The price for being funny in an SMS message

Everyone loves a good joke. Well, maybe not everyone since humour can be very situational. That’s what a company called Parklife Weekender, who run Manchester’s annual festival, discovered last week.
Earlier this year they had sent a marketing text message out to their list promoting “after parties” for the annual festival. The message read:
“Some of the Parklife after parties have already sold out. If your (sic) going, make sure your (sic) home for breakfast! Xxx www.afterlifemcr.com”
By itself the message seems harmless enough. And it is. But instead of using their company name as the “from” name, they changed it so that people would receive a message from “Mum”.
According to a statement by the company, the change “was intended as a fun way of engaging festival-goers”. Unfortunately though, many people took exception to receiving the message. Among them people whose Mums had died. Some of them had lost her in just the few weeks before the message went out.
When people complained to the company, the response wasn’t sympathetic. It wasn’t until later they issued a statement saying they acknowledged the message might not have been appropriate for everyone.
The apology wasn’t enough though, and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued the company a £70,000 fine last week. In a press release, the ICO said “This was a poorly thought out piece of marketing that didn’t appear to even try to follow the rules or consider the impact that their actions would have on the privacy of individuals.”
Anyone that runs a marketing campaign using electronic means needs to abide by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Most of the fines you hear issued have to do with spamming text messages to people who have not opted into receive them. But Parklife specifically violated the regulations by changing the name of the sender to be something other than the company. The result was a deceptive marketing campaign and Parklife was ordered to pay the fine.
Text message marketing is very effective, quick, and works for just about any industry. But this case underlines how important it is to be aware of the regulations regarding the marketing messages you send. The ICO has put together some guidance on helping organisations understand the regulations on its website.
If you’re considering a text message marketing campaign, don’t be put off. Give us a call and we’d be happy to help you understand what you need to know for your particular campaign.
Related Articles
ICO issues a huge fine for massive illegal SMS campaign
ICO, the Information Commissioner's Office, has recently imposed a huge fine on direct marketing company Help Direct UK for sending illegal SMS messages.
Hefty fines for companies not following opt in SMS messaging policies
5 Key Points to Ensure Your SMS Marketing is GDPR Compliant
GDPR: Here’s What You Need to Know for Your SMS Messaging
The UK may be leaving the EU, but the GDPR is still coming. Find out what it means for your business, and your SMS messaging, in our post that looks ahead and reviews the ICO guidance to prepare for the new rules.
Can You Send Anyone a Text Message?
Can you send SMS messages to whoever you like whenever you like? If that's what you believe read this article which explains what restrictions apply to broadcast messaging, what is the best way to build a permission based SMS marketing list. Understand that and you can safely make a start.
3 Reasons Why Enterprises Shouldn’t Build Their Own SMS Gateways
Enterprises are large companies. Sometimes that means they think they should be able to do everything themselves. But when it comes to SMS messaging, building an in-house gateway is more difficult than you might think. Read why finding a good SMS service provider is a better option.
SMS Marketing – Steering Clear of Spamming and Harassment
Executed properly, SMS direct marketing is a hugely effective and successful means of building customer loyalty and improving sales. But even genuine and honest marketing companies can suffer huge damage to reputation or even break the law through simply lacking knowledge or not double-checking before releasing campaigns. Read this article to learn more about the definitions of spamming and harassment, current UK law and how to avoid simple but costly mistakes.
SMS Marketing – Should You Buy a List?
Starting an SMS marketing campaign can be a daunting task. Gathering explicit opt ins can take time, as you need to make an investment in advertising. So why not just get a jumpstart and buy a list of mobile numbers from an organisation that already has the opt ins? You could do that, but it’s probably harder than just getting people to opt in on their own. Here’s why.
4 Simple Steps to Staying Compliant When Using SMS Messaging
Yet another company (Quigley and Carter Limited) have been fined by the ICO for not having permission to send SMS messages. In this case, they had outsourced their marketing to a third party who then sent messages on their behalf. So is staying compliant with the regulations regarding SMS messaging so difficult? It doesn’t have to be.