Coca-Cola Great Britain has welcomed the launch of a new
Experiential Marketing Code of Conduct in the UK, and will be requiring all its
marketing agencies to abide by the new rules.
The Experiential Marketing Code was
developed to further strengthen the protections for consumers and marketers
offered by the UK’s advertising self-regulatory system.
Paul Dwan, Assets and Experiential, Coca-Cola Great Britain,
comments: “We’re pleased to have been working with the IPM to develop and
launch the new Experiential Marketing Code of Conduct in the UK, advancing the
regulations that are in place within the industry. Experiential and sampling
activity is a big part of Coca-Cola Great Britain’s marketing strategy, across
our portfolio of brands. We take our products to the hands of consumers in new
and exciting ways to drive brand engagement as well as product trial, and we
look forward to continuing to do this under the new code.”
Mike Hughes, Director General of the Incorporated Society of
British Advertisers (ISBA), the representative body for the UK’s client
companies, says: “Self-regulation needs to constantly adapt to embrace emerging
channels of marketing communications with consumers, and the Experiential Code
is a valuable complement to the UK Advertising Codes in this regard.”
Experiential Marketing is a new and still evolving
discipline, and marketers at both client companies and agencies were concerned
that is not fully covered by the existing rules, known as the CAP Code.
The new Experiential Code was drawn up by a working group
created by the Institute of Promotional Marketing, after representations from
Coca-Cola Great Britain and other interested parties. This group included
client, agency and staffing supplier members, and consulted with a range of
other industry bodies, many of which had direct input into the resulting
Experiential Code.
Bob Suppiah, Chairman of the IPM, says: “The UK leads the
world in marketing precisely because we have a strong self-regulatory system.
We constantly look for any gaps in this system and work together to address
them.”
“Experiential Marketing is growing rapidly, and the CAP Code
does not cover all techniques used in this area; so marketers were rightly
worried that professionalism and quality could be harmed. That’s why it’s great
to be able to develop this code that helps protect both consumers and marketers
alike.”
The CAP Code already covers many marketing techniques that
might be used in an experiential campaign, including leaflets, posters, mobile
messaging, coupons and competitions.
But other crucial techniques, such as sampling, face-to-face
marketing, ‘brand theatre’ or similar live performances with a marketing
purpose, are not covered, and it is these elements which the new Experiential
Marketing Code is designed to provide standards for.
The drafting process involved input from other marketing and
related industry bodies. These include the Direct Marketing Association (DMA),
the Marketing Agencies Association (MAA), ISBA, the Public Relations
Consultants Association (PRCA), the British Council of Shopping Centres (BCSC),
Eventia and the alcohol industry self-regulatory body, the Portman Group.
The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), the body
responsible for writing the CAP Code, and the Advertising Standards Authority
(ASA), which rules on complaints against marketing communications under the CAP
Code, were both consulted.
As of 29th February 2012, the IPM and the MAA have adopted
the Experiential Marketing Code of Conduct. This means that the members of both
organisations will be required to adhere to it, in the same way that they
require their members to adhere to other codes, including the CAP Code.
The Direct Marketing Association intends to adopt the Code.
A number of other marketing industry trade bodies are also likely to promote
the Code to their members in the next few months.
(Read more on this story at promomarketing.info)