If you regularly run product promotions to boost your brand, you will know the difficulties involved if you want to include Northern Ireland residents.
The law in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) was updated in 2005. This allowed promoters to require consumers to purchase their products to enter the competition.
Before this, if you had to buy something before you could take part in the promotion, this was seen as an illegal lottery.
The update was great if you wanted to run a product promotion in Great Britain but was a pain for brands that wanted to include Northern Ireland. Trying to make your terms fair to all when some don’t have to buy your product – always a tricky balancing act.
But this has all changed. The NI law has now been updated and is now in line with the rest of the UK, which will make planning a promotion across the UK easier.
Many responsible business owners invest considerable time to learn how to compliantly run a successful product promotion.
But the challenges arise when the rules change or are updated.
Because to be compliant in your advertising you need to understand the rules and regulations that apply, but you also need to be aware when they change.
Keeping up to date with what’s right and what’s not is just another ball you have to keep in the air when you run your own business.
And you can’t do everything. Sometimes you have to accept that you need help from an expert. You pay your accountant to do your books and your commercial lawyer to handle your contracts. Maybe now is the time for expert marketing law advice.