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A bite of the Apple …

By Spark and Fuse on April 2, 2012

Recently we asked the people of Twitter what product they would most like to win. The response was unanimous – an iPad. Equally, the one product used predominantly as a prize incentive at the moment, not only on Twitter but in other digital space too, is an iPad. Promoters are well-tuned into the public’s continuing desire for Apple’s latest product and how it can be used to generate a good response to promotions. But are promoters actually allowed to offer an iPad as a prize?

The answer is, no. Well, not if you ask Apple. It’s old news that Apple does not give permission for anyone to give away its latest iPad and iPhone models and that it will enforce this rule. In the first instance Apple will not sell these products if the sole purpose is a prize promotion and anyone who buys a quantity of units is likely to raise suspicion at Apple HQ and will be denied further purchasing rights.

Protecting the exclusiveness of a brand is fair play, but we would argue that once you’ve paid for a product it’s yours to do with as you will, as long as you don’t imply the brand is actually endorsing the giveaway or break any laws. However, we do believe that it is for these very reasons you should proceed with caution before going ahead with an Apple product giveaway.

For those products which Apple does permit third-party promotional activity, a set of detailed instructions is available as to how these promotions can or cannot look. Like all big companies, Apple controls the way its brand image is used, which is absolutely their prerogative. If your product giveaway is authorised, you can use the Apple logo and make reference to the product in its entirety. If your giveaway is not authorised, you can’t use anything which has been Trademark protected – such as the Apple logo or the word iPad. We’re not lawyers and neither do we claim to be experts in this area, and it’s quite possible we’ve oversimplified the matter, but making your promotion look as though it has been enforced by Apple, or using their icons without permission would breach The Trade Marks Act 1994. It is via this route that Apple could enforce its rule and promoters could find themselves in trouble.

Apple has been known to sue on grounds of breach of trademark but we do not know if it is actively pursuing misuse under these circumstances.  We do know though that every day there are a huge number of promotions offering much coveted Apple products as prizes and all promoters should be aware of The Trade Marks Act 1994 before deciding whether or not to offer one as a prize.

We’d love to know what you think, especially if you’re giving away an iPad or iPhone. And we’d be keen on feedback from anyone better qualified to comment on trademark laws – are we right?

Cybher 2012

By Spark and Fuse on March 30, 2012

Cybher 2012

We’re delighted to announce that both Spark and Fuse will be speaking at Cybher 2012 – the first female blogger event of its kind in the UK. This one-day event will bring together the most influential bloggers and speakers from all corners of the blogosphere to network, inspire, share and learn. It’s taking place on 12th May 2012 at 8 Northumberland Avenue in the heart of London. The line-up of speakers is seriously impressive with some heavyweight bloggers taking to the stage. We’ll be there to share our expertise, wisdom and experience on how to conduct online prize promotions properly. We’re looking forward to advising everyone how to get the details right on their blogs, twitter and Facebook. And we’re really excited about meeting all the great bloggers we’ve met on Twitter in person. Do come and say hello if you’re there!

Read more here …

You can see a full list of Cybher 2012 speakers here and book your place here.

Badly run competition equals PR disaster

By Spark and Fuse on September 12, 2011

A cautionary tale this week of how running a competition without due consideration can generate very bad publicity…

A well-known toy company recently launched a brilliant competition on Facebook promising to reward the winner with a big cash prize. The competition was judged and the winner notified. A week later, the winner was contacted again to say that the judges’ marks had been added up incorrectly and the winner was in fact not the winner after all and wouldn’t be awarded the big cash prize.
Unfortunately for the toy company, the winner was a professional comper with a well known blog which talks about all her experiences, good and bad. And so the PR disaster began… the toy company was trashed on Facebook, Twitter and comper websites.

Rightfully, the toy company then decided to award a cash prize to both the original winner and the new winner. But it was an expensive mistake to make given that advice on how to run the competition correctly in the first instance would have cost them less than the additional prize. And it’s not possible to put a cost on the damage to their reputation as the competition generated substantial criticism, which is a shame because they really do produce great toys.

