All competitions should have clear Terms & Conditions written or at least approved by qualified lawyers. Those involved in competition terms and conditions writing have the experience of the specific clauses that need to be included to avoid pitfalls. Even if a brand uses their own lawyers, they may wish to get the terms approved by the IPM (Institute of Promotional Marketing theipm.org.uk) or contacts through The DMA. Legal teams can also review the rules at the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) and CAP code (The UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing).

You can also ask us at Epic Activation about the legalities of a competition idea. Although we place a disclaimer with our advice, we work with legal teams to write and review competition terms and have many years of experience in understanding the legal side of promotional campaigns. Examples are whether the promotion is seen as a lottery which would fall foul of the law, whether the advertising is misleading especially on the packaging, or if the process to win or claim is not correct.

Epic will advise and recommend and can supply official legal services to help the smooth running of the campaign protecting your brand from unwanted attention (Which is usually in the form of disgruntled customers who do not win, claiming the competition is not legal).