Ethical communications and advocacy

Ethical principles for communications agencies

The member agencies of Marketing Finland that provide communications services are, as a background organisation of the Finland’s Council for Ethics in Communication (VEN), committed to the Ethical Guidelines for Communications. Communications agencies also participated in updating these guidelines in 2022–23.

In addition, Marketing Finland’s communications agencies maintain their own ethical principles, which are binding for their members: an agency can be accepted as a member if it professionally provides communications services to organisations or individuals and commits to complying with these ethical principles.

Responsible communication is significantly more than complying with the letter of the law. It involves the continuous and active evaluation of the ethical foundations and consequences of advocacy, as well as responsible choices and actions in everyday communication and interaction.

Open, active and respectful interaction is at the core of effective communication. Professional success in a rapidly changing environment requires trust, which is built on honesty, transparency and responsibility.

Purpose of the ethical principles

The purpose of these ethical principles is to ensure the responsible conduct of Marketing Finland’s communications agencies. This forms the foundation for the credibility, impact and economically sustainable business of communications agencies. The essential goal is to build trust through communication based on verified information and respectful interaction.

Purpose of the ethical principles

The purpose of these ethical principles is to ensure the responsible conduct of Marketing Finland’s communications agencies. This forms the foundation for the credibility, impact and economically sustainable business of communications agencies. The essential goal is to build trust through communication based on verified information and respectful interaction.

1. Professional foundation of communications agencies

We serve our clients by planning and implementing communication and interaction that analyse the operating environment and influence the knowledge, opinions, attitudes and decisions of individuals and stakeholders in support of our clients’ objectives.

Clients may include companies, private individuals, non-profit organisations, NGOs and interest groups, municipal and state administration units, as well as other public authorities.

Clients’ objectives may include developing corporate reputation, increasing awareness and knowledge, activating stakeholders, developing products or services, promoting sales, and influencing political, societal or business decision-making.

Communications agencies advance their clients’ commercial objectives or other ethically acceptable and lawful advocacy goals through assignments. This work includes analysing the operating environment, increasing clients’ understanding of stakeholder expectations, building trust between stakeholders through timely and relevant information and interaction, and marketing clients’ products and services. Agencies produce targeted content for stakeholders that supports the client’s objectives.

A communications agency operates in many roles: as a consultant and advisor, coach, planner, producer or implementer. Professional expertise is based on diverse sources of information, including research and reports, traditional and social media, expert sources, and various forms of analytics that provide insight into stakeholder behaviour and interests.

Services may include the planning, production and publication of owned, earned, paid and shared media, as well as marketing communications content, marketing automation and analytics services. Services also cover internal communications, public affairs and stakeholder communications, and crisis communication planning, training and implementation.

Advisory work and services are based on trust and the assumption that the information provided by the client is accurate. However, agencies have a duty to verify information where possible using publicly available and reliable sources.

2. Trust in client relationships

A communications agency must not disclose or exploit confidential information received from a client for its own benefit or that of a third party. Current and former clients must be able to trust that agencies handle confidential information appropriately. All employees and external collaborators must be contractually bound to confidentiality during and after their engagement.

A client may require that contact with the agency remains confidential to the extent necessary. When interacting with third parties, such as journalists or decision-makers, the agency must disclose whom it represents.

The agency must receive sufficient and truthful information from the client to carry out the assignment.

An agency may represent a client on social media according to the assignment agreement. Employees should, where possible, disclose their affiliations when publicly expressing views in their own name regarding a client’s activities. (For example, posts on Facebook in text, image or video form are generally considered public. In limited formats, it is sufficient to state the employer in the profile, with up-to-date client information available on the company website. If the assignment is confidential, consultants should refrain from personal commentary related to the client. Relevant facts and perspectives may be shared within the limits of the assignment.)

