Mobile Marketing: Legal and Ethical Considerations. ‘You always win when doing whats right!’

”Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.” – Oprah Winfrey

Ethical behavior is the cornerstone of success in any business. Whether you are a small mom n’ pop joint, or a large fortune 500 company. There is no reason not to be ethical. Unethical behavior is not proven to bring in more sales or grow your business. The success and longevity of a company is depicted in honesty and loyal customers. Remember, there is always someone watching! Lets take a look where unethical behavior had legal ramifications for a company we all know and it costs them nearly a billion dollars.

In 2016 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) provided over $88 Million in refunds to AT&T Customers who were subjected to mobile cramming. AT&T was in violation of ‘mobile cramming’ which is adding third party charges on customers bills without their consent. This effected more than 2.7 million AT&T customers.

AT&T received a high-volume of complaints related to the unauthorized charges prior to the FTC and other federal and state agencies stepping in on the consumers’behalf’. However, AT&T made no changes at that time to rectify the unethical behavior and were found guilty of ‘mobile cramming’ soon there after. Consumers received there settlement in the average amount of $31 credited to their bill or for former customers they were mailed a check.

What are common Marketing Violations?

Sales and marketing is an area that is prone to many types of violations. Some of these may include:

• False advertising
• Violations through online advertising
• Deceptive trade practices (such as the use of fraud to gain clients)
• Copyright and trademark violations (such as stealing or mimicking another business’ logo)
• Disclosing confidential information of clients
• Creating illegal referral arrangements (especially for the provision of professional services)?

False advertising is one of the more common types of marketing violations. This is where an ad is deceptive, contains false information, or misleads consumers. Federal and state laws govern advertisements very strictly, and violations can lead to legal penalties.

Penalties for sales and marketing violations are broad and may depend on the type of violation committed. For instance, for a copyright violation, the defendant may be required to pay damages for losses caused by infringement. They may also have their products confiscated, and they may be subject to fines.

Other penalties may include criminal violations (especially for federal violations), loss of business license, and civil charges.

What kind of Actions must a marketer take with any mobile marketing campaign to remain ethical? 

The initial step for any business involved in ethical marketing is a corporate analysis including customers and marketplace. Once a company has decided to pursue ethical marketing, it must decide which ad features to follow. The business ad campaign must deliver and strike a delicate balance between sustaining truth and persuading the customer. Ethical behavior is shown from the top and trickles down through a company. To remain ethical at times can be tough, but be sure to set boundaries around mobile tactics.

“An emerging channel such as the mobile screen is not a reason to change the purpose and meaning of the brand, but to figure out what connects in the best most ethical way with the audience in that space”-Kevin Roberts CEO Worldwide Saatchi-Saactchi

Avoid Unethical practices in marketing such as…

Surrogate Advertising

In certain jurisdictions, the law prohibits the open advertising of such things as alcohol or cigarettes. This doesn’t stop the companies that produce these products from advertising anyway. They do it by finding roundabout ways to remind customers that these products exist without referring to them directly.

Exaggeration

Some advertisers will blatantly lie about how popular a product is or its quality. A good example is when telecommunication companies claim that you can get coverage no matter where you are with their service, or when internet service providers claim you will get upload and download speeds that they cannot possibly deliver.

Subjectivity

This is when an advertiser makes subjective claims about their products, as opposed to objective ones that can be readily tested. For example “the best tasting pizza” isn’t something you can readily verify.

Lack of Verification

This is when an advertisement claims to deliver results without any scientific proof to back up their claims. When a company claims that their product gets rid of all the acne on your face without explaining how that works, they are resorting to unverified claims.

Sexist Stereotypes

When an advertisement portrays woman as domestic servants or sex objects, then it is promoting negative stereotypes and is encouraging an already deeply sexist culture.

False Comparisons between Brands

Whenever a company makes misleading or blatantly false claims about competing brands, they are being unethical.

Exploitation of Children

Children watch a lot of marketing ads and mostly aren’t able to be objective in their evaluation of it. When a company seeks to exploit the innocence of children to its own profit, it is being unethical.

In order to set yourself apart as a company that practices ethical sales and marketing, you have to make sure every aspect of your company is ethical, from the way you source your materials to the way you treat your workers to the way you advertise. It is possible to be profitable without being unethical. You just have to commit to it.

So long as a company communicates with love, so long as it inspires love in its audience, so long as it remains honest, that company remains invulnerable to attacks by price,quality, feature, tech range. That company’s audience is motivated by emotions, not by calculation.