If you’re thinking about running a competition and would like some advice on how to do it properly, drop us a line at bright.sparks@sparkandfuse.com.

British Council Chinese Speaking Competition

By Spark and Fuse on September 9, 2011

UK students show off Mandarin Chinese from British Council on Vimeo.

The British Council Chinese Speaking Competition launches today with a little help from Spark & Fuse. Sponsored by HSBC, the competition is open to UK secondary school students who are non-native speaking learners of Mandarin Chinese that have learnt the language from scratch. And for the lucky competition winners, there’s a trip to Beijing. It’s our second year assisting the British Council with this prestigious competition and we’ve been instrumental in ensuring all elements (from the entry procedure right through to the final) are fair and fully compliant with industry regulations. It’s a really exciting project with which to be involved and last year we were so impressed by the participants’ commitment to learning such a difficult language. For details of how to enter the competition, click here.

Prize winner or prize draw hoax?

By Spark and Fuse on August 3, 2011

Every month we fulfil stacks of prize draws – we send winners on fabulous holidays, arrange delivery of home entertainment systems, package up kids toys and occasionally even notify winners of big cash wins. But for every great winning whoop of joy, we are considered suspiciously by others who think their prize notification is a hoax.

The CAP code is very clear ‘promoters must not claim that consumers have won a prize if they have not’ and fake prize draw scams in the UK are illegal. However, according to consumer watchdog Which? prize draw scams are the second most common scams in the UK. So how do you know if you really are a winner?

Firstly, did you enter the prize draw or competition? If not, then quite simply you cannot possibly be a winner. We can prove that all our prize winners entered a prize draw – we’ll have their entry postcard, or SMS, phone and online records mean we have exact date and time of entry. If you receive a letter saying you’ve won a prize draw by a company claiming you’ve been ‘specially selected’ to win a prize, put it in the bin. Immediately.

Are you being asked to pay a fee to claim your prize? We never, ever, EVER, ask our prize winners to part with money in order to claim their prize and there’s no such thing as a required administrative fee either. You might have to pay for an element not included in the prize itself, such as train fare to a hotel, but this will be stipluted in the terms and conditions. But you should never pay to actually claim a prize. In fact, it’s a criminal offence to say that someone’s won a prize and then ask them to pay money to receive it. It comes with a prison sentence of about two years.

Do you need to call a premium rate phone number to claim this prize? Pretty much as above. When we notify winners we generally send a letter that contains all the prize details plus we provide our office phone number and email address as a point of contact. You will never have to call an expensive phone number to speak to a prize supplier or their administrator.

Have you been asked to provide details of your bank account? We once had the joyous task of awarding a prize winner £10,000. We gave her the choice, a cheque or direct money transfer. She chose a cheque. There is never a need to give your bank account details to claim a prize. Especially if you haven’t even won money.

Oh, and finally, if you get an email from someone overseas claiming you’ve won millions of dollars in a lottery, you know where to file it…

If you receive a prize notification and you think it’s a bit iffy, then get in touch with the Advertising Standards Authority in the first instance.

British Council appoints Spark & Fuse – Mandarin Chinese Speaking Competition

By Spark and Fuse on June 20, 2011

Spark & Fuse has been appointed by the British Council to advise on compliance for its prestigious Mandarin Chinese Speaking Competition for the second year. The competition, which is sponsored by HSBC, will launch later this year and offers non-native speaking learners of Mandarin Chinese the chance to test their speaking skills in front of an audience of schools from all over the UK and a panel of judges. Lucky prize winners from this year’s competition were sent on an amazing trip to China! Our role is to ensure the terms and conditions, judging criteria and contest are all conducted fairly. We’re really looking forward to working on this project and can’t wait to be impressed yet again by the young people’s language skills.

Six new British Council competitions!

By Sarah Burns on June 8, 2011

Spark & Fuse has helped the British Council to launch six new creative competitions linked to its Lifelong Learning and Youth in Action programmes. Anyone that has participated in a programme is invited to tell how it has helped to broaden their horizons, through either a written, photographic or film piece. Category winners will be selected by judging panels as well as a public online vote. Spark & Fuse advised The British Council on logistics and compliance to ensure the competition has been communicated well and is conducted fairly. We helped pull together a tight judging criterion so entrants understand exactly what is expected. We’ll also be involved in short listing to ensure the best of those entries which meet the judging criteria are posted for the public to vote for their favourite. Take a look at the competition here.

