Compliance Operating Model

Ad-hoc compliance fails under stress. Roles, processes, cadence.

Why compliance operating model

Ad-hoc compliance fails under stress. Operating model with documented processes, ownership, and cadence handles risk proactively.

Roles

• Chief Compliance Officer (large companies).
• Marketing compliance lead.
• Legal counsel partnership.
• Privacy officer.
• Cross-functional compliance committee.
• External compliance counsel.

Processes

• Review process for new campaigns.
• Substantiation file maintenance.
• Audience targeting compliance.
• Disclosure language approval.
• Privacy compliance.
• Annual compliance audit.
• Incident response.

Cadence

• Real-time: anomaly detection.
• Per-campaign: pre-launch review.
• Quarterly: compliance committee.
• Annual: full audit + training.
• Ad-hoc: incident response.

Advanced playbook

• Documented compliance operating model.
• Cross-functional ownership.
• Annual training.
• Annual compliance audit.
• Quarterly committee.
• Pre-launch review process.
• Substantiation file system.
• Incident response playbook.
• Industry standard monitoring.
• Legal partnership ongoing.

Mistakes

• Compliance operating model absent.
• Cross-functional ownership unclear.
• Annual training skipped.
• Annual audit absent.
• Quarterly committee missing.
• Pre-launch review skipped.
• Substantiation files missing.
• Incident response playbook absent.
• Industry monitoring weak.
• Legal partnership reactive.

Checklist

• Documented compliance operating model
• Cross-functional ownership
• Annual training
• Annual compliance audit
• Quarterly committee
• Pre-launch review process
• Substantiation file system
• Incident response playbook
• Industry standard monitoring
• Legal partnership ongoing

Part of the Marketing Ethics & Compliance series.