All posts by : janinepaterson

… but limited use elsewhere

I love sci-fi programmes and watched many growing up.

One of my favourites is Doctor Who, and I’m eagerly awaiting the new series this autumn (although I’m not sure a few episodes and a Christmas special is a series 😕)

I particularly like the doctor’s ability to change into someone else, regeneration, thereby solving one of the biggest problems in television: naming the programme after the lead character.

If an actor or actress in a title role decides to move on or they die, that’s the end. The alternative, which often just doesn’t work, is the supporting cast carrying on, ignoring the elephant in the room – Taggart, the Scottish detective series comes to mind 😂.

The need to come up with a plausible way to change the actor arose in Doctor Who when the first doctor, William Hartnell, suffered poor health 3 years into his tenure.

This ability to swap in new people has allowed Doctor Who to be on our screens for 70 years, with 13 actors taking the title role. The latest, Nculti Gatwa will be unveiled later this year as the 15^th doctor, after the first woman to play the role, Jodie Whittaker, bowed out in 2022.

This is one of many benefits of sci-fi, as anything is possible. Having the ability to pause or stop time could come in useful, although I have no ambition to live forever!

We live in the real world and have to deal with the trials and tribulations that come along, without a sonic screwdriver.

So we need to rely on the help and support of our family, friends and colleagues to find an earthly answer to the challenges that life and business throw up.

Eureka!

I awoke to the sound of 💧 💧 💧!

 It was 5.30 am and I’d managed to have a good night’s sleep – til then.

It was raining cats and dogs, making quite a racket, but, as I discovered later, the way the rain came down, straight rather than at an angle, provided the breakthrough we needed.

My husband went to investigate and after rummaging in our upstairs cupboard, he found the answer – the rain was coming in.

I’ve told you about the mysterious water marks on our kitchen ceiling.

We carried out some investigations to rule out potential causes, the last of which was to make a hole in the kitchen ceiling, but this got us no further in finding the culprit.

But my early morning awakening provided the answer – we had a hole in the roof.

Well, I’m not sure what the cause of this is yet – it could be a missing tile or issues with the flashing 😕 – but at least we are nearer to solving the problem, hopefully before it rains again.

Fixing a problem, whether in the house or in your business is sometimes a matter of trial and error – and a little luck.

It’s about looking at the issue, reviewing the evidence you have and finding the solution.

Exactly what I do for some of my clients who know something is wrong but can’t find the cause.

A little investigation, deduction and hey voila.

If you could benefit from my expertise, you know where I am.

We’re not that bad are we 😟

Our neighbours to the left packed up and moved out last Thursday.

I couldn’t help but watch as the moving vans took over their driveway, marvelling at just how much stuff they’d accumulated in just 3½ years.

It got me thinking about our own situation – having been here for a whopping 22 years I shudder to think how many moving vans we’d need when we go down that road! 😄

We’re definitely going to miss them, especially the steady supply of fresh eggs, but it seems they’ve outgrown the house and it was time for them to move on.

However, it has left my husband and me wondering if we might’ve unintentionally done or said something to make us seem like less-than-ideal neighbours. You might recall that previous email where the younger son of the family actually said as much!

You see, the neighbour the other side is also moving.

She’s been here longer than we have, but she lost her husband last year and we knew she would eventually sell up – we just didn’t think we would get 2 new sets of neighbours in short succession.

I am looking forward to getting to know the new neighbours, helping them settle into the village.

Change is inevitable, whether in our neighbourhood or in business.

As your trusty Marketing Law Expert, I’ve witnessed changes to the rules governing marketing and advertising on a regular basis.

My role is to make sure you sail smoothly through these changes and seamlessly incorporate them into your processes.

If you have any questions, you know where I am.

What a great line!

I’m sure you’re familiar with “The Godfather” movies, a classic series that revolved around the Italian American mafia Corleone family in the 1970s and 1990s.

The films were known for depicting power struggles among mafia families, marked by violent conflicts.

I therefore find it intriguing that Au Vodka chose to create a parody of this iconic series to promote their new alcoholic drink.

This decision has put them in a tricky spot with the ASA once again. Just last month, they faced issues for implying that drinking and driving were acceptable through showing their products in a car.

This month’s problem is centred around a series of Instagram posts called “The Vodfather.”

These posts include videos re-enacting scenes from the movies. For instance:

– The introduction of their new drink, “Pink Lemonade,” as “The Pink,” humorously positioned as more successful than extortion and gambling;

– The phrase “The Vodfather has spoken,” hinting at dire consequences for those who defy him;

– Enforcers dressed in black, wearing balaclavas, hitting and shouting at people and needing to “get rid of the gear”;

– The Distributor aggressively pushing shopkeepers to sell their product, leaving them with no choice.

