Our Top 3 Ways to Beat HFSS Rules Now!

PromoVeritas

Strict new rules for advertising foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar are due to come into effect by the end of next year. This means that there’s still time for HFSS brands to make the most of their instore promotions and broadcast or online campaigns whilst they can. Danielle Farleigh, Account Director at PromoVeritas works with leading FMCG brands, shares her top three tips to help brands make the most of this time.

The new HFSS rules will mean that by October 2022 there will be restrictions on where HFSS brands can run promotions in-store, and an end to ‘two for one’ style price offers. And by the end of 2022 there will be a watershed of 9pm for HFSS TV ads and a ban for paid-for ads across online media including influencers. There are a number of exemptions to the rules but on the whole, things are going to be trickier for large brands but there are ways that they can smooth the process by planning ahead right now! Creating brand awareness and loyalty now is essential. Here are my top tips for HFSS brands to act on now;

1. Grow your social

The new rules spell the end for paid-for advertising online – this means no more influencer activities and sponsored ads. But organic and native social media is exempt so use this time to increase your follower numbers across all platforms as much as possible in order to raise your profile and maintain your ability to advertise and communicate legitimately when the new rules come into play.

Running a prize draw or competition on your social media channels now is a reliable way to attract new followers and create genuine engagement. Here’s an example of how adding a prize draw to their social media posts helped The National Lottery boost their engagement.

2. Build a database

Once the rules are in place it will be more difficult to target certain customers, but you will still be able to use direct marketing to communicate instead. So as long as brands collect their customers’ data legitimately, they might find that email will be the best ways to share offers and new product information.

A promotional activation such as a prize draw that requires entrants’ positive consent to use their data is the safest and most effective way to gather customer insights and personal information such as contact details. This can then be used to send out samples or coupons in the future. Strings & Things used this gift with purchase promotion to gather customer data compliantly.

3. Make the most of seasonal events!

Christmas is coming and our advice is to ‘fill your boots’ and take advantage of seasonal events that customers love to engage with. Fill your calendar for the next 12 months with special offers and promotions that create stand-out and encourage customer interaction. Use a combination of competitions, prize draws, instant wins and social media promotions to keep customers coming back and building a relationship with your brand. We helped Higgidy run a summer on-pack promotion to drive sales and loyalty, read all about it here.

Whatever you decide to do, the best advice we can give is do something! Make the most of this time to gain as much awareness and market share as possible, but also to prepare for when the rules are in place. PromoVeritas are here to help you plan all of your future campaigns effectively – some of the ways we can help HFSS brands are;

Run it Right: Our legal team understand the rules, which products are affected and can offer latest advice on HFSS campaigns.  Here’s a handy guide to the current outline.

Grow awareness: We can help you run effective and compliant promotions on all social media platforms

Avoid rule-breakers: Influencers will be restricted, so stick to the rules with our suite of influencer legal services

Stand-out in the aisle: We run innovative and outstanding on-pack promotions from start to finish

Connect via email: We can run simple prize draws to gather legitimate customer data

Create free PR opportunities: Use ourWilly-Wonka style promotions to create a buzz

Consider overseas: We can help run HFSS campaigns overseas where it is less risky with our legal support

These changes are planned to come into effect in October 2022 for price and location promotions and 1st January 2023 for the media ban and although we cannot predict the final outcome, it is essential that you plan ahead for a new outlook for HFSS advertising immediately but with a positive focus on what can be done.

If you would like some information about our recent HFSS Webinar with ISBA and Kellogg’s, or if you simply want to find out more about your HFSS campaigns contact our team at info@promoveritas.com.