This Ethical Marketing Policy supports our commitment to follow the highest standards in our industry.

1. Scope

The Ethical Marketing Policy (the ‘Policy’) applies to S4 Capital plc and to all subsidiaries in which it holds, directly or indirectly, a majority shareholding or exercises effective control, collectively called ‘Media.Monks’ or the ‘Company’. 

This Policy sets out our commitment to follow the highest standards of ethical marketing in our industry. The practices outlined in this Policy govern how we interact with our clients, employees, audience and partners. It is applicable to individuals working full time or part time at all levels within the Company, as well as those performing work for the Company such as agency workers, self-employed contractors, part-time and fixed-term employees and interns, collectively referred to as our ‘Colleagues’.

2. Introduction 

At Media.Monks, our mission as a new age, tech-led digital advertising and marketing agency drives our commitment to transparent, honest, and ethical behaviour in all our business relationships. 

We aim to provide genuine value to our stakeholders and to ensure that we build long-lasting, beneficial and equitable relationships. We have adopted this Ethical Marketing Policy to set out the commitments that govern the way we interact with our customers, employees, partners, and the legal and regulatory authorities in the countries where we operate. We believe that It fosters ethical marketing practices and helps all of our employees make informed decisions. 

Building on the integrity standards described in our Global Code of Conduct and the sustainability vision and strategy in our [ESG Mission Statement], these Ethical Marketing Commitments demonstrate our ambition to increase positive added value through our creative work while achieving our business goals.

3. Our Commitments 

3.1 Honesty and Transparency 

We strive to clearly communicate the value of the product or service without exaggerating claims or in any way misleading the audience, in both our external and internal campaigns. We avoid overstating impact by inflating numbers, withholding negative information or highlighting specific data points that are not representative of a campaign’s overall impact. We encourage our clients to adhere to these practices in ensuring that no misleading, false or unsubstantiated claims are made during the promotion of a product or service. 

We take a zero-tolerance approach to advertising being placed in conjunction with or adjacent to harmful, fraudulent, untruthful content, or any content in breach of copyright laws. 

3.2 Culturally Sensitive Campaigns 

We seek to encourage, foster, and maintain cultural awareness and inclusiveness in our marketing campaigns in relation to any local cultures with which we interact. For example – we have published a Practical Guide to Inclusive Marketing to support any teams wishing to strengthen their inclusive marketing efforts. 

We avoid exploitation, appropriation or stereotyping of underrepresented or oppressed people or groups as part of our marketing content. We reject digital promotions of our campaigns on platforms that do not meet our standards for equity and inclusion. 

We request feedback on the appropriateness and sensitivity of our marketing content by engaging our target audience via surveys and interviews and obtaining stakeholder input where possible. Our Marketing team regularly publishes blog posts aiming to increase awareness on cultural sensitivity and inclusion, and we have designed relevant internal training accessible to all Colleagues. 

3.3 Data Privacy 

We are materially compliant with data privacy standards in the jurisdictions in which we work and follow strict measures to ensure the security of personal data collected, processed, disseminated and stored. Please refer to our Data Privacy Policy for more information. 

We maintain the trust of our clients, customers and other third parties by our engagement and restricting communication to content related to their original opt-ins. We never directly market to contacts who have unsubscribed or expressed no interest in our services, nor do we recommend this to our clients. 

To preserve the integrity of our systems, all Colleagues are required to complete a mandatory Security Awareness Course which includes data security (POC security.monks@mediamonks.com). 

3.4 Ethical Search Engine Optimization 

We aim to improve our search rankings on search engine results pages in an ethical way by using unpaid, merit-based links derived from our relationships and partnerships, and by providing valuable and useful content. 

We commit to web design industry standard accessibility levels when possible to ensure customers can understand, navigate and interact with our site equally. 

We do not encourage the use of any manipulative or unethical marketing tactics including purchasing links, keyword stuffing, misdirection or automated link building.

