Question

Topic: E-Marketing

Global Spam Regulations For Global Emkg Campaigns

Posted by colleen.swanger on 11/8/2010 at 6:46 PM ET 500 Points
We are a global company, trying to consolidate our shared services and emarketing campaigns. Our regions are pushing back - they do not want to lose control. They claim that their regions have specific SPAM legislation/regulations and thus we can't send global campaigns - they all have to be sent locally.

I know this isn't true. What I need to find out in order to put this issue to rest is:

1. If we are a US-based company sending emails globally, do we need to follow other countries regulations or are we covered by the US? And if so,

2. How do we determine the common denominator so that our campaigns will be ok regardless of the country/region?

Thanks in advance!
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 11/8/2010 at 7:00 PM Member
    Short answer-- yes as a US company you must comply with rules of other companies. And you are still bound by US law. (you can't legally import a Cuban cigar) Look at tourists getting in hot water bringing the wrong magazine into some countries. OK in the US, but other countries you'll be publically flagged and the Consulant isn't coming to rescue.

    2nd, you probably aren't going to find a global answer. Think about it this way-- as a flooring rep manufacturer, I know of product that can be sold everywhere else but CA-- without extra disclosures or other limitations. They have special laws on jewelry. So out of the country? It gets much more complex and don't rely on others for interpretation.

    There is no umbrella coverage to your question. I'm not saying what you have been told is true or untrue. But make it clear-- if you are doing trade in another country, or marketing to do trade-- you are bound by the laws of both countries.

    to make it happen you will have to dig deeper
  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 11/8/2010 at 7:03 PM Member
    excuse-- I meant countries, not companies.

    you must comply with rules of other companies.-- please read countries.
  • Posted by colleen.swanger on 11/8/2010 at 7:15 PM Author
    Thanks Carol, you make good points.

    I'm hopeful someone with large company hands-on experience can chime in and let me know what type of process they follow for global campaigns.
  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 11/8/2010 at 7:22 PM Member
    I'll tell you right now-- and I've worked with global companies -- they have teams that research and know what constitutes compliance. No marketer should assume that responsibility. And it'll take experts in every country you want to market in-- and prepare yourself for the variances in interpretation.
  • Posted by Chris Blackman on 11/8/2010 at 7:30 PM Accepted
    Carol's spot on - as a global company, you absolutely have to observe and comply with the laws in every individual jurisdiction where you operate. And then some - for example, as a US company you don't need to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley in, say, Australia, but all your Australian operations must be compliant when you consolidate back to the US parent company.

    Similarly, you might find you are forced to comply with the Basel II Accord in Europe, which will have ramifications for the way you operate in the USA...

    Enter the term "World's Best Practice" - being a global company, you need to set the bar to the highest level standard ANYWHERE you operate and then operate at that standard EVERYWHERE you operate.

    Back to your e-mail question: Nothing stops you having a centralised, US based e-mail engine that provides useful information across all global markets.

    The kind of World's Best Practices you will need to observe might include:

    - Double Opt-In
    - Single point, Automatic Unsubscribe
    - User ability to update own profile
    - User selectable opt-in/out per publication, segment or market
    - Address of the sending office where queries or complaints can be made

    I think you'll find if you adopt one of the leading platforms, you should be compliant anywhere in the world. Australian anti-spam legislation is not very different to US CAN-SPAM, and I suspect the same is true in Europe. Those would be the leading compliance markets - you are unlikely to find extremely onerous requirements in many of the developing countries.

    If I were you, I would develop a proposal for your country managers to review and buy in to. Get them to check for compliance against your proposal in each of their markets - and then adapt to suit.

    You can sell this in to them, not on the basis of centralised control, (which is probably what they fear) but of raising the bar to a uniformly high standard, as part of the global marketing services provided from 'head office'.

    Then, having established a top-quality, super-compliant e-mail platform, when you run any new global campaign, you will need to get it checked in each market to make sure you are not acting in a way that goes against any other aspects of commercial law.

    For example in some countries in may be illegal to offer incentives to medical practitioners to recommend a particular, proprietary form of therapy - those are issues the local country managers should be checking in any case.

    Hope that helps.

    ChrisB
  • Posted by cmalicki on 11/9/2010 at 11:07 AM Accepted
    I agree with your assessment that working within each country, there are similiarities in law. We usually default to the most stringent laws and work from there. Interpretation of those laws vary widely, so chose your circle of advisors carefully.

    Mike is likely right in a B2C world success is more local. In a B2B world, that isn't necessarily true. We respond to industries and companies within those that we find to some degree it's irrelevant what country they reside. Depends on what your service or product is.

    I have not found one consultant that can wade thru the waters for me. If you find one, let me know. I'm sure the line outside her office will be long!
  • Posted by colleen.swanger on 11/16/2010 at 9:53 AM Author
    hi all, thanks for all the responses. Here's what I found out via word of mouth, particularly related to B2B, which is what we're focused on.

    We are going to research local SPAM laws/regulations for all of our regions and compare them to the US, using them as a standard. Where applicable and necessary, we will revise our standards to accommodate other regions, with the intent to create one overarching set of policies.

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