NO
Jane Asscher, managing partner and founder, 23red
This will leave a nasty taste in the mouths of charitable organisations. Theirs is the most fragmented and difficult of all UK markets: a battleground where they already fight for every penny. The changes to the codes of practice will escalate fighting, and communications goals will be dominated by critiquing competitors.
Admittedly, some NGOs have been protected from commercial pressures and badly mismanaged, so greater accountability is desirable. However, small regional charities, which have high administrative costs due to their size, may be more vulnerable.
The codes might also prompt a series of public spats in which the real losers will be the very people the charities aim to help. A war of words over stats might increase professionalism, but the proposed codes are inimical to the spirit of collaboration and partnership the charity sector must strive for. The planned codes will nurture a tit-for-tat culture that is not in the interest of charities or donors.
NO
Ian Armstrong, Manager, European communications, Honda
It's funny, human emotion; it moves around and flits from one thing to another, depending on the stimulus we receive. It takes us from the highest of highs to the deepest of lows in a nanosecond as a result of seeing a child laugh or cry, and yet forms all of our attitudes and feelings about something.
This is a very competitive and sophisticated sector chasing our charitable pound and, as consumers, we have to make decisions about who should benefit from our emotional response.
The ads are expertly designed to play on feelings so that we dig deep and offer our sponsorship and endorsement. I don't think it is right to see ads comparing how many lives have been saved or people helped for one charity versus another. As with all advertising, brands should spend their money on convincing people why they should buy their brand and not why they shouldn't buy another. Comparative advertising reminds me of bickering politicians and my emotional response to them is to not even give them my attention, never mind any money.
NO
Simon Massey, Managing director, The Gild
I understand the argument that allowing comparative advertising for charities will encourage greater transparency and openness to the public, and that can only be a good thing.
I don't want the money I donate to be wasted. I never donate through street fundraisers because they take a cut; I don't think many people know that.
Yet, clarity and honesty do not have to be enforced by a culture of 'we'd better sort ourselves out before a competitor charity exposes us'.
I know it's a tough time to raise money, but donating to a charity should be about belief in and supporting a cause. Yes, I want to know that my money is being spent wisely, so charities should declare how much in every £1 raised goes directly to the cause, in the same way that the alcohol industry has to declare ABV.
However, resorting to comparative practices could get dirty and demean the whole sector. Encourage me to support you by telling me you're having an effect, but not by criticising your equally worthwhile charity cousins.
NO
Richard Morris, Managing director, Identica
Charities hold the moral high ground, and that's a position they should not give up lightly. So why, as a group, are they so keen to cheapen the issues they fight for?
Look at 'chuggers' - the hordes of them who line Tottenham Court Road every day shouting 'Don't you care about the children?' at me might be 'effective' at getting income in, but they do nothing to further the brand values of the cause they represent.
Charities' apparent determination to indulge in rounds of playground finger-pointing of the 'we're holier than them' variety will, in the long term, only make the organisations doing it look cheap and undermine their ideals.
If there is one area of marketing that should be unfailingly positive, raise the debate, and make people care about the issue in general, as well as the brand in particular, the charity sector has got to be it. Don't let us all down by having a go at the 'competition'.
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