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We are the only trade association representing the interests of manufacturers of branded OTC medicines, self-care medical devices and food supplements in the UK.

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Advertising services

Call us on 020 7242 8331 – press 2 for advertising advice.

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The dedicated advertising team at PAGB is staffed by specialists skilled in providing fast and confidential advice on advertising compliance. We’re passionate about supporting our members to produce effective, responsible advertising and work proactively to help identify potential issues and solutions pre-publication to reduce the risk of complaint.

Advice

We’re here to guide you from your first ideas and concepts to the final execution of your adverts, so get in touch with the team early to discuss your campaign ideas or with any general questions you have. We can let you know issues to watch out for and help you amend claims to make them compliant. You can book an online meeting with a member of the team, email us for written feedback at copyclearance@pagb.co.uk, or for a quick question call 0207 242 8331 and press 2 for advertising advice.

Copy clearance

The advertising team provides fast and confidential vetting of key advertising materials for full members. We recommend the use of tool kits for the efficiency and flexibility, but still offer routine approvals for individual items as needed.

Only consumer facing medicines copy needs to be submitted for approval, but we also offer advice on professional medicines advertising and consumer facing food supplements and medical devices copy.

What are tool kits?

A tool kit is a collection of claims, which once approved by PAGB, enables members to construct adverts without the need to resubmit the final content to us for review.

The tool kit can cover a single product, a brand, or a group of brands – whatever best suits your company’s needs – and involves the same level of expertise and assistance that you’re used to from the copy clearance team but with less repetition.

For more information about how to create and use toolkits see our advertising toolkit guidance.

Individual approvals

For items outside your tool kits, the advertising team will individually approve the copy. To make this process as smooth as possible please read our top tips.

How long will it take?

Standard copy – we aim to review standard submissions within two working days of receipt.

Complex copy – we aim to review more complex submissions (e.g. websites, new products, new claims) within five working days. Please note timescales can vary depending on the complexity.

We process copy in the order in which it is received, and the above timings apply each time copy is sent back to PAGB with revisions.

Remember some copy can be amended without the need to resubmit – read our guidance

Guidance

In addition to ensuring our Codes remain current the team creates guidance on a wide range of topics. Browse key topics in our A to Z.

Looking for guidance on a new topic? Email the team to let us know what to write next!

Training

The team offers a wide range of training to help your teams produce compliant advertising across all three categories. Take a look at our training & events page to book.

Complaint support

We offer mediation for disagreements between member companies as well managing a formal complaint process where required. Details of the process can be found at in our advertising complaint procedure.

We can also help members navigate complaints regarding their advertising from the MHRA or ASA, providing advice on the processes and helping defend claims.

About the PAGB process

Copy clearance top tips

Find out the advertising team’s top tips for ensuring copy is assessed and approved as efficiently as possible.

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Copy resubmission

Did you know there are changes you can make to advertising copy without needing to submit to PAGB for approval?

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Advertising toolkit guidance

The toolkit system has been created to enable members to self-approve copy based on toolkits of approved core claims.

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Advertising complaint procedure

This document explains the procedure for making complaint about promotional materials for products within PAGB membership, where another PAGB member is in control of the content.

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External complaints

This guidance explains the processes for reporting non-compliant advertising materials created by non-member companies.

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Pack design pre-vetting service

PAGB offers pre-vetting of changes to pack design and layout for over-the-counter medicines as part of MHRA’s P3 expedited (P3Ex) assessment procedure.

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