Advertising, marketing & sponsorship

Our specialist advertising industry lawyers are experienced in drafting and negotiating a broad range of advertising contracts for all participants in the supply chain, including brands, agencies and media owners. We frequently advise on a range of ad agency contracts including those relating to creative, media buying, digital, social, PR and experiential services.

The advertising and marketing industry is also heavily influenced by the main trade bodies in the sector. We have contributed to several guidance documents, templates and materials published by some of the UK’s leading advertising and marketing trade bodies, and we are well versed in guiding both advertisers and their agencies through industry standard contracts.

In addition to our traditional advertising and marketing expertise, we have significant experience in advising on digital marketing and adtech. Our digital marketing and adtech practice is distinctive because we have expertise in advising clients across all points in the value chain. This includes advertisers, agencies, adtech vendors and publishers.

Our deep technical expertise allows us to advise on specialist and emerging issues which are fundamentally altering the digital advertising ecosystem, such as commercial transparency in programmatic advertising, brand safety, and online ad fraud.

We also have particular expertise in the data privacy aspects of digital marketing and adtech. We frequently advise clients on cutting edge data privacy projects in these areas such as adtech vendor arrangements, programmatic advertising and innovative digital marketing projects. For more details regarding our data protection team, you can visit our website page here.

We routinely advise on regulatory and copy clearance issues in advertising, including clearance of third party IP rights, and compliance with the CAP and BCAP advertising codes which affect specific sectors such as food and drink, children’s products, automotive and gambling.

When it comes to clearing third party IP rights, what distinguishes our practice is that several members of our team are experienced IP practitioners who have dealt with IP disputes in the High Court and beyond. This allows us to deliver risk assessments which factor in the latest legal developments in the Courts, but are concise and pragmatic enough to allow an advertiser or their agency to make a decision.

We can advise at all stages of an ad’s life-cycle, from reviewing early concepts and slide decks, assisting with getting broadcast ads approved by Clearcast, through to liaising with production companies and creative directors to provide specific guidance on how to create an ad in a way which minimises risk.

Should a complaint be made, we are on hand to assist with responding to investigations by regulators, including the Advertising Standards Authority, the Competition and Markets Authority, and Trading Standards.

We provide high quality specialist advice to brands, agencies and talent on sponsorship, endorsement, brand ambassador, influencer and joint venture arrangements across various brand sectors.

We offer strategic advice on contract negotiations and clear and user-friendly guidance on the legal and regulatory framework governing the proposed exploitation and activation of intellectual property and image rights.

With significant experience acting on some of the most high profile commercial arrangements in the sport, music, entertainment and fashion industries, we are experts at cutting through complex issues and finding solutions that work from a legal and commercial perspective, enabling our clients to achieve their commercial objectives and manage risk.