Advertising

Our clients face the unique task reconciling the need to promote their products and service in way that is most appealing to the consumers with the challenges posed by the applicable legislation. This context is particularly relevant in today’s Romanian market, where neither the volume nor the substance of the legislative framework are easy to understand or follow.

Our clients rely on our expert advice gained through extensive involvement in some of the most sophisticated and important developments in the advertising legal framework and large portfolio of clients, active in a large variety of industries.

We routinely engage in:

• providing risk assessments on international and domestic promotional campaigns developed by our clients, reviewing terms and conditions, providing copy clearance and advice on strategy, drafting and reviewing advertising and sponsorship agreements, advising on the use of online and social media, as well as on comparative and misleading advertising
• advising on labeling
• representing clients in connection with challenges to published or broadcasted advertising materials before relevant authorities and self-regulatory bodies (such as the Romanian Advertising Council)
• providing advice on advertising and marketing restrictions that apply to highly regulated and restricted sectors
• drafting and reviewing advertising and sponsorship agreements as well as agreements for granting the right that permit use of the image of famous or less known persons
• providing training to our clients, tailored to both the legal and the marketing teams in order to ensure that updated information is comprehensively shared throughout the organization
• providing secondment services where our attorney works at the client’s office as an integrated part or leader of the client’s legal team

Our expertise spans across industries, with particular focus on FMCG (including regulated products such as food supplements or cosmetics), gaming, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, banking services/financial services, textiles, toys and automotives.

Our aim is to guide clients in avoiding any potentially prohibited practices before these occur. Thus, businesses operating on the Romanian market turn to us for assistance on how to best manage risks from a legal perspective and prevent time-consuming and frequently costly issues, which we provide through compliance review of advertising materials and promotional campaigns.

Moreover, we help clients protect their long-term business interests by identifying any features that might potentially raise legal or regulatory questions, even if they might seem permitted under current law. We then suggest practical measures to keep our clients’ advertising and promotional activities compliant with the law.

In advertising, we assist clients active in various industry sectors. Clients turn to us for:

• clearance of advertising materials from a legal perspective
• review of labels, from both the regulatory and advertising legislation perspective
• preparing and reviewing rules and regulations of promotional / gaming activities intended to be carried out in Romania, to ensure compliance with Romanian legislation regarding promotional campaigns, advertising lotteries, data protection, TV broadcasting, consumer protection, IP, tax, etc.

We regularly represent clients before RAC and CNA, successfully acting on behalf of both claimants and defendants.

Examples of our work in the advertising field include representation of:

• a world leader in diabetes care, in auditing its marketing practices
• an important American company that produces and sells food supplements, in relation to compliance with the Romanian legal framework on the advertising of food supplements
• major producers and distributors of medicinal products and medical devices on a wide range of regulatory and legal matters, including on advertising aspects
• a large multinational food and beverage corporation, as well as one of the largest retailers on the EU market or major companies in the automotive and telecommunication industry on the organization and implementation of promotional campaigns, the development of marketing materials and the labeling of their products.