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Concept Cheat Sheet

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Æ Concept CheatSheats: Explaining the nuances of a key concept.

Æ Technology CheatSheats: A comprehensive guide to a technology.

CheatSheats offer a quick and consumable overview of a key concept or technology. Our analysts develop these with one goal in mind; explain the concept or technology as if you were talking to your grandmother. It’s the quickest way to get acclimated to emerging business terms and impress your colleagues and your boss with your practical insights at your next meeting.

Inside a Concept CheatSheet

The Concept, Defined

Related Definitions

Related Business Outcomes

Relevant Technologies

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This CheatSheet is made available compliments of:

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The Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL)The Concept, Defined

The Canada Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) was passed into law on December 15, 2010 and became effective on July 1, 2014. CASL prohibits all commercial electronic messages (“CEMs”) from being sent without proper consumer consent, including e-mail, text, social media and image messages. Unlike the United States CAN-SPAM act which requires commercial email to include an ability to opt-out of future communications, CASL will actually require brands to capture opt-in permission before sending any commercial electronic communication to computers in Canada. Brands will also have to keep records of opt-in permission.

As SPAM laws continue to evolve and become more restrictive, they are really only a problem for the companies that abuse email marketing practices. When we look at our survey data, about 89% of brands still send email communications to recipients who haven’t opted in. Top Performers, however, use segmentation and targeting practices to maximize the relevance of those communications. It’s SPAM and it’s intrusive if the communication isn’t relevant for the recipient.

What you need to know

So what does all this really mean for your company and your marketing practices?

The CASL in a nutshell:

• After July 1, 2017, you will have to receive consent from a recipient of any electronic communication (including electronic requests for consent).

• The law is for computers located in Canada.

• Outside of express consent, a purchase is considered an exception, and brands have a 24-month period to engage buyers electronically. If the buyer does not make a new purchase or expressly opt in within that timeframe they cannot be contacted electronically after 24 months.

• Individuals have a private right of action against corporations starting July 1, 2017.

• You have 10 days to comply with an unsubscribe request.

Before July 1, 2017

• You have a grace period of 3 years after July 1, 2014, to start getting consent. During this period implied consent is sufficient.

• Implied consent is defined in a number of ways and includes personal or family relationships, inquiries, partially completed abandoned shopping carts, etc.

• If you obtain valid express consent before July 1, 2014, then that express consent remains valid after the legislation comes into force. It does not expire until the recipient withdraws their consent.

• You should use the grace period to attempt to receive express consent electronically (for anyone that falls under the “implied consent” category).

• Clean up your contact lists internally; accurate addresses will be very important in the future.

After July 1, 2017

• You must have express opt-in consent before sending electronic communications.

Entire content © 2014 Gleanster, LLC. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use or reproduction prohibited. Note: This document is intended for individual use. Electronic distribution via email or by posting on a personal website is in violation of the terms of use.

Concept CheatSheet: The Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) 2

COMPLIMENTS OF:

• If your business violates the law, individuals can bring suit against you in a private right to action.

• You must keep records of all consent – so that might require new contracts, agreements, and digital archiving practices to ensure that you are not in violation.

• You may be forced to return to phone, fax, and direct mail to communicate with individuals.

• You will continue to need an unsubscribe option in all communications.

• If you violate CASL, you may be required to pay a penalty called an AMP. The maximum amount of an AMP, per violation, is $1 million for an individual, and $10 million for a business.

• Directors, officers, and agents of a corporation can be liable if they directed, authorized, assented to, acquiesced in, or participated in the commission of the violation.

• If communications are delivered by an affiliate or partner who has input with respect to the content, all parties must be identified in the electronic message, or a link can be created whereby this information is readily accessible.

What this potentially means

What does the CASL mean for businesses? There are a variety of potential ramifications, which at this point are largely speculation. But this law could mean one or more of the following:

• Businesses may entice or reward opt-in consent with special offers or discounts.

• You can continue to promote your business via phone and direct mail, which may lead to an increased volume of direct mail in Canada.

• There will likely to be a handful litigious folks who will take advantage of mistakes or errors from brands that lead to shocking penalties. The ability for individuals to pursue cases makes it much harder for brands to abuse practices and avoid getting caught.

• Marketing infrastructure that is fragmented and disconnected will compound violations. Fragmented tools also make it nearly impossible to manage opt-in and opt-out preferences holistically. CMOs will seek centralized visibility into outbound communications, which may drive increased investments in comprehensive “Customer Experience” platforms in lieu of disconnected best-of-breed offerings.

• After July 1, 2014, the electronic opt-in lists on Canadian customers will contain highly engaged individuals, which could lead to more comprehensive customer segmentation and targeting practices. In other words, the results may shed some light on the types of individuals who have a propensity to engage with the brand – information that may be useful for other regions.

• Large brands may start to employ teams of CASL compliance individuals who would, in aggregate, be less costly than potential penalties from individual lawsuits. Over time, we are also likely to see larger penalties for companies that violate the law multiple times in a given time period.

• Brands will be forced to learn best practices that will result in more engaged recipients and therefore higher click-through rates and conversion rates (if communications and offers are relevant). Now that the law is forcing the investment in infrastructure to manage opt-in consent, the same infrastructure can be adopted across all regions.

Relevant Technologies

What technologies support this concept? Check out the links below to view the landscape of vendors (and related Gleanster Research content).

Remember that Gleansights contain analyst commentary and vendor rankings (based on end-user feedback) on all the relevant Solution Providers in a given Topic Area.

� Marketing Automation

� Email Marketing

� Campaign Management

� Multi-Channel Marketing

� Localized Marketing Automation