ExpertiseMarketing and advertising

Marketing and advertising

Advertising is a critical element of growing sales and building your brand, but overlooking regulatory risk can have the opposite effect.

All brands rely on advertising and marketing to compete and connect with customers. A complex web of laws, regulators, industry codes, platform rules and technology changes makes this an increasingly challenging risk environment to navigate.

Our experience in advertising compliance is second to none. It is a core part of our practice and we love working in this space. We have advised over 100 brands on their advertising and marketing, operating in sectors ranging from automotive to food and beverage, to online retail, tech, fashion and everything in-between.

From household names to emerging brands, we work with creative teams to launch bold, award-winning campaigns that drive commercial objectives, while balancing legal and reputation risk.

Our approach is practical and collaborative. We take the time to understand what you’re trying to communicate and your risk appetite. We aren’t idea killers!

Advertising law lives in the grey – whether advertising is misleading or not often comes down to gut feel and experience, and we have that in spades. We don’t sit on the fence and are prepared to give ‘go’/‘no-go’ advice. We rarely say a concept is no-go and if we do, clients trust that it’s not because we are being conservative, but because we are genuinely protecting them from unacceptable risk.

CIE Legal has supported us on our marketing campaigns for years and have a deep understanding of our business and brands. This historical knowledge is incredibly helpful in shortcutting processes and achieving results quickly. They’re great at providing dynamic advice at pace (often in less than 24 hours), especially considering the number of requests we throw their way. They’re flexible and adapt to our comms rhythm and style well. I particularly value the way they give advice that’s easy for us to understand and act on.
Uber Eats

Key areas we advise on include:

Advertising review and approval – for compliance with the Australian Consumer Law, the AANA Code of Ethics and industry-specific Codes (e.g FCAI Voluntary Code of Practice for Motor Vehicle Advertising, AANA Food & Beverage Advertising Code, and Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code)
Ads Standards complaint response
ACCC engagement in relation to advertising-related investigations and enforcement issues
Crisis management e.g response strategy development for social media reputational issues, and addressing errors or compliance issues with live assets