International and Multicultural Promotions
Many Marden-Kane clients sponsor promotion campaigns worldwide. We're frequently asked to take a U.S.-based sweepstakes, contest, or game, and help to deploy it in select foreign countries based on our clients' promotion marketing plans. Doing so requires that Marden-Kane have the deep knowledge base and experience to conduct a contest in Sydney as easily as a sweepstakes in Cannes.

Compliance
International promotions have many moving parts, such as eligibility, privacy, data handling, rights management, and prizing, to name a few, which can vary by country. What's legal in the United States may not be directly transferable to other countries. We guide our clients through the legal maze of foreign laws and regulations that apply to promotions. We accomplish this in a timely manner by utilizing our internal knowledge accumulated from running multiple international promotions, as well as partnering with our international network of attorneys who specialize in advertising and promotion marketing law.

Getting Started
First, we'll author Official Rules for the promotion based on United States law and regulations; then our international network of legal experts review and comment on the rules. Based on their feedback we modify the rules for compliance and if necessary assist our client with any required registrations. When the occasional boulder in the road impedes our progress we seek solutions by customizing the promotion.

Customization
If after legal review we learn that the U.S.-based version of the promotion does not translate 100% to a foreign jurisdiction we'll work closely with the client, their legal department and our U.S. and foreign counsel to find a satisfactory solution.

We may need to customize a project further given that the privacy and data handling regulations in some foreign countries are considerably stricter than the U.S. This makes contacting and clearing potential winners more challenging. Our promotion management systems are tailored to address notification requirements by country. We make sure your winner gets to the award ceremony on time.

Few promotion marketers have the depth of experience or resources that Marden-Kane has conducting promotions outside the U.S. And to make all this work, our team speaks, writes and moderates in many languages.

Language and Translation
Language is a primary consideration in international sweepstakes and contests. A single language cannot be used in most campaigns, and it is not practical to fully address the specific language challenges within some countries. For example, there are between six and twelve main regional variations of the Chinese languages and India has 22 languages. In some countries, using their native language is a legal requirement. We recommend the best options to manage costs and timing in each country while meeting legal requirements.

Cultural Nuances
The creative idea, the concept name and any related promotional materials must be thoroughly evaluated for potential hidden meaning, unintended humor, or worse, offensive content. Cultural nuances are not limited to copy. The visual tone and manner, specifically design, symbolism, and aesthetics, sometimes do not transcend international boundaries. We provide guidelines to follow in the conceptual development phase of the campaign.

Effective Time Management
Coordinating the versions of rules and the translations in multiple geographic areas adds time to the schedule. We anticipate this. We keep it to a minimum and, at the same time, avoid problems by submitting rules that already deal with the customary variations. This permits us to make an industry-leading claim to be able to authenticate most international rules in 2-4 weeks.

See More International and Multicultural Resources.