The ethical use of AI in communications agencies is outlined in the ICCO Warsaw Principles (2023). These emphasise transparency, accuracy, privacy, bias detection, respect for intellectual property, human oversight, contextual understanding, responsible automation, continuous monitoring and professional development.

3. Compliance with regulations

The role of a communications agency is to advance the interests of its client. Work must comply with international and national ethical principles, good business practice, and the general rules and laws governing communication and advocacy. These include, for example, stock exchange guidelines, as well as sector-specific regulations such as those governing pharmaceutical communications and consumer protection.

4. Competing assignments

A communications agency may work with competing clients or interest groups in accordance with good business practice. Competing assignments must be handled separately so that confidential information is accessible only to the designated team. Clients must be proactively informed of potential conflicts and clear procedures must be established to ensure confidentiality.

5. The communications agency as an advisor

A communications agency safeguards its credibility and avoids commitments that could compromise its role as a professional and independent advisor. Special care must be taken to ensure independence, particularly in situations where:

• the agency works closely with or has ownership ties to a media company
• the agency or its parent company engages in activities outside communications that may create conflicts of interest

6. Refusal of assignments

A communications agency selects its clients and may refuse assignments. It must not accept work that requires violating laws, norms governing communication, or the agency’s own ethical principles.

7. Employee loyalty

Employees have a legal duty of loyalty to their employer. They must primarily be loyal to the communications agency that employs them. In case of conflict between the client and the agency, the employee follows the agency’s position.

Employees have the right to refuse tasks that conflict with professional ethics. They must inform their supervisor if a client requests actions that violate ethical guidelines or laws.

Client relationships belong to the agency, not to individual employees, during or after employment.

Before leaving, employees must not prepare to transfer clients or colleagues to a new company. Communication with clients about departure must be coordinated with the current employer.

8. Pricing

Communications agencies independently determine the pricing of their services and products. Pricing may be based on both qualitative and quantitative outcomes. Owned, paid, earned and shared media must be clearly distinguished. Pricing methods must not compromise the independence of any third party.

Principles for communications professionals: Transparency, Trust, Respect

Transparency

Promotes an open communication culture and strengthens organisational communication competence through continuous learning.

Clearly communicates whom one represents.

Openly discloses interests and affiliations related to assignments.

Trust

Strengthens trust in the employer and client through professional conduct.

Uses confidential information and networks responsibly.

Requires partners to adhere to ethical communication standards.

Identifies and communicates communication-related risks and challenges.

Respect

Promotes respectful encounters and constructive dialogue.

Recognises diversity among stakeholders and cultures and takes it into account in communication.

Approved by the Board of Communications Agencies on 10 January 2024 (Marketing Finland).

Good lobbying practice and the Transparency Register

Lobbying is an essential part of a democratic society. Companies, organisations and other actors participate in decision-making by contributing their views, expertise and experience. To ensure that this interaction remains open and trust-based, it is guided by shared rules.

We are committed to complying with the recommendations for good lobbying practice issued by the Transparency Register Advisory Board. These recommendations promote a responsible and transparent advocacy culture and support trust in decision-making and its preparation.

Key principles of good lobbying practice:

Our work is guided by the following principles:

We respect the democratic decision-making process.

We act with honesty and respect towards others.

We publicly disclose whom we represent and what interests we promote.

We openly communicate our affiliations.

We respect confidentiality.

We follow the rules on hospitality.

The Transparency Register as part of responsible advocacy

The Transparency Register increases the transparency of advocacy activities in Finland. Through the register, citizens, the media and decision-makers can review who is involved in the preparation of decisions and how.

The recommendations for good lobbying practice are based on self-regulation. Organisations can publicly commit to them, and such commitment demonstrates a willingness to operate openly and responsibly as part of public discourse.

Commitment to these recommendations is not merely a formality but part of everyday practice. It requires continuous judgement, ethical consideration and readiness to act transparently, even in challenging situations.

For us, responsible advocacy means building trust over the long term—through open communication, clear roles and honest interaction.