Sprint launched its new Compliancy Program in early July. Since then companies and agencies are scrambling through the Power Point and asking themselves if the Now Network is now too specific.
Sprint’s new attention to minor details and demands might be a bit too excessive for some. For example, the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) regulation for an opt out message is phrased as “text STOP 2 stop”. For Sprint users, however, the Carrier requires different language! This causes a small programming hiccup in that brands will need to setup the message flow for Sprint differently and since Sprint’s required language is longer than the MMA, Sprint users will be delivered less content from the brand. The larger issue with some of these new policies by Sprint is that the inconsistency of rules make our industry appear defragmented, conclusively making entering the mobile marketing world increasingly difficult and off putting.
In fact, specifications from the Now Network sometimes override the Consumer Best Practices (CPB) guidelines, a globally followed regulatory document created by the MMA. For example, the CBP guidelines state that renewal dates need not be mentioned (page 19), in the text to the user, Sprint demands its display (page 87).
Failure to follow these Now Network rules may lead to violations in Sprint’s Severity Violation System. This is a system where violations are rated 1 to 3, with 1 being major and 3 being minor. Violations lead to other unflattering procedures such as audits, which recently, Sprint has been dishing out quite generously. Some repeated violations may lead to termination of the short code.
All this leads me to ponder, if the majority of brands are already abiding by CBP guidelines, which are drafted by Aggregators, major Content Providers AND Carriers, will brands choose not to support Sprint as a participating carrier from their campaigns? I don’t think this will be case, but if individual Carriers begin drafting rules that conflict with what the Best Practices Guidelines say, then what is the value of that document? More importantly, when will the U.S. mobile market have consistency of services, programs, rules and regulations so that developers and spirited innovators can further push this exciting industry?
Although the Now Network may intend to create a more happy mobile world with its compliancy program, they must admit that their policies somewhat differ from the CPB and can potentially lead to some confusion and misdirection.