tonic portman group sponsorship consultation
TRANSCRIPT
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Portman Group Consultation
Defining and Identifying Recognisable
Commitment in Alcohol Sponsorship
March 2013
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CONTENTS
SECTION 1 – INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 3
SECTION 2 – CONSULTATION QUESTIONS 7
SECTION 3 – THE CONSULATION PROCESS 8
APPENDICES (separate documents)
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SECTION 1 – INTRODUCTION AND
BACKGROUND
The Portman Group
1. The Portman Group is the social responsibility organisation for UK drink’s
producers1. Our role is:
To regulate the promotion and packaging of alcoholic drinks sold or
marketed in the UK through our Code of Practice;
To challenge and encourage the industry to market its products
responsibly;
To show leadership on best practice in alcohol social responsibility
through the actions of member companies.
The Portman Group Code of Practice on Responsible Naming,
Packaging and Promotion of Alcoholic Drinks (the Code)
2. The Code was introduced in 1996 and is designed to ensure that alcohol
marketing is responsible. The Code applies to a drink’s naming,
packaging and certain below-the-line promotional activities such as
branded merchandise and sponsorship.
3. Regular review is one of the features of good self-regulation. The fourth
review of the Code, initiated in October 2011 with a full 12-week public
consultation, will result in a revised Code, which will become effective in
May 2013.
4. As part of the review we asked some questions about alcohol sponsorship:
Should we produce more detailed instructions on what constitutes
responsible sponsorship? If so, should this be in the form of binding
rules within the Code or as a stand-alone sponsorship Code?
Should the Code have a binding requirement that companies build a
commitment to social responsibility into their sponsorship agreements?
How should any such requirement be worded in the Code?
1 The Portman Group member companies are: AB InBev, Bacardi Brown-Forman Brands, C&C Group, Carlsberg UK, Diageo
Great Britain, Heineken UK, Molson Coors UK, Pernod Ricard UK and SHS Drinks.
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5. There was majority support from respondents for the introduction of a
binding sponsorship Code and a commitment to social responsibility in
sponsorship agreements. Furthermore, there was overwhelming support
that the new rule should be supported with detailed guidance based on
case studies2.
6. We committed to embarking on a separate consultation exercise
concerning any new rule. By making a commitment to social responsibility
binding it will bring greater consistency between the Portman Group’s
Sponsorship Code and the Scottish Government and Alcohol Industry
Partnership’s (SGAIP) Alcohol Sponsorship Guidelines for Scotland,
whose signatories have been bound by a similar requirement since the
introduction of those guidelines in 2009.
7. The rule on recognisable commitment is the new element of the proposed
Code. The other rules in the Sponsorship Code are entirely consistent with
the existing Portman Group Code on Naming and Packaging and the
changes following the recent public consultation and comprehensive
review. The rules disallow, amongst other things, sponsorship of
individuals, teams or events which have a particular appeal to under-18s
or are associated with sexual success, immoderate consumption, etc.
8. In August 2011, Ipsos MORI was commissioned to conduct an
independent review of the Alcohol Sponsorship Guidelines for Scotland.
The new rule and guidance are consistent with their recommendations3.
9. Building on these two comprehensive reviews, this consultation is
specifically focused on the new binding rule on recognisable commitment,
and its supporting example based guidance.
10. All companies that are signatories4 to the Code of Practice, as well as
rights holders5, will be invited to comment on the proposed new rule. Due
to the tightly defined and technical nature of the issue being considered,
the consultation will run over a four-week period only.
2 Tonic Consultants’ analysis of the consultation responses and recommendations along with all non-
confidential responses to the consultation, can be found on our website http://www.portmangroup.co.uk/?pid=44&level=2 3 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0038/00389235.pdf 4 In addition to Portman Group member companies, there are over 140 Code signatories including
producers, importers, wholesalers, retailers and trade associations. 5 A rights holder is any individual or legal entity owning the relevant rights in the sponsorship property
and receiving direct or indirect support from a sponsor in relation to the sponsorship property.
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The Recognisable Commitment Rule
11. The vast majority of alcohol companies engaged in major sponsorships
already promote responsible drinking as an integral part of their
sponsorship. Making this a binding requirement will ensure that all alcohol
producers, as a minimum, look to promote responsible drinking in some
form, regardless of the size, scale and reach of the sponsorship.
