marketing Today

Marketers must have a certain level of guile and the ability to carefully plan-out a campaign

, because in the constantly-shifting industry of marketing, a single slip can potentially mean sinking into mediocrity. The cause of these slip-ups? Quite often, they come from crossing the legal line, and sometimes, this is done without even realising it. Here are some of the most contentious legal issues in the world of marketing today:

1) Collaboration and Copyright.

Part of the marketing campaign for the movie '28 Weeks Later' involved graffiti tags bearing a web-address being sprayed around London. However, due to an accidental lapse in communication between the marketing agencies involved, the domain had not been registered, and it was quickly snatched-up by a cyber-squatter, forcing the agency responsible to pay an undisclosed sum, described in the hacker's own words as "Let's say - enough for a nice holiday". The lesson here? Ensure that there are good lines of communication open between any and all marketing groups involved in a project, and watch your copyright!

2) Leaflets and Flyers - More trouble than they're worth?

The laws regarding flyers and their usage can be vague and confusing. For example: to hand out flyers in a privately-owned area requires prior clearance to be given by the owners (sometimes it requires a fee to be paid). One might think this poses little problem, as there are plenty of busy public rights-of-way which can be used, but it is best to check beforehand. Many 'public' parks are run by companies, and many shopping centres and enclosed-street prominades are also privately-owned. Unauthorised use of these places for marketing purposes could result in a hefty fine.In addition, flyers themselves can pose problems. There is no V.A.T on the cost of producing flyers, but if you were to add a monitary value to them (for example: "get 10% off with this flyer") then said V.A.T soars from zero, to the standard 20% rate.

3) Endorsements and Falsehoods.

Earlier this year, the Advertising Standards Agency ordered Nike to cease a marketing campaign which involved celebrities using their twitter accounts to endorse the brand. Footballer Wayne Rooney posted "My resolution - to start the year as a champion, and finish it as a champion...#makeitcount gonike.me/makeitcount", which the ASA ruled did not clearly identify as marketing, and would falsely lead people to click the included link. Whilst this is an online marketing issue, it does relate to offline marketing, too. The central issue, that of deception, is a serious one, which could potentially cost a marketing campaign a lot of time and money, or even spell disaster for a brand.

4) Coverage.

Any original or clever marketing trick is likely to attract outside media attention. Whether it's a bystander updating their twitter feed, or the BBC running a full-length piece on the campaign, you should aim to have people talking about the brand. Humans are social creatures, and word-of-mouth is a fantastic way to spread the message you are trying to convey. There's an old saying: "any publicity is good publicity". However, this is not always the case. When the Coca Cola Company attempted to launch their bottled-water product, 'Dasani' in the United Kingdom, in the early 2000s, they marketed it as a healthy drink, made from spring-water. When it emerged that the drink was actually just purified tap water, manufactured in Peckham, the company was vilified in the British Media; which whipped-up a storm by insinuating that Coca Cola presumed the British public 'too stupid' to notice the deception. Sales dropped and, just five weeks after its launch, Dasani was pulled from UK retail.

by: Cristina Sellos

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