Advertising & marketing

Proud member of GALA

We've been the go-to legal experts for advertisers and marketers for over 50 years.

We’re proud to say that the world’s leading ad agency networks and independents - as well as major global brand owners - come to us.

Our experts provide practical legal advice with a strong commercial dimension, both in the UK and internationally through our membership of the Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance.

As specialists at navigating the often complex landscape of advertising and marketing law, we ensure that you remain compliant while you deliver the creativity that your clients demand.

Our experienced team will provide you with comprehensive guidance on regulatory issues, intellectual property rights and digital marketing strategies. We cover a wide range of areas, including:

Sustainability claims
Diversity and inclusion
AI
Online regulation and consumer law
Social media campaigns
Brand protection issues

We can also advise you on a variety of related matters, such as contractual negotiations and disputes, buying and selling of agencies, TUPE transfers, cross-border talent management and changes in workspaces.

Advertising-related contracts

We have unrivalled experience of advertising-related contracts, including media buying contracts, production agreements, advertiser funded programmes, client and agency agreements, talent contracts, and music licencing. The trade bodies for advertising and marketing - including ISBA, the IPA, the PRCA and the IPM - turn to us for help and guidance with the legal issues facing the industry and their members. We also draft industry-endorsed client-agency contracts and templates involving social media talent, influencers and brand ambassadors.

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Defending ASA complaints

Based on our deep understanding of the ASA’s procedures, we support agencies and brand owners to successfully navigate its investigations. Our expertise includes helping you to secure informal resolutions, defend complex and controversial claims and undergo Independent Reviews. We also have a strong track record in minimising (and sometimes eliminating) negative publicity, protecting brands’ reputations and securing excellent results for our clients.

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Advertising in regulated sectors

We can advise you in complex and high risk areas, helping you and your clients ensure that campaigns have a creative punch, while complying with relevant regulations. Our experience covers a wide range of highly regulated sectors including financial services, consumer credit, automotive, beauty and cosmetics, and medical devices. We can also help you with any claims you are making in relation to sustainability or health and nutrition.

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Promotions: prize draws, sweepstakes and competitions

Whether you’re planning an on-pack giveaway, running a skill based competition, or working with influencers to promote a new offer or activation, we can provide practical and pragmatic advice at all stages of your promotion to help ensure its success. As a member of the Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance, a worldwide network of advertising law specialists, we also offer a unique one-stop-shop for coordinating international promotions, providing a seamless service across all the territories that are important to you.

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Environmental claims

Sustainability is an essential element of every company’s strategy. Communicating your achievements in this area is important, but with regulators increasingly scrutinising claims, it’s critical that you comply with regulations and can back up your statements. We provide advice on managing reputational issues arising from ‘greenwashing’, and have successfully defended multinational companies under investigation by the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA). An additional service we offer is providing training on compliance with the CMA’s Green Claims Code and the ASA’s latest guidance and rulings.

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Influencers & talent

Influencers are increasingly important in the advertising landscape. We act for individual talent, agencies, brands, platforms and media owners, as well as the industry bodies and representative groups which are shaping this booming industry. Our work covers regulatory and compliance advice, including endorsement deals and other commercial arrangements, brand protection, AI, intellectual property rights and disputes, and reputational issues.

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Advertising disputes

Disputes in advertising usually arise out of one of three situations: a dispute between competitors, a claim by a third-party alleging IP infringement or a dispute between a brand and their agency. Thanks to our extensive experience of managing these situations, right up to the Court of Appeal and the Court of Justice of the EU, we can support you with a wide range of disputes, particularly with those regarding comparative advertising claims and IP infringement. We also advise on fraud claims and disputes between shareholders.

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Marketing data

Our highly experienced data and privacy specialists can help you with marketing data (including behavioural advertising and related profiling), cross platform re-targeting (including custom audiences and lookalike audiences across all social media platforms and connected TV), RFID and mobile geo-location for outdoor advertising, and re-permissioning of customer databases and data processing arrangements. We also advise global agencies and brand owners on their data obligations in relation to GDPR.

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Trade marks & advertising slogans

Our specialist trade mark team support agencies and brand owners by ensuring that new corporate identities, brand names, logos, product designs, strap lines and domain names are free to use and do not infringe on existing IP. We manage the domestic and global trade mark portfolios of household names, registering and renewing their rights, helping monetise those assets, monitoring unauthorised usage and tackling infringements.

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Buying & selling agencies

For over 50 years we’ve been helping owners and senior management in marketing and communications agencies to launch, grow and sell their businesses. We advise some of the major agency networks on their acquisitions. Our experience includes advising both buyers and sellers, which means that we know what makes for successful negotiations on both sides of the table. Our M&A teams include expert tax, incentives, real estate and employment lawyers who are ready to support on any relevant aspects of a transaction.

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Employment & immigration issues in advertising

The most valuable assets in advertising and marketing, are usually your talent and your culture. With extensive experience in the sector, our employment lawyers can help with the drafting of TUPE clauses in client/agency agreements, the application of TUPE when accounts change hands and the use of freelancers. As an authorised sponsor for the Creative Worker visa, we can sponsor your temporary creative talent, and can advise you on a wide range of visa and immigration related matters.

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Adtech

Technology such as AI is transforming the advertising and marketing sector. As brand owners and agencies are increasingly dependent on technology platforms to control the development, delivery and targeting of digital content, specialist legal support is required. With over 30 years’ experience of industry-relevant tech, we can advise you on your CRM or CMS, on ad exchange and workflow platforms, right through to website and mobile application development. Our experts have also supported industry bodies on the development of contractual standards for procuring ad tech.

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Our experts

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John Lewis: a case study

Defending a much-loved Christmas advert

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The Adlaw Insights Podcast

Keep up to date with the latest changes in the advertising & marketing sector.

In this series, our co-heads of the advertising & marketing legal team, Brinsley Dresden, and Geraint Lloyd-Taylor, talk about advertising law, regulation, and anything that is interesting, unexpected, and important in the world of advertising marketing in the UK.