June 3, 2014
Recently I had the opportunity to chat with some competition law colleagues about some of the ways Canadian and international competition/antitrust agencies were increasingly using social media, video and other digital channels for compliance and outreach. After this conversation, I became a bit curious about just what some of the leading competition agencies were up to and so did a quick sweep earlier today to take a look.
Below are some of the results, with some of the leading competition agencies using a surprising (at least to me) range of media including alphabets, apps, blogs, cartoons (and manga!), toolkits, contests, vertical (i.e., industry specific) websites and video, among other things.
While by no means a complete survey (particularly given the fact that over 100+ countries have competition law now and the explosion of resources over the past 4-5 years), below are some of the more interesting competition law compliance and awareness resources I came across on my sweep earlier (and recently).
Alphabets (Competition Glossaries): New Zealand ComCom: Jargon Buster. I am a bit of a softie for “alphabets” – here are links to my own competition, advertising and contest law glossaries: here, here and here.
Apps: For example: Australian ACCC: ACCC Shopper App.
Blogs: Singapore CCS: CCS Blog; U.S. FTC: FTC Blogs.
Cartoons & Manga: European Commission: Competition in Europe – It’s Your Deal; Singapore CCS: Competition Law “Manga”. Apparently, cartoons are not merely for kids and, if I may say so, I thought the European Commission’s recent graphic was particularly good (and I gather Singapore’s “manga” series are geared to a more distinctly Asian graphic appetite).
Compliance Toolkits: International Chamber of Commerce (ICC): ICC Antitrust Compliance Toolkit. This one caught my eye a little while back, and I now see that several competition / antitrust agencies have posted it on their sites as well.
Contests & Competitions: I’ve seen a few regulatory agencies run different types of consumer generated contests and competitions over the last little while (ranging from graphic to essay entries) to generate competition law and policy awareness. I thought this was quite a good idea – if contests are great to generate brand awareness and buzz for brands, why not for competition law and compliance? Here are several that caught my eye recently: Singapore CCS: Digital Animation Contest; OECD: paper competition.
e-learning modules: Singapore CCS: Interactive Learning / e-learning Modules.
Multi-media: Canadian Competition Bureau: Multi-Media Tools (including bid-rigging detection tools).
Social media: Many (if not most) competition/antitrust agencies are now using or have recently adopted social media. Here are a few links from some of the key agencies: Australian ACCC: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube; Canadian Competition Bureau: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn (Commissioner of Competition); European Commission: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube; Irish Competition Authority: Twitter; New Zealand ComCom: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube; Singapore CCS: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube; U.S. FTC: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn; U.S. DoJ: Facebook.
Targeted Competition Compliance: Many competition/antitrust agencies are increasingly segmenting their competition compliance and awareness materials into key categories (e.g., for businesses, small business, consumers, etc.). One interesting one that caught my eye on my sweep earlier includes this one from the Australian ACCC (a 12 part online course) geared to “future business leaders”: Online “Tertiary Education Program”.
Vertical sites: More competition/antitrust authorities are producing industry or sector specific resources. In addition to guidelines, one very interesting one in this regard that recently caught my eye was a stand-alone construction industry site launched by New Zealand’s Commerce Commission. It seemed to me that with periodic construction-related investigations or inquiries in a number of countries, including Canada, South Africa and New Zealand, that this was a very good potential initiative for competition authorities. Here is a link to the New Zealand’s construction industry related site: Construction Site.
Video: Competition/antitrust agencies are increasingly incorporating video, including YouTube pages, into their communications and compliance strategies. Here are some key ones from a few of the leading agencies: Australian ACCC: ACCC YouTube Videos (I particularly like “The Marker”), Consumer Videos; Canadian Competition Bureau: Promoting Corporate Compliance, Anti-cartel Day Video and Fraud Prevention Videos (these are all new from the Canadian Competition Bureau – and I hope the Bureau continues its video initiative); U.S. FTC: U.S. FTC Video; Singapore CCS: Corporate Competition Law Videos, CNA Money Mind Episodes.
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