Running promotions in New Zealand
Like the UK, New Zealand has seen an influx of influencers promoting company’s brands, goods and services to consumers worldwide. New Zealand have followed suit and implemented guidelines for influencers to follow in order to minimise the number misleading advertisements where consumers don’t realise they are engaging with an advertisement.
In 2020 the ASA published only three decisions relating to complaints about influencers, following the introduction of the new guidelines at the end of 2020 in the first 3 months of 2021 the ASA published 28 decisions.
Most of the new rules revolve around the clear identification of content as advertising, including the strong recommendation to include “ad”, “advert” or “advertisement” in any post which has commercial value, aligning themselves with the guidelines in the UK. Not only does the influencer have to clearly identify their ads, the company involved with the influencer also shares responsibility to identify advertising. The ASA says that ‘advertisers need to take all practical steps to ensure influencers identify ad content about the free product or service the influencer has been given’.
One of the most popular promotional mechanics that brands like to run are ‘prize draws’ or ‘games of chance’, where the winner(s) is selected in a completely random way. Fortunately for brands, running these is uncomplicated under NZ law, once more highlighting the benefits of choosing this market.
However, for ‘gift with purchase’ promotions, there are some important restrictions that promoters need to be aware of. When it comes to giving away the gifts, some are not allowed to be offered under the law, such as Maori artefacts.
Falling foul of the rules and regulations does incur a penalty, which is why awareness of the legal details surrounding promotions is vital, with potential fines of NZ$50,000 (approx. £26,000) for guilty organisations and up to NZ$20,000 (approx. £7,000) for guilty individuals.
Although running promotions in New Zealand is a less complex and arduous process than in many other countries, there are clearly many aspects that require careful oversight from a legal standpoint. Luckily, PromoVeritas has a specialised legal team in-house to handle any of the problems that may be encountered, ensuring promoters can take advantage of this unique opportunity.