# The pre-launch compliance checklist before a campaign goes live
Three weeks before launch, the marketing director for a new watch collection gets a one-line email from legal: "We can't say 'investment-grade' anywhere in this campaign." The tagline, the press release, and the retailer talking points all use that exact phrase. Nobody had flagged it until the final review. This is what a pre-launch compliance check is for, and this is why it happens on a schedule, not by accident.
This lesson walks through that sequence using a mock brief for a fictional watch collection, "Méridien," launching across the US, EU, and UK.
Luxury marketing sits at the intersection of aspirational claims and hard consumer-protection law. A campaign that implies investment value, exaggerates craftsmanship, or uses a celebrity image without proper clearance can trigger regulatory action, retailer delisting, or reputational damage that outlasts the product cycle.
The relevant regulatory backdrop varies by market:
A single global campaign has to clear all three regimes at once. That's the job of the pre-launch checklist.
Assume this brief lands on your desk:
Each line item above needs a separate compliance pass. Let's go through them.
Every factual or implied claim needs a substantiation file, meaning documented evidence the company can produce if challenged.
"Appreciates in value": This is the highest-risk phrase in the brief. Unless the brand can prove a consistent, verifiable resale market performance (which almost no watchmaker can guarantee for a new release), this claim is misleading advertising under both FTC and UCPD standards. It gets cut or rewritten to something defensible, like "designed to be collected" (aspirational, not a value promise).
"Hand-finished": Needs a factual definition on file. If 80% of finishing is machine-assisted, "hand-finished" is a stretch claim that regulators and competitors (via industry self-regulation bodies) can challenge.
"Limited edition of 500": Must match actual production numbers, confirmed with manufacturing, in writing, before the number appears anywhere public. Overproduction after the claim is made is a classic false-scarcity violation.
"Water-resistant to 100 meters": This is a technical spec that must match ISO 22810 testing standards. Technical claims get routed to product compliance, not just marketing legal.
Rule of thumb: if a claim is measurable, get the measurement in writing before publishing. If it's aspirational language, make sure it can't be read as a factual promise.
Two separate rights issues sit inside one photo.
1. Photographer rights: Does the contract grant usage across all planned channels (social, print, retailer co-op, paid mediapaid mediaVisitors arriving via paid ads or sponsored placements, where you pay a platform to display your message rather than earning visits organically.Voir la définition complète →), all planned markets, and for the intended time period? A shoot licensed for "editorial use, one year, France only" cannot legally run as a paid Instagram ad in the US.
2. Talent/personality rights: The actor's contract needs to specify usage scope the same way. In several EU countries (notably Germany and France), personality rights are independently protected under civil law, meaning image misuse can trigger a claim even if the contract is ambiguous.
Check both against the media plan line by line before any asset goes to production.
The FTC's Endorsement Guides require that any "material connection" (payment, free product, or affiliate commission) between a brand and an influencer be clearly disclosed, close to the claim itself, not buried in a bio link.
In the UK, the ASA and Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) require similar disclosure, typically #ad, placed prominently.
In the EU, disclosure obligations run through each country's implementation of the UCPD, with similar prominence requirements.
For Méridien's influencer program, the checklist requires:
🎬 [VIDEO: "How the FTC Regulates Influencer Marketing" - youtube.com - search for FTC or IAB explainer content on endorsement disclosure rules and material connections]
A campaign approved for the US is not automatically compliant elsewhere. The adaptation pass checks:
| Element | US | France | Germany | UK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comparative claims ("finest in its class") | Generally allowed if substantiated | Restricted, needs objective proof | Restricted under unfair competition law | Must meet CAP Code substantiation rules |
| Price display in ads | Optional | Often required if price is mentioned | Price Indication Ordinance may apply | CAP Code pricing rules apply |
| Environmental claims ("sustainably sourced gold") | FTC Green Guides apply | UCPD plus French anti-greenwashing law | Strict substantiation under UWG | CMA Green Claims Code applies |
This is why a single "global" campaign almost always ships with local legal riders, meaning market-specific footnotes, disclaimers, or asset swaps layered onto the master creative.
Vérification des acquis
1. Why does the phrase 'the watch that appreciates as much as it impresses' create compliance risk?
2. Why does a single global luxury campaign need to be checked against the US, EU, and UK regimes separately rather than against one unified standard?
3. What is the main reason a pre-launch compliance check should happen on a fixed schedule rather than as an ad hoc final review?
4. Select ALL correct answers about the types of claims that pose heightened compliance risk in luxury marketing.
Sélectionnez toutes les réponses correctes.
5. Select ALL correct answers about the regulatory bodies/frameworks relevant to a campaign launching in the US, EU, and UK.
Sélectionnez toutes les réponses correctes.
By the time a campaign is cleared, it has typically passed through, in order:
1. Brand/marketing team: creative and positioningpositioningThe mental space you want your brand to occupy in your target customer's mind relative to alternatives.Voir la définition complète → review
2. Legal (claims and IP): substantiation file check, trademark clearance
3. Compliance/regulatory affairs: market-by-market rule check, especially for claims and disclosures
4. Talent and rights management: contract scope verification
5. Regional marketing leads: local adaptation and translation accuracy
6. Final sign-off: usually a named executive (often the CMO or general counsel) who is accountable if something goes wrong
Each step generates a dated approval record. This paper trail matters: if a regulator like the ASA or FTC later investigates, the company needs to show it exercised reasonable diligence, not just good intentions.
A useful reference for teams building this workflow is the ICC Advertising and Marketing Communications Code, a widely used self-regulatory framework that many national advertising bodies base their rules on.