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New ASA Regs take effect on 1 September

Wednesday, 25 August 2010 14:00 |

Author: Ardi Kolah |

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) will launch ts new Codes of Practice that govern all forms of advertising, marketing and communication activities for off-line (such as print, known as the CAP Code) and for broadcast (known as BCAP Code) on Wednesday 1 September.

The guidelines provide a regime that is largely self-regulated although there are sanctions that can be applied for transgressions and the courts treat the Regs as "quasi-legal" although strictly speaking they are not "laws".

If you can't wait until Wednesday 1 September, the Codes of Practice can be downloaded immediately from the ASA web site.

Perhaps less well trumpeted and potentially more far reaching is the net being cast by the ASA to include UK web sites from next year.

I was meeting my colleague and friend Torin Douglas, the BBC's Media Correspondent earlier today at BBC Television Centre who will be reporting on this news story very shortly.

The implications for attempting to regulate marketing and communications on the internet are fraught with pitfalls - the key one being the limits of the ASA's jurisdiction on web sites that are marketing and communicating to UK consumers but are hosted on servers outside of UK territory.

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We launch our CSR Survey with Judge Business School, Cambridge University

Saturday, 24 July 2010 17:09 |

Author: Ardi Kolah |

Over the last 48 hours, senior sponsorship executives from 55 leading brand owners including adidas, Nike, BT, Barclays, LloydsTSB, Thomas Cook, Emirates, O2 and others received an invitation to take our short survey on their corporate social responsibility (CSR) and grass roots activities as part of their investments in sports sponsorship.

In broad terms, the survey explores the importance of CSR within the total marketing and communication mix, the underlying reasons for investing in CSR and grass roots activities, the impact on reputation and image of the brand owner and whether they measure outcomes as a result of these activities. We hope to survey the attitudes of all London 2012 sponsors at all levels plus those sponsors that spend the most in football, rugby, cricket and athletics.

I want to express our sincere thanks to Karen Earl, chairman of the European Sponsorship Association, Sally Hancock, Director, Olympic Marketing, Lloyds Banking Group, Mark Phillips, Head of Brand Marketing, adidas and marketing guru Peter Fisk who provided us with invaluable guidance and input regarding the survey at meetings we held with them about the research project over the past couple of weeks.

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Why bother measuring CSR?

Thursday, 24 June 2010 10:00 |

Author: Ardi Kolah |

National Sports Week in the UK is one of the most successful CSR and grass roots programmes in the UK

Recently, we've been in discussions on the topic of why bother measuring CSR and grass roots activities with host of leading thinkers in the sponsorship and marketing space. It's been fascinating as well as a lot of fun!

My colleague at Cambridge Judge Business School, Visiting Fellow Suren Sista and I paid a visit to Karen Earl -one of the biggest names in the global sponsorship industry - to help us 'sense check' our CSR and sport sponsorship survey which is currently in draft form. Once complete, the survey will be sent out to individuals within London 2012 sponsors and those working for the biggest sponsors in football, rugby, cricket and athletics in the UK.

Karen's considered view - supported by a subsequent visit to another friend of ours, Sally Hancock at LloydsTSB - is that there needs to be a more robust approach to how decisions regarding CSR and grass roots activities are made within the context of sponsorship and how resources should be allocated to these activities.

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World Exclusive - Boris Johnson prepares to launch new "official" brand for London

Wednesday, 14 July 2010 21:00 |

Author: Ardi Kolah |

I can exclusively reveal that secret plans for a new brand for the City of London have been prepared and a new, exciting 'official' London brand is about to be launched very soon.

These plans form part of Mayor Boris Johnson's Recovery Action Plan for London that outlines the importance of championing London in the UK and overseas. Creative has been signed-off and sources close to the project tell me that the new brand is nothing like any other branding project for any city anywhere in the world.

The new brand London identity is set to go a very long way in creating a unified and consistent brand image for London in much the same way that has been achieved for the Big Apple.

The difference is that it uses self-parody and like us Londoners doesn't take itself too seriously! Let's face it, when England crashed and burned from the FIFA World Cup a couple of weeks ago, you needed to keep a sense of humour, right Boris?

The timing of this re-brand for London is perfect, too.

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Keeping London Open for Business

Wednesday, 09 June 2010 13:48 |

Author: Ardi Kolah |

Last night (Tuesday 8 June 2010) I attended “The London 2012 Brand – The Do’s and Don’ts for Business”, organised by London Business Network, which is made up of London First, CBI, London Chamber of Commerce, FSB and the LDA.

The speakers were Mike Mulvey, CEO, London Business Network, Neil Walker, Community Relations Manager, LOCOG and Alex Kelham, Manager – Brand Protection, LOCOG.

Despite the title of the conference – and the attendance of over 400 people with a waiting list on top – it was a shambles in many respects.

The issue of “Do’s” simply wasn’t addressed. Simply telling an audience of diverse businesses to apply for contracts via Compete For isn’t actually the point as less than half a percent of the whole of London’s millions of businesses would actually benefit from such contracts.

Typically, LOCOG focused on the restrictive legislation on the use of official trade marks as proscribed under the Olympic Symbol etc. (Protection) Act 1995 (OSPA) that protects the Olympic and Paralympic symbols, mottos and various words and the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006 (the ‘2006 Act’).

This prevents the creation of an unauthorised association between people, goods or services and London 2012.

There was no sign of LOCOG looking to help the wider business community celebrate the Olympic Games in the UK while the world watches (3 billion via the TV set) – providing a “once in a lifetime opportunity” for business of all shapes and sizes to show the world that we truly are GREAT Britain.

I couldn’t sit there and not say anything.

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