3.5 Ethical Media Placement 

We do no encourage placing Media Placements on websites and/or mobile applications (unless explicitly requested by a client) that can contain or be linked to content that is (including but not limited to): 

• obscene, indecent or pornographic (including child pornography); 
• hateful, threatening, harassing, abusive or violent; 
• liable to incite racial hatred or other forms of unlawful discrimination;
• liable to incite acts of terrorism; excessive profanity; related to illegal drugs or drug paraphernalia; related to the sale of firearms, ammunition or other weapons; 
• defamatory or trade libellous; 
• related to the sale or promotion of counterfeit goods;
• infringing any third party’s Intellectual Property Rights, other proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy; 
• containing viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancel bots or other computer programming routines that are intended to damage, surreptitiously intercept, detrimentally interfere with or expropriate any system, data or personal data; 
• otherwise harmful, unlawful or illegal;
• fraudulent and/or are used for sourcing Non-Human and Fraudulent Traffic (including URLs (or web pages), or such other content that can be considered “blacklist content”.

4. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Statement 

AI has become a transformative technology with the potential to revolutionize the digital agency landscape. We view responsible and ethical use of AI to build trust with our clients and partners as crucial and therefore we endeavor to commit to the following principles: 

1. Human-Centric Approach: We endeavor to enhance the well-being and interests of individuals and society as a whole. In our view, AI systems are developed to augment human capabilities, enhance creativity, and provide value to our clients and partners. 
2. Fairness and Non-Discrimination: We are dedicated to ensuring fairness and non-discrimination in the development and deployment of AI systems. We strive to eliminate biases related to gender, race, or other protected characteristics and prejudices that may arise from data or algorithms. 
3. Transparency and Explainability: We do use AI in many parts of our organization. We aim to provide clear explanations of our AI systems, ensuring that our clients and partners understand the capabilities and limitations of the technology. We provide meaningful information about the data used, the algorithms employed, and the decision-making processes involved in our AI systems. 
4. Data Privacy and Security: We are devoted to protecting personal data and privacy. We materially adhere to all relevant data protection laws and regulations, ensuring that personal information is collected, stored, and processed securely. We endeavor to implement robust security measures to safeguard against unauthorised access, data breaches, and misuse of AI systems. 
5. Social and Environmental Impact: We commit to minimizing negative consequences, addressing societal challenges, promoting sustainability, and contributing to the well-being of communities through the responsible use of AI. 
6. Ethical Governance and Accountability: We endeavor to establish clear governance mechanisms to ensure the responsible and ethical use of AI. 
7. Continuous Learning and Improvement: We are dedicated to staying informed about the latest advancements, best practices, and ethical guidelines in AI. We encourage ongoing education and training for our employees to foster a culture of responsible AI use. We actively seek feedback from stakeholders and engage in open dialogue to continuously improve our ethical practices.

5. Training and Communication 

In addition to the training mentioned in Section 3, we will also provide ethical marketing training to all our Colleagues in the Marketing Team, our digital content creators, growth teams and client leads. We will also provide the training as part of the induction process for all new joiners. 

The Account Lead is responsible for ensuring all relevant Colleagues, both client-facing and execution-driven have agreed to the terms of the current Policy and have successfully completed any associated mandatory training. 

We will communicate this Policy to all third parties at the outset of any business relationship, and as appropriate thereafter.

6. Governance 

We all have a responsibility to uphold the Commitments highlighted in this Ethical Marketing Policy. 

The Sustainability Lead has an overall responsibility for this Policy and for reviewing the effectiveness of actions taken in response to any relevant issues or concerns raised. 

The Sustainability Lead and Client teams are also responsible for monitoring adherence to the Policy and implementing any operational processes required to improve its efficiency, including ensuring it is consistently aligned with industry ethical marketing standards. 

Information contained in this Policy (and compliance metrics where applicable) will be disclosed as needed in interim and annual business reports in accordance with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) to ensure transparency of our operational practices. 

We encourage stakeholders to provide their feedback on this Policy at ethicalmarketing@mediamonks.com. If you have any further questions about the Policy or concerns related to our Ethical Marketing Commitments, we encourage you to raise these with your manager listed in Workday, the Human Resources Team or the Compliance Team. For further information on raising concerns, you can also refer to the Speak Up Policy.