Here’s a fairly lengthy article that I’ve written for Sift Media’s MyCustomer.com on the new ASA regulations and what it means for online PR and marketing.
The changes are intended to plug the regulatory grey area between a company’s efforts to proactively promote its products or services via editorial and paid-for advertising.
I’ve made a bid to explain what the new ASA remit means and how it will impact anyone that works in digital marketing and communications.
PR practitioners, myself included, have been critical during the six-month consultation process leading up to the extension of the CAP Code of what they believe to be the advertising industry regulator attempting to extend its reach beyond advertising into other disciplines.
Ultimately it’s hard to argue with a requirement that seeks to protect consumers and calls on brand to be “legal, decent and honest”. But only time will tell how the extension to the ASA’s remit work as its new role beds down as it begins to adjudicate on consumer complaints.
