Building a pre-launch compliance sign-off checklist

# Building a pre-launch compliance sign-off checklist

A UK energy supplier once launched a "guaranteed savings" campaign three days before the regulator ruled the savings claim couldn't be substantiated for a third of the target customers. The ads were pulled, the fine followed, and the marketing team spent the next quarter rebuilding trust with Ofgem (the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets, Great Britain's energy regulator). The gap wasn't creative talent. It was the absence of a stage-gate between "creative looks great" and "media goes live."

This lesson builds that gate.

Why energy marketing needs its own gate

Energy is a "priority sector" for consumer protection regulators because it's a near-universal essential service with historically low switching rates and customers who often can't easily verify technical claims (like "100% renewable" or "reduces your carbon footprint by X%"). That combination invites scrutiny that consumer goods marketing rarely faces.

Three regulatory layers typically apply to a supplier campaign, whether in the US or Europe:

• Sector-specific energy rules: set by bodies like Ofgem (UK), the state Public Utility Commissions (US, e.g. California Public Utilities Commission), or national energy regulators under EU frameworks.
• General advertising and consumer protection law: the FTC (Federal Trade Commission, US) Act's ban on "unfair or deceptive acts," the UK's Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations, or the EU's Unfair Commercial Practices Directive.
• Environmental/green claims rules: the FTC's Green Guides, the UK CMA's (Competition and Markets Authority) Green Claims Code, and the EU's Green Claims Directive (in development as of 2026, building on the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive).

A campaign can pass creative and brand review and still fail all three.

The stage-gate: five checkpoints

Think of this as a relay race. Each checkpoint has an owner, a pass/fail standard, and a paper trail. No campaign moves to media buy without a signed (or logged) approval at every gate.

Gate 1: Claims substantiation

Owner: Legal/Regulatory Affairs, with input from the technical or sustainability team.

Every factual claim in the campaign needs a documented, contemporaneous evidence file *before* launch, not after a challenge. This includes:

• Price and savings claims ("save up to £200 a year", "lock in your rate")
• Environmental claims ("net zero", "100% green energy", "carbon neutral")
• Comparative claims against named or implied competitors

The UK CMA's Green Claims Code sets a useful universal test even outside the UK: claims must be truthful, accurate, substantiated, and not omit or hide important information. If a claim relies on a carbon offset scheme, the offset methodology needs to be named and defensible, not just asserted.

Fail condition: any claim without a dated substantiation document attached in the compliance file.

Gate 2: Fair-treatment and vulnerable-customer review

Owner: Compliance, with Customer ExperienceCustomer ExperienceThe overall perception a customer forms of your brand across every interaction, from first touch to post-purchase support.Voir la définition complète → sign-off.

Energy regulators enforce specific fair-treatment duties because energy is essential and disconnection has safety implications. In the UK, Ofgem's Standards of Conduct require suppliers to treat customers fairly, including in marketing. In the US, state commissions often mandate protections against slamming (switching a customer's supplier without consent) and cramming (adding unauthorized charges).

Checklist items:

• Does the campaign target or exclude customers on the Priority Services Register (UK) or equivalent vulnerable-customer categories (elderly, disabled, low-income) in a way that could be discriminatory?
• Are terms like "fixed", "variable", "guaranteed" used consistently with the contract terms a customer will actually receive?
• Is there a cooling-off period disclosure where legally required (commonly 14 days under EU/UK distance-selling rules)?

Fail condition: any campaign mechanic that pressures immediate sign-up without clear disclosure of cancellation rights.

Gate 3: Regulatory notification and licence conditions

Owner: Regulatory Affairs.

Energy supply licences often carry specific marketing conditions. For example, Ofgem's licence conditions require certain information (like the supplier's name, the tariff's actual cost) to be presented clearly and prominently, not buried in footnotes. In the US, some states require advance filing or approval of retail energy marketing materials, particularly in deregulated markets like Texas (regulated by the Public Utility Commission of Texas) or the competitive retail markets in the Northeast.

Checklist items:

• Does this state/country require pre-filing or notification of the campaign?
• Does the campaign comply with licence-specific disclosure formatting (font size, placement, required disclaimers)?
• Has the sales channel (door-to-door, telemarketing, digital) triggered a separate rule set (e.g., US Telephone Consumer Protection Act for calls/texts)?

Useful reference: the FTC's guidance on energy marketing and the Telemarketing Sales Rule for US-facing campaigns.

Gate 4: Data and consent compliance

Owner: Data Protection Officer / Privacy Counsel.

Smart meter data, usage patterns, and customer segmentationcustomer segmentationDividing a market into distinct groups of customers who share similar needs, characteristics or behaviours, so each group can be served with a tailored approach.Voir la définition complète → used for targeted energy offers are personal data under GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation, EU/UK) and subject to the FTC Act and state privacy laws (e.g., California Consumer Privacy Act) in the US.

Checklist items:

• Is the targeting logic (e.g., "target high-usage households with solar upsell") built only on lawfully consented or legitimate-interest data?
• Are opt-out and unsubscribe mechanisms tested and functional before go-live?
• If AI-driven personalization or dynamic pricingdynamic pricingAutomatically adjusting prices in real time based on demand, competition or user behaviour to optimise revenue, margin or conversion.Voir la définition complète → messaging is used, is there a documented explanation of the logic, given increasing regulatory attention to automated decision-making?

Gate 5: Media and channel-specific final check

Owner: Brand/Media team, with Legal co-sign.

The last gate before go-live catches format-specific issues that earlier gates might miss:

• Broadcast: does the ad meet advertising standards body rules (UK: ASA, Advertising Standards Authority; US: NAD, National Advertising Division)?
• Paid social: are platform-specific disclosure requirements met (e.g., Meta's political/issue ad rules if the campaign touches energy policy topics like net zero)?
• Influencer/affiliate: are FTC endorsement guidelines followed (clear "#ad" disclosure)?
• Print/direct mail: is small print legible and does it meet minimum font-size rules where mandated?

Fail condition: media booking confirmed before this gate's sign-off is logged.

A simple sign-off log structure

A minimal but auditable format, one row per claim or asset:

Campaign: Winter Fixed-Rate Promo 2026
Asset ID: WFR26-Digital-04
Claim: "Save up to £180/year vs. standard variable tariff"
Substantiation doc: WFR26-calc-v3.xlsx (dated 2026-01-14)
Gate 1 sign-off: J. Alavi, Legal — approved 2026-01-15
Gate 2 sign-off: R. Osei, Compliance — approved 2026-01-16
Gate 3 sign-off: N/A (no pre-filing required, state: TX)
Gate 4 sign-off: M. Chen, DPO — approved 2026-01-16
Gate 5 sign-off: Pending media booking

This isn't bureaucracy for its own sake. If a regulator later asks "what did you know, and when," this log is the answer.

🎬 [VIDEO: "How the FTC Regulates Advertising Claims" - youtube.com - search for FTC or Federal Trade Commission explainer videos on advertising substantiation requirements, a clear primer on the legal standard behind Gate 1]