UK Competition Idea

Ethics and practicality

[t34WRJ]

Hey all

I currently have the following idea:

In order to further assess the needs of my target audience I plan to run a competition. In order to enter all the person has to do is fill out page-long form with various details. They can either do this by post or online.

After a prearranged amount of time I will randomly pick a winner who will receive my services for free - with the option to upgrade.

However, how do I stand, both legally and ethically, in contacting businesses that have never come across me before? Can I do this by post, by email, by telephone?

Cheers

James

[Receptional]

Legally, you have no issues in a business to business contact with any of the methods. With unsolicited email there is a European directive but it only applies to B2C not B2B. Contacting businesses is legally fine.

Ethically - well what can I say? Is it ethical for double glazing salesmen to phone my wife every evening just as the kids are tired, crying and ready for bed?

Is it ethical for my local chamber of commerce to keep phoning me asking if I want to sponsor their new calander, when all I asked for was membership?

Ethics are your lookout and depend on your industry and potential client base. That said, if you use third party email software, you probably WILL be required to abide by their code of ethics.

[webdiversity]

A couple of points.

The telephone preference service (TPS) rules regarding cold calling only applies to Limited Companies, sole traders and partnerships can opt out of unsolicted calls.

Data protection is obviously a big concern. What will you do with the data of the "unlucky losers"?

[Receptional]

Yep - you will need to register under the data protection act to store that information. This is not a difficult thing to do once you get over the horrors of reading it all. See the government website here [informationcommissioner.gov.uk]

Dixon.

[roitracker]

European directive only applies to B2C not B2B

The directive applies to both B2C and B2B.

Legally, you can only "spam" a business in the UK if it's to a corporate address (ie. not someone's personal email address). However, no matter what you call it (unsolicted email, email prospecting, business development, etc), it's still spam at the end of the day. Sender beware.

As for your idea, there are strict regulations about competitions, so I recommend you consult a lawyer for professional advice before proceeding.

[streetshirts]

Yeah, best idea is to get legal advice but a brief summary of the law in the UK is:

A competition with a prize, where the entrant pays (in money or in kind) to enter, where the prize is allocated randomly, is a lottery and is illegal.

To get round this law you can do one of three things. It is only neccessary to remove one of the conditions of a lottery to run a legal competition. All of these are acceptable.

1. Make the competition free to enter. Since payment cannot be in kind either, you must open the competition to "no purchase neccessary" entries.

2. Remove all random elements, for example by making it a test of skill. "Get the highest score", or "complete this phrase in under 15 words" are good examples of this.

3. Give everyone a prize of equal value. You are unlikely to want to choose this option, but it would be legally sound.

I hope this helps.

--Steve