All posts by : janinepaterson

It can be costly

We had to take the pup to the vet the other day. 😟

He was losing weight, was not himself and he was chewing his paws, making them red and inflamed.

The vet said these were classic signs of a food allergy which can happen in young dogs.

She thought it was the chicken in the food we give him, as chicken and beef  can cause issues in pups.

So we looked at alternatives from our supplier and discovered something worrying.

It wasn’t the chicken that’s the problem, it’s the wheat!

We knew that some dogs are gluten intolerant (they are also lactose intolerant) so we had chosen a wheat free chicken puppy food which he loved.

So when we moved onto the junior range, we moved him to the chicken version of that, as we assumed it was also wheat free.

Wrong – unlike the other 2 flavours, the chicken one has wheat in it.

So, while we waited for our supplier to deliver a different flavour, lamb & rice, we went out and found one to keep us going.

And the pup loves it, bowl emptied and licked clean.

He is more like himself and he’s stopped chewing his paws so much. I know it will take time for the irritation to subside.

This made me realise the dangers of assuming things. I will definitely look at the ingredients when we move him on next time.

Now making assumptions about your marketing and advertising can be costly.

Just because your ad copy was compliant in the past doesn’t mean that can’t change.

Rules change and it can be easy to miss important updates.

So if you need someone to review your ad copy to ensure its legit, you know where to find me.  

And it’s so easy to fix

Many people are not bothered with spelling and grammar these days, saying it’s old fashioned and not necessary in our digital lives.

But I disagree.

I received 3 email newsletters the other day and all of them had either spelling mistakes or words missing!

This is disappointing.

Spelling can be difficult for many – it wasn’t something I got to grips with until I went to uni – but putting out content with spelling mistakes, and whole words missing, is not showing you in the best light.

You only get one chance to make a first impression, so don’t waste it for want of a spell/grammar checker.

And I know, it can be a case of not seeing the wood for the trees when it comes to our own work.

So ask someone to read it- I get my other half to check mine and he sometimes spots something I’ve missed.

And this is so much more important when it comes to your marketing and advertising copy.

An ad about your products and services that is interesting and catches the viewers’ attention is what you’re aiming for, so don’t detract from that with simple spelling and grammar errors, as these are likely to be what they remember.

The devil is in the detail they say, so if you need a fresh pair of eyes on your copy, and ones that can make sure the content is compliant as well, you know where I am!

Because I’m more than a proof reader.

PS. You can get this support as part of my retainer service – reviewing the ad copy is within the rules as well as spelling and grammar 😊

😂 I suppose I’ve been called worse

My other half accused me of being a Mother Hen the other day!

My older daughter had a job interview and when we looked up the location on Google Maps, it was, to say the least, a little confusing.

The place appeared to be in the middle of nowhere, a 15 minutes’ walk down a country road from the nearest town. And first there was a 40 minute train journey.

The interview was 2 hours and I was worried that even if she found the right place, she’d be knackered before she even started.

So I decided to drive her there – hence the Mother Hen comment.

I know she’s 22, and she’s got through 3 years of her degree and a one year Masters.

She can’t drive (Covid put a stop to that) so I wanted her to get to the right place and be in the best possible frame of mind to show off her best self.

If she gets the job – we find out later this week – then yes, train and a gentle stroll will be on the cards.

I don’t think I’m being over protective.

I’m just giving her some extra support, helping her get want she wants – this job.

And sometimes a client needs a little extra support, and I’m happy to give this when I can.

You can learn all about what the rules on marketing and advertising say, and some of my clients have, but what they then need is the support of someone who knows how those rules apply to their business.

And that’s where I come in, using 17 years’ experience applying that knowledge of the law to real life scenarios.

So if you have questions that arise with your marketing and advertising compliance, perhaps it’s worth you getting in touch – often a chat on the phone is all it needs.

PS. My retainer service can really help – marketing and advertising compliance advice when you need it.

Try “Yes if” instead

A discussion on LinkedIn about lawyers always saying No got me thinking.

Lawyers do have a reputation for saying no to anything anyone comes up with, especially marketing teams. The them and us battle.

It’s a default reaction, created by a fear of liability.

Everything we do has risks – those risks could be big or small, or more often, somewhere in between.

If we didn’t accept some element of risk, we’d never do anything.

So our job is to advise on the legal risks of an idea, focusing on how to minimise those risks, instead of acting as a roadblock.

So, when my clients come to me with questions about marketing and advertising law, we discuss all aspects, what the law says, how this affects them, what are the options we can take, and what risks might there be.

The law is not black and white, but a lovely shade of grey, so it’s often “Yes, we can do X, if we also do Y”.

Then the client  decides – based on sound advice.

This is what I do, helping clients achieve their goals within the rules.

Perhaps I can do this for you?

PS. My retainer service allows me to discuss the options with clients and find the best solution to ensure their marketing and advertising law is on the right side of the law.

The pup was interested!

When we were on holiday recently, we had an unexpected guest for lunch.

We go to North Wales, where we rent a lovely house for 2 weeks. It is a beautiful place with everything we need.

Our holiday is about relaxation and doing things we don’t have the time for at home.

Long walks with the pup, sandy beaches and a pub just 7 doors down!

We had been there a few days when our pub lunch had an unexpected visitor.

The dove flew into the pub garden and landed on my chair – as you can see, the pup was a little put out by this intrusion, but he soon lost interest.

The dove was after scraps, and as we weren’t going to provide any, it soon flew off and tried elsewhere.

It made an appearance most days, so it was obviously a profitable exercise.

I’m sure you won’t have realised I was away, as being a one woman business, it came too. It is still a break for me, as I have 4 different walls to look at and can work around spending time with the family.

