Compliance, Ethics, and Marketing Performance Measurement
Compliance is built into the creative
Financial marketing is governed by rules a candidate must apply directly to a draft ad.
- UDAAP (Dodd-Frank/CFPB): unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices - the catch-all. Deception turns on the net impression of the whole ad, including fine print and images, from the reasonable consumer's perspective.
- Reg DD (Truth in Savings): if a deposit ad states a rate, it must state the APY; when APY appears, disclose the time period, variable-rate status, minimum balance to obtain the APY, and minimum opening deposit. Free or no-fee claims cannot be used if a maintenance or activity fee applies.
- Reg Z (credit advertising): trigger terms - down payment amount or percentage, payment amount, number of payments or repayment period, finance charge - require the APR and related disclosures.
- Deposit insurance: include Member FDIC and never imply non-deposit products are insured.
- Fair lending: ECOA/Reg B and the Fair Housing Act bar discouraging or targeting on a prohibited basis; housing-related credit ads need the Equal Housing Lender statement or logotype.
- Privacy and outreach: GLBA notices and opt-outs, TCPA consent and do-not-call rules, CAN-SPAM.
Ethics goes beyond legality: transparent pricing, no dark patterns, and heightened care with vulnerable and older customers.
Measurement closes the loop: a KPI set tied to objectives (leads, conversion, funded accounts, retention, share of wallet, brand awareness), attribution plus holdout/incrementality tests to avoid claiming credit for sales that would have occurred anyway, and ROMI = (incremental profit − marketing cost) ÷ marketing cost.
Worked example: a $150,000 campaign produces 500 new accounts worth $600 first-year contribution each, or $300,000. ROMI = ($300,000 − $150,000) ÷ $150,000 = 100%. Validate against a holdout group before declaring the lift real.
Trap: reporting attributable revenue as incremental revenue.