Facebook Promotions

By Sarah Burns on May 24, 2011

If you’re planning to run a prize promotion on Facebook, be aware that not only will it come under the remit of the Advertising Standard Authority (click here for more details), but Facebook itself levies strict conditions for such a promotion. Whether you’re running a straight prize draw or more complex competition (don’t know the difference? Click here), Facebook expects you to follow these guidelines or could suspend your page. For example, notifying winners via Facebook is a big no no, as is asking people to ‘like’ a page or ‘check’ into a place as a means of entry. It’s not difficult to keep the people at Facebook happy and here’s a link to help you get it right http://www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php. Use these guidelines in conjunction with the CAP code and your promotion won’t attract criticism, complaints or negative publicity. And no one needs bad publicity. Just think Hoover…

Does The X Factor break its own rules?

By Sarah Burns on October 12, 2010

Here at Spark & Fuse HQ, we are already loving The X Factor. Our Monday morning debate focuses on who’s the best dressed judge, (Danni, natch) and why Cheryl Cole appears to be oh so very orange this year. And whilst we’re enjoying the general madness of the competition – Wagner to win anyone? –  we are certainly not impressed by the apparent controversy that surrounds certain competitors making it through to the live finals. Sure, Dot Cotton look-alike, Cher Lloyd fluffed it at the final audition, but as far as we know there’s nothing in the rules that says a place cannot be awarded to someone who bawls in front of Cheryl. No, what really troubles us is the alleged bending of official terms and conditions. We won’t mention any names, but allegedly two finalists already have either a recording contract or management deal. It’s one thing for an entrant to cheat, but it’s the promoter’s responsibility to act as the control and prevent these individuals from qualifying. Yet the papers are full of stories accusing X Factor bosses of buying out said existing contracts. We are very careful to impress upon all our clients that they cannot ignore judging criteria or reward entrants that have broken the rules simply to suit their own marketing objectives, but it would seem according to the press that The X Factor has been allowed to get away with this. Perhaps someone can advise us for a change? 

Our favourite X Factor finalist, Aiden Grimshaw. He’s sensational and we really hope he wins:

Is there a difference between a prize draw and a competition?

By Spark and Fuse on October 8, 2010

We’re often asked by clients ‘is there really a difference between a prize draw and a competition?’ Yes, is the answer and here’s why…

A prize draw is very straightforward. It requires absolutely no skill or judgment to enter – the winner is chosen purely by chance. A competition, however, does require an element of skill or judgement in order to enter. For example, consumers may be expected to answer a number of questions and then complete a tie-breaker. In both cases an independent person must be involved in the selection process.

The above seems relatively simple, but there is an area which causes further confusion to our clients; can consumers pay in some way to enter either a prize draw or competition and when does a ‘no purchase necessary route’ become necessary? The Gambling Act 2005, which came into force on 1st September 2007, clarifies this issue. For a prize draw, as long as the price of a product is not inflated and there is no other charge to the consumer, there’s no need to offer a no purchase necessary route. However, if the means of entry has a charge attached to it, like a premium rate phone line for example, a free route must also be offered, such as email or post. The only exception to this is for prize promotions in Northern Ireland where a no purchase necessary route must be available to customers.

For competitions, it’s not necessary to offer the no purchase necessary route, but the winner’s success must absolutely be dependent on a ‘substantial degree of skill’ otherwise it is considered unlawful. The Institute of Promotional Marketing aptly summarises The Gambling Act 2005 definition of ‘substantial degree of skill’ as ‘it must be sufficient to either prevent a significant proportion of people who take part from winning or put off a significant proportion of people from entering’. So it’s okay to charge people to enter a competition as long as there really is an element of skill involved.

Hopefully this straightens up the matter but if you’re still not certain, it’s always best to have your promotion checked before it goes live to check that you’re skating on the right side of the law. Get in touch if you’d like our help.

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