ethics
Code of PracticeAs an organization we willingly abide by the various codes of conduct for word of mouth marketing, online marketing and advertising practice as enshrined in Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading 2008, the Data Protection Act and the Codes of Advertising Practice
We are committed to helping brands engage with consumers in meaningful conversations and interactions and our key values are integrity, sovereignty of opinion and decency. In practice this translates into the following behaviour:
1. Integrity
Honesty of Identity
We never engage in undercover marketing whereby users or administrators of any online blog, forum or website could be encouraged to believe false or misleading statements they understood to be offered in good faith. All communication is performed on the transparent and explicit basis that we officially represent the brand/client and have something of potential value to offer.
We comply with regulations that state: “When there exists a connection between the endorser and the seller of the advertised product which might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement (i.e., the connection is not reasonably expected by the audience) such connection must be fully disclosed.”
Honesty of Opinion
We never tell bloggers / website administrators what to say. We provide information and products to bloggers / website administrators and expect them to form their own independent opinions and decide whether to inform others.
We never incentivise people to make recommendations they don’t endorse.
We comply with regulations regarding testimonials and endorsements. “Endorsements must always reflect the honest opinions, findings, beliefs or experience of the endorser. Furthermore, they may not contain any representations which would be deceptive or could not be substantiated if made directly by the advertiser.”
2. Decency & Accuracy
We comply with the CAP Code by ensuring that communication originated by us is not likely to cause serious or widespread offence on the grounds of race religion, sex, sexual orientation or disability.
We never knowingly exaggerate or distort the claimed benefits or attributes of any client product or service with the intention of deceiving others.
3. Children & Under 18s
We never directly engage in any research or digital marketing activity with children under the age of 13.
We never knowingly expose children under the age of 18 to adult content or offensive language.
We comply with all applicable laws dealing with under 18s and marketing.
4. Data Protection & Unsolicited Communication
We fully comply with all the regulations under the Data Protection Act and respect the privacy of consumers at all times. Any personally identifiable information acquired from consumers through their participation in digital marketing activities is used only in the context of that particular campaign unless the consumer volunteers permission in writing.
Email communication and research takes place only with opted-in subscribers. In the event that a client supplies us with data we always seek to verify the integrity of that data. We never send unsolicited email and only communicate information that is considered likely to be of value and relevance to the recipient. Email data held by ourselves is kept strictly confidential and we never sell or rent email data. All email communication from Visibility IQ contains automated unsubscribe functionality.