CAP Annual Report 2007
22 May 2008
2007 was a busy year for CAP and BCAP. As well as helping the industry get to grips with new alcohol, food and gambling clauses, CAP and BCAP provided training and guidance and conducted compliance surveys on telecoms and utilities advertisements.
The broadcast and non-broadcast Codes have differently-worded rules on “free” and the ASA has had to make some difficult decisions about what is free and what is included in the regular price. To help clear up confusion, in 2007 CAP and BCAP published Guidance that applies to ads in all media. It was the first joint CAP and BCAP Guidance for advertisers and will hopefully create a level playing field for “free” claims and help advertisers to plan their campaigns.
The CAP Copy Advice team supported the industry with a series of presentations on the new clauses for advertising food products to children and for gambling advertisements. Copy Advice master classes at the International Direct Marketing Fair gave marketers the lowdown on the regulations for direct marketing (DM) and, especially crucial for DM campaigns, database practice – helping those who attended stay within the rules without compromising creativity.
Two ad compliance surveys were published in 2007, one on Telecommunications advertising, the other on Utilities advertising. The surveys, conducted by the Compliance team, revealed compliance rates with the Codes of 93% and 87%.
The Telecommunications Survey assessed ads against CAP’s recently updated Telecommunications Marketing Help Note and looked at 209 different broadcast and non-broadcast advertisements. Mobile phone ads accounted for the 22 breaches found.
The Utilities Survey looked at 203 non-broadcast and online advertisements between January and February 2007; 26 advertisements breached the CAP Code, a breach rate of 13%. Switching companies were responsible for half the breaches but the Compliance team secured co-operation from the advertisers to help ensure future ads will comply with the Codes.
Read the CAP and ASA Annual Report for 2007 in full.