12. For the purposes of the Portman Group’s new Alcohol Sponsorship Code,
we are defining ‘recognisable commitment’ as follows:
As an integral part of each new alcohol sponsorship, producers must
ensure there is a recognisable commitment to promoting responsible
drinking and / or supporting diversionary / community activities6;
taking into account the size, scale, reach, and length of the
sponsorship.
13. The requirement has been worded so that it is meaningful but not
disproportionately onerous. It should help to encourage responsible
behaviour by consumers and demonstrate the industry’s commitment to
social responsibility.
Identifying Recognisable Commitment
14. The Sponsorship Code is intended to apply to all drinks producers
engaging in sponsorship, regardless of their size; much like the Portman
Group Code on Naming and Packaging, which applies to all drinks
producers, regardless of size.
15. So that the recognisable commitment requirement is not disproportionately
onerous on small companies/sponsors we have suggested examples of
responsibility commitments which even small companies/sponsors can
promote; some of the resources are freely available to download or obtain.
A company can choose to do some or all the activity tailored to their
specific event (see Appendix A; separate document).
6 Diversionary/community activity means any activity or intervention that diverts people from anti-
social activities into pro-social, organised and constructive activities by either preventing them from falling into such activity or as a route out of such activities towards more positive lifestyle behaviours.
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16. Recognising that all sponsorships are unique, we have deliberately used
the size, scale, reach and length of a sponsorship as the marker by which
similar sponsorships can be compared.
17. We also recognise that the type of sponsorship should be taken into
account, and that the commitment should be tailored to the activity. For
example, it would seem more appropriate to promote a ‘don’t drink and
drive message’ as part of rurally-located sponsorship than a city-based
sponsorship.
18. We have used real and illustrative examples of sponsorships and set out
the activities the company undertook as part of that sponsorship7 to
promote responsible drinking and/or support community/diversionary
activities. These examples act as reference points against which others
can assess their sponsorships and commitments. For example, if a case
study features a company which ran a dedicated responsible drinking
campaign and supported grassroots activity as part of a three year sports
sponsorship deal with national reach, another sponsorship which was
similar in every respect would be unlikely to be meeting its responsibility
commitments if it placed a responsible drinking message only on its point-
of-sale material. The Panel will also use the examples as the basis for
considering if a company has met its commitments. (see separate
attachment for Appendix B8).
19. Our aim is to build a library of case studies to showcase responsibility
initiatives. If you have sponsorship activity you would like to share, and be
included in our online library, please complete the blank template
(Appendix C, see separate attachment).
7 See Appendix B, page 11 for examples of responsible sponsorship initiatives
8 All the examples are real sponsorships with the exception of Case Study 8 and 9 which have been
created for the purposes of this consultation.
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SECTION 2 – CONSULTATION QUESTIONS
1. Do you agree with the way we have sought to define recognisable
commitment? If not, please state why with alternative suggestions. 2. Do you agree that all drinks companies entering into new sponsorship
agreements should be required to promote responsible drinking, and as such that even small sponsors should commit to promoting some degree of responsible drinking using the example commitments set out in Appendix A? Is there anything else we should include as examples in Appendix A?
3. Do you agree with the way we have set out guidance using the real and
illustrative examples in Appendix B? If you have case studies you would like to be included on our website please use the blank document in Appendix C and email to [email protected].
* Please note that appendices have been sent as separate documents.
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SECTION 3 – THE CONSULTATION PROCESS
Thank you for taking the time to read this document: we would appreciate your views
on the proposed rule and definition as set out above. We prefer to receive
responses as e-mail attachments. Please send your response to
[email protected]. If you are unable to reply by e-mail, you may
submit your response by post or fax to:
Code Consultation Team
The Portman Group
4th Floor
20 Conduit Street
London
W1S 2XW
Fax: +44 (0)20 7290 1470
In the interests of transparency, we intend to publish all consultation responses on our website, www.portmangroup.org.uk. If all or any specified part of your response is confidential and should not be disclosed, please state this clearly at the beginning of your response document. 1. The consultation ends on 12 April 2013. 2. In light of the comments received, the Portman Group will prepare a separate
Alcohol Sponsorship Code. It is hoped that the first edition of the Code will be published in May/June.
3. Whenever the Code is published, there will be a grace period of at least six
months before new sponsorships are required to comply with the new Code.
4. If you have any questions about this consultation or need advice on the form of the response please contact Kay Perry on 020 7290 1465 or by email at [email protected]