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The British Code of Advertising covers the
Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP).
It's a form of self-regulation for the
advertising industry overseen by the
Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) and, as
members of the Direct Marketing Association
(DMA), we are obliged to follow it.
Below is a description of our general
principles in both contributing creative
copy writing to our adverts and those of our
customers, together with our code of
behaviour if we are actually fulfilling the
campaign. |
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Meridian Delta uses a number of different methods to ensure
fair, accurate and trustworthy advertising when carried out
for ourselves and our clients.
GENERAL EXCLUSIONS
Generally, we do not do the following in any advertisement
or campaign we are involved in
Use fear or distress
Political point-making
Comparisons with identified competitors or their products
or denigration of competition we only provide
comparisons against our or our customers former pricing or
products
Imitation in linguistic or branding style
Products or services where we are not sure of their
legality
Mention race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or
disability except for adverts which promote inclusiveness
and diversity
Use images of persons or descriptions of persons which may
be sexually suggestive
Adult content or services
Gambling
B2C (business-to-consumer) advertising
Meridian Delta believes that our products or the products
were marketing should be sold on their own merits. For
example, on comparisons and competition, we will not write
or say anything that is not positive about our competitors
or their products we believe it is our responsibility to
concentrate on staying ahead of the competition by producing
superior products and services to win your business rather
than denigrating other companies.
TARGETING OF CAMPAIGNS
We do not carry out B2C marketing for customers, whether the
transmission thereof or the design/copy thereof.
We will only carry out campaigns where we can see a
potential interest and clear benefit to the recipients of
advertising. As a B2B and business-to-public-sector company,
we will only be involved in campaigns that will benefit the
organization, not the employees thereof.
For example, we would be involved in a campaign for an
insurance company advertising its commercial insurance
products to businesses or the public sector. However, we
would not participate in a campaign advertising
consumer-focused car insurance into these sectors.
USE OF TESTIMONIALS AND
ENDORSEMENTS
We will only use testimonials and endorsements in
advertisements we are involved in when,
the name and organization (and, if available, the job
title) of the referral is shown in the advertisement
We will not use language to say or suggest that the
experience of a referee is that of a standard customer.
We will use the logos of companies which have bought a
product or service (whether in our own adverts or that of
our customers) where they are a customer and this can be
proven.
PRICING
We follow all applicable law on the use of pricing, discount
and offers. As all of our campaigns are B2B or
business-to-public-sector, all prices shown are excluding
VAT.
When we know there is a handling or postage charge
associated with a customers product or service, we will
require them to show this in any advertisements we design
for them or any campaigns we carry out.
AVAILABILITY OF PRODUCTS
If a product is in short supply, we will require a customer
to display in the advertisement the exact amount that is
left (and, if applicable, the anticipated time it could be
reasonably expected in which they will be sold).
A product must be available when a campaign commences, if we
are in charge of distribution.
GUARANTEES
When we offer a service that has a guarantee attached to it,
we will expressly state the terms under which the customer
has redress if we can not meet our own guarantee. Please see
http://www.meridiandelta.com/termsandconditions-education.htm
as an example of how we state such guarantees and how
customers can be compensated for our failures.
As we offer our products and services to non-consumers, as
do all the organisations for which we carry out campaigns,
we do not offer refunds as non-consumer transactions are not
covered by the Distance Selling Regulations.
FREE TRIALS AND FREE OFFERS
We will often make free offers available to customers as
part of the products or services we are offering. We
guarantee that the free offers made with our products or
services will be equivalent to buying the free offer
separately that is, customers will receive exactly the
same product/service and back-up support as customers who
paid separately for that part of the offer which is free.
DISTANCE SELLING
Our products/services are sold to other businesses and
organisations, not consumers. This is true for the customers
for whom we conduct marketing campaigns. Therefore, the
Distance Selling Regulations do not apply.
On all adverts designed and campaigns conducted by us, the
following rules apply
It must be made clear to the recipient, either on the
advert itself or the communication they make as a result of
the advert, the payment methods accepted.
Whatever is being sold must be described accurately using
specific language devices.
Customers are made aware, if we are asked, that the
product or service offered is non-refundable
We do not engage in repeat billing for example, many of
our products come with one year after-sales and support. We
must get verbal or written permission from the customer
before we charge them to enter into a new agreement.
DATABASE PRACTICE
We make sure that all customer data is up to date and give
all customers a chance to not receive further communications
from us.
On data we sell, we encourage compliance at all stages and
are actively involved with our customers, helping them keep
up-to-date and legal. |
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