Advice:Weekly | A guide to the UK Advertising Codes

From advertising on social media to running competitions, our experts will offer a comprehensive insight into the UK Advertising Codes during this virtual training course. 

6 - 29 February 2024 

In February, we are bringing back one of our most popular courses- Advice:Weekly. This course consists of four online sessions covering the key areas of the Advertising Codes over four weeks. Our expert trainers will guide you through the workings of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), along with the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP), giving details of how the two organisations work together to keep ads compliant. We will also take you through the fundamental rules around misleading advertising, promotional marketing, and social media marketing to help you identify any problems with your ad campaigns before a complaint is made.

These sessions will take place via Zoom, and all attendees will have access to the training content upon completion of the course (including recordings of each session). This training will provide you with six CPD hours.

Week 1: Introduction to Ad Regulation | Tuesday 6th February, 10:00am-11:00am

Learn how CAP writes and maintains the Advertising Codes and how the ASA applies them in practice. Hear about the ASA Council and when the ASA will use experts. Find out what is inside and outside the ASA remit and the sanctions that can be applied when an advertiser breaks the rules.

Week 2: Misleading Advertising | Thursday 15th February, 3:00pm-4:30pm`

The most common complaint that the ASA receives about an ad is that it’s misleading. Ads can mislead by exaggeration, omission, or by being unclear, unintelligible, or ambiguous. This session of the course will cover the common ways that advertisers can inadvertently get it wrong and how to ensure that consumers aren’t misled.

Week 3: Promotions, Competitions, Discounts | Tuesday 20th February, 10:00am-11:30am

Competitions and prize draws, along with “free” items and discounts can all fall under ‘promotional marketing’. They can be a great way of attracting new customers or rewarding loyalty, but it’s important that they are run in a fair and compliant way. Learn the key rules that need to be followed when running promotional marketing, including what counts as a ‘significant condition’.

Week 4: Digital Advertising & Social Media | Thursday 29th February, 3:00pm-4:30pm

In 2011 the ASA’s remit was extended to cover online advertising, including a company's own websites and social media. With digital ads being an integral part of marketing campaigns these days, it’s important to know the Ad Rules and how these apply online, be that advertisements on paid-for (sponsored) searches, social media, marketing emails, companies’ own websites, and in other non-paid for space that they control. 

During these sessions, we will use real-life case studies and examples of ASA rulings to help illustrate the rules. You will also have the opportunity to participate in an in-depth Q&A session with the ASA and CAP experts. 

The course will be of benefit if you:

• Work for an agency who develops promotional marketing campaigns
• Work in a legal or compliance function that is responsible for ensuring promotions are compliant
• Work in marketing, communications, advertising, product management, account management, or sales

Essentially this course will benefit anybody who is involved in commissioning, producing, or overseeing marketing campaigns. 

When paying online, the cost per delegate is £390 (£325+ VAT); we accept all major credit and debit cards.

When paying by invoice, the cost per delegate is £420 (£350 + VAT); the additional charge is to cover administrative tasks. If you're based outside of the UK please pay via invoice. 

Group discount

We offer discounts for group bookings of four or more delegates. Enter the relevant code during the booking process to receive the discount.

4-24 delegates – 25% off – use code “group25”.

25+ delegates – 50% off – use code “group50”.

Charity discount

We also offer discounts for registered charities, please email [email protected] for more details.

These discounts cannot be used in conjunction with other promotional codes or together.