Hope you’ve been able to get away this summer – it’s important to take time for ourselves.

… please use them 😫

A secondary school has recently had it’s knuckles rapped by the ICO over its solution for cashless lunch payments.

Life has obviously moved on from when I was at school, when we used cash – you know notes and coins! 👛

My daughters’ school had an electronic card which I would load money onto, and that seemed to work.

But a school in Essex have taken it a step further and used facial recognition.

They rolled this out in March 2023, but failed to consider the data protection implications of this technology.

The scheme operated on “assumed consent” from parents or carers, giving them the opportunity to opt their child out if they wished.

Despite having a Data Protection Officer (DPO), they didn’t consult him! 🤔

When he became aware in November 2023, he completed a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA), as this processing of biometric data was high risk.

Concerned about the outcome of the DPIA, the DPO consulted the ICO.

The ICO have issued a reprimand, which doesn’t carry a fine, and set out actions they should take before undertaking something like this in the future – including talking to their DPO!

If the school had asked for his advice, it is likely none of this would have happened and the ICO would never have been involved.

So, if you have an expert in some part of your business, whether in-house or a consultant, make sure you ask them when you have an idea within their remit.

It will save a great deal of time and stress and maybe money as well.

We’ll have to wait and see

I was chuckling when I saw the uproar caused by Pret a Manger changing the terms of their subscription loyalty scheme.

The original scheme is nearly 4 years old, having been brough in after the pandemic to attract customers back into their shops.

They offered 5 free drinks per day for £30 pm.

This was pretty generous, as the average coffee is not £3.30. The deal also included 20% off food.

They have recently announced that from September, it will be £10 pm for 5 half-priced drinks and no discount on food.

This news has been met with horror with some “experts” saying it could see the end of the café chain.

I don’t see this, and they are just following competitors Costa and Starbucks who have done similar.

I think they have just realigned the offer with the current financial climate. People don’t have as much money to spend on what is seen as luxuries, so reducing the cost to their customers allows them to treat themselves.

So if you buy more than 6 coffees a month, the subscription is worthwhile.

Are you giving up your subscription in September?

… I would certainly have done so.

I was reading about a data subject access request (DSAR) case that reached the High Court – very rare as very expensive.

It was about revealing the 3^rd parties that had received the data, but it wasn’t this aspect that interested me.

What I wondered was whether the claimant’s solicitor warned him of the wider implications of pursuing this case to court.

The claimant had made threats to the defendant and his family, in phone calls that had been recorded by the defendant.  The defendant shared the recordings with family members and his employers – he was concerned about the threats and wanted to warn them.

The defendant refused to disclose the 3^rd parties he had shared the recordings with, and the case found its way to the High Court, which decided the defendant had the right to withhold the names as he was concerned about their safety should the claimant become aware of their identity. The “rights of others exemption applied.

As a look at the requirements when responding to a DSAR, it sets out when the exemption can be applied, but at what expense to the claimant.

Pursuing a claim in law is what solicitors do, but its not just a case of looking at the rules and pursuing the case.

There are many practical considerations, one being how will it affect the client.

If I had been approached by the claimant, the first thing I would have said would have been – think very carefully before pursuing this, the content of the calls will be made public.

How will this affect your name and reputation?

I’m hoping the solicitors explained this, as instead of 15 people being aware of the claimant’s behaviour, there are now thousands, if not more, of people who know what was said.

The claimant brought the case as he said his business had been damaged by the sharing of the recordings, but I would say his business is in a lot more trouble now!

Knowing what the law says is only one part of being a solicitor.

Another is knowing how to apply the law to the client’s situation – and making sure they’re fully aware of what they’re getting into.

Sometimes you do need to let sleeping dogs lie.

… or can you 🤔

You know that I’m a keen gardener.

Well, I’ve discovered that growing your own teaches you many things that are useful in life and business.

Patience.

Resilience.

Persistence.

And, when you’re dealing with Mother Nature and the British weather, there are no guarantees!

Take courgettes – this is the harvest from just one week.

Last year we were lucky to have this many in a couple of months.

We’re thinking they liked the wet spring, and that we got them in the ground a little earlier.

So we’ve had some gently fried in butter, which is delicious, but there are only so many times this works in a week.

I have made courgette cake in the past, but I still have some in the freezer from last time they went mental.

So if you’ve any recipe suggestions for us to try, please let me know.

PS. The one in the middle has aspirations to be a marrow – it must have been hiding 😂

…. smiling for photos.”

I laughed when I came across this quote from the American actor Harry Morgan, and it certainly sums up this past Sunday..

I met up with my cousin Tracy at my mum’s house (her aunt).

This was for convenience, as she’s roughly halfway between us, and as my mum is the last of that generation on my side of the family, it was great to include her.

There was 10 of us in total, all crammed into mum’s smallish house. I can’t remember when it was last that full!

It was great catching up with each other’s news.

We haven’t seen each other like this for 8 years, and a lot has changed for us both.

We had a great time, talking and laughing and reminiscing.

And then she insisted we took a group photo!

You may know that I’m not a fan of photos of me, and neither is my husband, or my daughter, or my brother.

However, it is difficult to say no to Tracy.

Despite this, the day was really good and It made me realise we don’t do this enough.

Having a business to run, a husband to keep in check, and 2 daughters now back from uni, it’s easy to get lost in the everyday.

So, just remember to take some time out from the mundane tasks of life and catch up with family and friends. It will do you the power of good.

PS. Harry Morgan appeared in the American series M*A*S*H among others, as well as appearing in over 50 films and on Broadway.