Many marketers are confused by the boundary between unethical and illegal action.

This survey, complied by marketing consultant Ardi Kolah, Steve Dobson of The Marketing Medic and Nick Johnson, partner and specialist marketing lawyer at Osborne Clarke, on behalf of CIM magazine the marketer, explores the boundary between ethical and legal behaviour.

Take the online survey yourself – and see how your own ethics compare with those logged in our database by completing the 17 questions below, which have been selected to highlight common areas of confusion. Click on the answer you feel is most appropriate and compare yourself to the scores in our database. Two additional questions ask about how your employer supports ethical policies and training.

If you'd like to receive the full text of the answers and the legal issues raised, complete the registration form and a response pack will be emailed to you

	Online Questionnaire
	DISCLAIMER: The answers and notes provided are general comments only and should not be relied on as legal advice. Neither the CIM nor any contributor to this paper shall have any liability for loss, damage or other liability arising from reliance on the matters in it.
	1. You’re on a packed train and you overhear two people talking in detail about a competitor’s products, pricing and clients. Rather than ignore, you make mental notes to help you compete more effectively in the future.                 Acceptable I know I shouldn’t but I do Unethical and I wouldn’t Illegal             2. You purchase a mailing list on the basis of a single use licence and conduct a mail only DM campaign. Three months later you’re looking for names to contact about a new offer and come across the list. You choose to mail the contacts again with your new offer.                 Acceptable I know I shouldn’t but I do Unethical and I wouldn’t Illegal             3. You are in a team preparing a big campaign. The concept is created and developed by someone else in the team and you have just been involved on the sidelines. A senior executive in your company sends you a message congratulating you personally (for the work done by the other individual). You quietly take the credit yourself.                 Acceptable I know I shouldn’t but I do Unethical and I wouldn’t Illegal             4. You’re on holiday in a hotel where a competitor happens to be holding a sales conference. Walking back from the pool you notice a table with sales brochures and materials marked ‘Confidential’. There’s no one about and these look to be left over copies. You wrap one in your swimming towel as you pass by.                 Acceptable I know I shouldn’t but I do Unethical and I wouldn’t Illegal             5. You’re asked to choose a CD of favourite chart hits to play on held calls through your telephone switchboard. Your company does not hold a valid PRS licence.                 Acceptable I know I shouldn’t but I do Unethical and I wouldn’t Illegal             6. You’re asked to do some survey work and are asking questions about a service. You have highlighted that the answers will be kept confidential. The next day you meet one of your sales reps who mentions that he’s planning to meet a prospect that you’ve just interviewed. The prospect’s responses to the survey highlight specific information that will help close a sale and you choose to share the information with the rep.                 Acceptable I know I shouldn’t but I do Unethical and I wouldn’t Illegal             7. As manager of marketing department for a growing team you have a requirement for a new marketer. A candidate from a competitor applies for the post and although you know his experience is not appropriate for the role you have, you interview him specifically to understand more about the marketing practices of your competitor.                 Acceptable I know I shouldn’t but I do Unethical and I wouldn’t Illegal             8. A press officer photocopies and circulates newspaper clippings of news coverage and those of your competitors to the senior management team.                 Acceptable I know I shouldn’t but I do Unethical and I wouldn’t Illegal             9. You’re trying to get information about a competitor at a tradeshow and take off your name badge that identifies your company and ask the competitor for sales literature without identifying the company that you are from                 Acceptable I know I shouldn’t but I do Unethical and I wouldn’t Illegal             10. A persistent sales caller dials through to a colleague asking for you. You have never returned their calls. The colleague asks if you’re available to take the call. You have time to take the call but instead ask your colleague to say that you’re in a meeting right now and ask them to take a message.                 Acceptable I know I shouldn’t but I do Unethical and I wouldn’t Illegal             11. You have been working late to meet a project deadline and haven’t had time to buy a birthday present for your partner. You use your work computer to search online and make a web purchase using your personal credit card.                 Acceptable I know I shouldn’t but I do Unethical and I wouldn’t Illegal             12. You are making a trip to see a client for a morning meeting and they are covering the expenses of your trip. At the last minute you choose to meet another client in the afternoon who offers to reimburse you for the cost of your trip as well. While you won’t make money personally from the duplicate travel refund, you don’t bother to share the cost between both clients and see this as a benefit to your employer – and less work for you.                 Acceptable I know I shouldn’t but I do Unethical and I wouldn’t Illegal             13. Your employer makes products that are similar to a competitor. The competitor is making a claim in their literature that their product has a new feature. You decide to tell your sales team to claim that your product ‘supports’ this feature, even though you’ve never tested it so can’t prove it either way. Your marketing material states that features can be revised, added or removed without notice so you feel legally in the clear.                 Acceptable I know I shouldn’t but I do Unethical and I wouldn’t Illegal             14. You run a comparative advertising campaign that compares your product’s performance with the market leader claiming that your product is superior (although you don’t compare on a strict like for like basis).                 Acceptable I know I shouldn’t but I do Unethical and I wouldn’t Illegal             15. You do a spoof advert using the likeness of a well known celebrity caught in a compromising position to help promote your product.                 Acceptable I know I shouldn’t but I do Unethical and I wouldn’t Illegal             16. You work as a marketing manager in a Government department and an advertising executive invites you and your family to an expenses paid trip to watch the opening of the European football championships in Portugal this year. You decide to take up the offer without telling anyone at work or your boss. The invitation is made to you personally and sent to you at your home address.                 Acceptable I know I shouldn’t but I do Unethical and I wouldn’t Illegal             17. You hold a pitch between three agencies. All produce creative concepts and you like one of the creative ideas but decide to award the contract to another agency. You then give the winning agency some information about the creative idea you liked and ask them to create a campaign around it.                 Acceptable I know I shouldn’t but I do Unethical and I wouldn’t Illegal             18. Does your employer support a formal code of ethics or conduct?                 Yes Yes and ignore Don’t know No             19. Have you received training to recognise potential legal and ethical issues?                 Yes Covered when joining Insufficient None
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