Since 2002, community radio has been an invaluable tool for local communities and small non-profit organisations to represent their interests over the airwaves. In many ways, they’re the legitimised descendants of the “pirate” stations of the 1960’s, allowing those bypassed by more established media routes to get their voices (and record collections) heard. But unlike those swashbuckling days, there’s now important advertising rules to bear in mind if you seek to avoid walking the regulatory plank.
All broadcast ads are subject to the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising (also known as the BCAP Code), which is enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority. Here are a few savvy tips to avoid unnecessary fires in the hole.
Race the oceans - not your terms and conditions
An age-old complaint about radio ads is the speed at which the T&Cs are read. Whilst we appreciate radio ads are limited by time, and that some information is mandatory, it’s still important for the content to be comprehensible. Please also ensure the information is conveyed in a clear, logical fashion - in 2020, the ASA ruled against a car company that placed its car finance terms at the beginning of the ad without any context, which we concluded would be confusing to consumers.
Green around the gills? Be careful with your environmental copy
Many advertisers are keen to promote their green credentials, but does the evidence actually support their claims? Environmental claims must be based on the full life cycle of the product or service unless it is clearly stated otherwise. More information can be found here: https://www.asa.org.uk/advice-online/environmental-claims-general-green-claims.html.
Ensure your copy’s ship-shape with Radiocentre
Radiocentre is the UK’s industry body for commercial radio, and one of their key functions is to ensure radio ads comply with the BCAP Code. They’ll look over your draft radio ads to check adherence to the Code, as well as the CAP (Non-Broadcast) code for marketing communications you may wish to place on your website or social media. It’s not always necessary to refer your ads to them, but ads that concern “trickier” topics such as alcohol, medicine, gambling, religion and credit must be cleared by Radiocentre before broadcast.
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