Know Your Stuff: The Legalities of Marketing

There's nothing more frustrating & embarrassing than creating a drop dead promo or campaign only to have it shot down by corporate counsel for the simple reason that it is in violation of state, local, or federal regulations.

Or worse ...

Except, of course, if your corporate counsel is more familiar with patent law than FCC regs and the campaign launches without thorough and comprehensive review. When the regulators and various legal entities descend on your company, you can rest assured Counsel will pass the buck right to your office. And sleep very well that night too, thank you.

Integrate the Creative with the Practical -- You'll be Glad You did

Creativity is only part of campaign development. If you're not up on the legalities and liabilities that come with the job you're a prosecution waiting to happen.

Just like knowing your budget boundaries, you need to know your legal boundaries before planning a campaign. As such, you not only save time and $$, but you position yourself and your team as genuine, credible resources for your organization. Enhance your value and the value of your group and you will find it a lot easier to do your job without the second guessers, and dime-a-dozen arm chair marketeers.

If you haven't gotten around to drafting a Policies & Procedures manual for Marketing at your organization, this is an excellent way to educate yourself, educate your team and educate your organization at large.  In addition it consolidates your brand requirements, style guide and procedures for material requests.

Last but not least, it helps your company educate employees (and management) about way they can promote the brand most effectively, as well as avoid inadvertent brand damage (think Chrysler employee tweeting profanities about Detroit drivers last year ... make me wince just recalling it!)

What triggered this dire warning?

Oh, I was just getting caught up on some blog reading and came across the following post. I urge you to read it -- and anything else you find on PR, IR and Marketing-centric laws. Social Media Promotions and the Law: What You Need to Know | Social Media Examiner

More Resources

Here are a few additional online resources that will get your started:

• Internet & General Marketing Laws: http://marketingtoday.com/marketinglaws/usmarketinglaws.htm
• e-Mail Laws: http://marketingtoday.com/marketinglaws/emaillaws.htm
• FTC Div. of Marketing Practices: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/bcpmp.shtm
• CAN-SPAM: http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus61-can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business
• Multiple News-related Topics: http://blog.ericgoldman.org

Got a Professional Organization?

Several are good sources for information about the laws and regulations that pertain to many facets of Marketing, including:

• AMA (American Marketing Assoc.) http://www.marketingpower.com
• DMA (Direct Marketing Assoc.) http://www.the-dma.org
• PMA (Promotion Marketing Assoc.) http://www.pmalink.org

Nobody Said This Was Going to be Easy

In fact, I've been known to remark that Marketing positions should be posted with a Surgeon General's Warning all their own.  But, for those of us who have found a real niche in Marketing, constantly learning and staying abreast of news and developments is one of the aspects of the function that make it dynamic and interesting.

These are the details that differentiate the professionals from the wannabes.  A Marketing professional thinks outside the box while also knowing the contents of the box like the back of his/her hand.

Can you recommend other resources?

We'd like to hear from you.  Please post a comment and refer us to your favorite resources and colleagues.

Thanks!

What can "a Better Mousetrap" do for your brand? That depends ...

Just read an interesting article -- well written and very convincing.  All in all an excellent point, well made, re: the impact of quality product.  But, in the end, it was simply convincing enough to be ...  I don't know ... dangerous?


For that reason I felt compelled to respond, and did.  (You should feel free to do the same here!)


The original post I refer to can be found here:  http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/07/build_your_brand_apples_way.html


And my response appears below, but the mega-moral of the story is simply this:  Don't take everything you read under iconic mastheads (like that of the Harvard Business Review, et al), as gospel.  


"An excellent point, well made, re: the impact of quality product.  I would, however, caution your readers against taking your premise too literally.  Beginning  with the fact that the road to success is littered with the carcasses of failed innovators whose self-destructively naive premise that "a good product will sell itself" cost them everything.  

Building a better mousetrap will only insure that, at the end of the day, all you have is a better a mousetrap

There are several additional strategic and tactical considerations behind the outcomes you've described.

In addition, your theory is not generalizable across all marketplaces. For example, each organization cited and its products/services have a more-than-significant market base in the consumer sector (vs. pure b2b play) -- I have no hard and fast data on this, but [experientially] guess that the results would not be nearly as dramatic if their sales targets were strictly enterprise/b2b.

Another affecting common denominator is that each company cited advanced the perception of its product/service through early-on investment in PR (vs. advertising).  The age old wisdom that creating one's brand in the media, then later supporting it via other marketing channels (including advertising) is the most productive and durable approach.

Last but not least, I think it's important to clarify that Marketing does not equal Advertising.  PR is not advertising, thought leadership development (sometimes confused with "Content Marketing") is not advertising, direct is not advertising, events are not advertising ... the only things that are advertising are advertisements.  And any Marketing that consists purely of advertising is not only incredibly costly, but is also extremely risky in its potential impact."

The conclusion?  Building a better mousetrap will only insure that, at the end of the day, all you have is a better a mousetrap.