Au Vodka argued the posts are meant to be taken as exaggerated humour and parodies, not endorsing aggressive behaviour or illicit activities.

However, it’s clear that most people, regardless of their stance on the films, would understand the implications of this comparison.

Au Vodka needed someone to provide insights during the conceptual stage, someone who could offer a common-sense perspective on the ASA’s rules.

These rules aren’t black and white; they have nuances that require careful consideration.

And that’s what you’ll get if you ask for my assistance – a compliance-oriented approach infused with common sense.

… we have a lot in common!

You’ve probably heard the old saying, “You need the right tool for the right job”?

This came to mind when I heard a discussion on cookery lessons on the radio.

When I was at school we had weekly cookery classes in the half term running up to Easter.

Now, I consider myself a fairly good  cook – my father-in-law polished off 2 helpings of my plum crumble at the weekend (with custard that was the perfect consistency for both him and my husband! That difference of opinion is definitely a story for another time 😂).

But the chat about school days reminded me about a baking mishap that wasn’t exactly my fault – I promise!

Picture this: French Apple Tart week. Glorious puff pastry with a luscious layer of stewed apple, and on top of that, thinly sliced apple arranged in perfect concentric circles.

My creation? A masterpiece, if I do say so myself.   

So, I pop it into the school oven, and it’s baking up like a dream. The colour? A beautiful rich golden brown. I was on cloud nine

But then, out of nowhere, calamity strikes.

The school ovens were these fancy ones with inner glass doors.

The idea was that you could check on your bake without messing up the temperature.

However those glass doors had a mind of their own: thick, heavy, and prone to dramatic swings.

So as I take my tart out, the inner door decides to go rogue and slams into my tart, sending it on an unplanned flight across the floor.

This memory got me thinking. Having the wrong tools for the job – in this case, those wonky oven doors – can take a beautiful creation and turn it into a disaster.

And it doesn’t just apply to ovens and tarts. Having the right legal advice for your advertising and marketing is like having a top-notch tool in your business toolkit.

Think of me as a trusty sous chef helping you keep your tarts firmly on the plate where they belong!

… do your homework

Making sure you comply with the rules for your advertising is not always straightforward, especially when it comes to age restricted products.

Take Ladbrokes for example.

I’ve written about their previous brushes with the ASA over their advertising.

You may remember the rules on using sports men and women were updated in October last year to avoid ads for gambling having strong appeal to the under 18s.

Ladbrokes has featured in the ASA’s spotlight again and again this year.

First with football players, then a boxer, then football managers and now tennis players.

So, just before the Australian Open kicked off in January, Ladbrokes sent out four tweets.

They featured 4 top players, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas, asking various questions about who was likely to lift the trophy.

Ladbrokes did some homework, checking the social media following of each player, which showed hardly anyone was under 21, especially on Twitter.

They also reviewed the players’ sponsorships deals (Novak’s include Peugeot, Hublot and ANZ bank) and these indicated an adult audience.

The ASA did their own detective work.

– all 4 players had been in Grand Slam finals last year.

– Novak and Rafael. Tennis legends for over 10 years and considered 2 of the best and most successful players, both have been No. 1 in the world, and they shared the record for most major titles won.

– Nick reached the final of Wimbledon and Stefanos the final of the Australian Open last year, tournaments that received high media coverage and would therefore be of interest to under 18s.

The ASA’s verdict – both players were high risk when it comes to gambling adverts, despite their apparent social media following.

If Ladbrokes could guarantee under 18s couldn’t see the ads, then ok, but as we know, using social media, and especially Twitter, which allow users to self-verify, will always leave a risk that children will see them.

Luckily for Ladbrokes, the ASA can’t fine you, but appearing on their website as an upheld complaint for the 4^th time is not going to help their reputation.

This does show that thinking more widely about who you use in your ads, and not just focusing on figures, could avoid an appearance before the regulator.

… how strange 🤔

“What’s that”, he said.

“What’s what”, I replied.

“That”, he said pointing up.

And there on the kitchen ceiling were 4 cloud shaped patches.

We had a leak!

What has followed has been some trial and error to try and narrow down the cause:

– it’s not the girls not putting the curtain inside the bath when they shower.

– it’s not my removal of the bath drain to clean it (see my previous email on this subject 😉)

And it’s not anything any of us were doing as we went on holiday for 2 weeks and came back to a rectangle patch about 2 feet long added to the clouds!

So, after talking to our handyman guy who can turn his hand to anything, we are going to have to make a mess 😟

Cut a hole in the ceiling and have a look!

I’ll let you know what we find.

Sometimes my clients bring me dilemmas with their marketing which need a little investigating.

But that’s fine, as I’m well versed as a detective 🔍

… some people didn’t

You may remember my email about John a couple of months ago.

A simple error that could’ve had a big impact.

It seems John’s mistake is not uncommon and in two cases, the story of what happened is more widely known.

If you recall, John sent an email internally to his team, but instead of using BCC, he included all email addresses in the To field.

There were some complaints, but luckily for John, nothing more serious. He realised it could have been worse, so reminded himself and his staff on the rules to stop it happening again.  

However for two organisations in Northern Ireland, their “simple” error has led to reprimands from the ICO.

Part of the Executive Office of the NI government, the Interim Advocates’ Office was set up to look at historical abuse in children’s homes over a 70 year period starting in the 1920s.

They sent an email newsletter to 251 people, using the To field, causing the inappropriate disclosure of email addresses to all those on the email list.

A similar error occurred when a member of staff at the Patient and Client Council in NI sent an email to 15 members of a Gender Identity Liaison Panel, using the CC field instead of BCC. This again allowed the disclosure of email addresses which should have remained confidential.

Both these incidents allowed other recipient’s on the email lists to infer health information about others, therefore disclosing potential special category personal data.

These cases show how easy it is for a simple mistake to have consequences for many people – a reminder to make sure everyone is aware and follows the rules around data protection.

… doesn’t it matter anymore!

So, I’ve been catching up with some reading lately, and there’s something that’s bugging me.

Spelling mistakes and even the odd missing word in a sentence!

This really stops me in my tracks.

But what’s worse is that some people seem to think that this is totally okay.

Apparently it’s part of showing your “authentic self” and helps you appear to be a real human being!

I’m not sure I can see where they’re coming from, because I can’t shake off this feeling that in the world of business, this isn’t right. To me, it just gives off a sense that the person doesn’t really care about what they’re putting out there.

I know that some people struggle with this. I couldn’t spell for toffee until I went to uni, but I soon learnt that this attention to detail matters, especially in building professional relationships.

I know only too well that it’s easy to miss these when you’re looking at a piece of writing – you spend so long looking, that sometimes it’s hard to see the wood for the trees!

Which is why there are so many tools out there, many free, that can help. Spell checkers and grammar tools are invaluable, but even something as basic as having someone else read over what you have written can prevent these small errors in your work.

I have a hard time trusting someone if I see mis-spelt words, or incomplete sentences. If they’ve made these mistakes, what else may be wrong with what they’re saying?

Am I being unreasonable?

I don’t think so – I’m all for embracing authenticity, but I’m not sure if this is the right place for it in our business world.

… you often get a clearer picture 🖼

You can make a decision that seems sound and then it backfires on you.

Au Vodka, a drinks brand encourage its fans to upload content featuring its products on social media. It’s a great way to get others to promote your stuff.

Back in May, someone posted a tweet with a picture showing two McDonald’s frozen slushies and two little bottles of Au Vodka sitting on the centre console of a car.

The tweet was then retweeted by Au Vodka’s official Twitter account, including the caption “Drink Responsibly & don’t drink and drive #SummerVibes.”

Although no one complained about this, the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) took issue with it, arguing that it linked alcohol with driving and therefore the ad was irresponsible.

They felt that the image gave the impression that both the driver and the passenger were going to drink the alcohol while driving.

Au Vodka said its main aim was to promote responsible and enjoyable alcohol consumption to legal drinkers. They argued the image was of a social setting, which they felt emphasised friendship and camaraderie, rather than endorsing drinking while driving.

Despite the presence of the disclaimer, “Drink Responsibly & don’t drink and drive,” the ASA upheld their complaint because they believed the overall impression of the ad still linked alcohol with driving.

To be honest, I can see both sides here. While Au Vodka may have had good intentions, it was essential for them to think through all the potential implications of using the tweet.

Having alcohol visible in the front of the car, with people in the driver’s seat, could easily be misinterpreted and send the wrong message. I think if Au Vodka had taken a step back and looked at the tweet from their followers’ point of view, they may have made a different decision.

When advertising on social media, you do have to be careful. It’s not about being afraid to make calls like this, but about being mindful of the situation and remembering we’re dealing with real people and their perceptions.