Taneesha Routier: Compliance en blanc

In the movie, there is a clandestine pop-up soiree with an exclusive guest list, where everyone is dressed to impress. There is an elegant gourmet menu, but the catch is, each guest has to bring their own ingredients and table settings. The combination of the food, the atmosphere, and the guest list promises an upscale experience of a lifetime.

Much like le diner en blanc, where the magic is in mysticism, so too is compliance.

At Le Diner En Blanc, attendees must be invited by a past attendee, wear all white formal attire, and arrive equipped with everything needed to set a picturesque dinner table and serve a gourmet meal. Guests revel in the festivities and marvel at the creativity of the other tables, sparking connection and conversation from their mutual interest in social engagement. The merriment continues into the night as elegance and opulence are on display in a magical way.

As a compliance lawyer in the consumer-packaged goods (CPG) industry, most specifically the dietary supplement industry, the altruism of supporting the best health of consumers with high-quality products is the why; mutuality and collaboration with stakeholders is the how.

The advertising ecosystem fosters a cultural experiment requiring creative genius and compliance agility to collaborate to produce the best advertising program to cement market share, or as I like to call it, compliance en blanc. The event hosts (the advertising platforms) are inviting you to an exclusive location for the impact and experience that can propel your brand and company to higher heights.

Pulling off a successful compliance en blanc is an exercise in the curation of culture. It requires the business acumen of sales, the legal translation of compliance, the creative excellence of marketing, and the precise coordination of operations.

First, you create your menu. Then you establish what the advertising campaign is, and answer the question: What are the goals and metrics for success?

Second, you decide what you are going to wear, and decide, “What kind of campaign would be successful?” Additionally, you anticipate who else will be there: regulators, competitors, and consumers.

Next, you serve the meal and dance the night away, ie, you roll out and execute your well-thought-out and collaborative advertising campaign. After the night is done and you are back home, you recount the magic of the event; you review the analytics and determine if your return on investment (ROI) was actualized. Did your campaign reach the target audience and garner the desired sales?

As stakeholders within the CPG advertising ecosystem, compliance, marketing, sales, and operations must root themselves in the mutuality of their objectives, success, and growth. The core of effective compliance is collaboration with stakeholders, from regulators to consumers, executives to competitors, to internal operational units and the plaintiffs’ bar.

While policies, procedures, audits, government relations, and risk management are important aspects of a career in compliance, the most paramount feature of a successful compliance team and professional is engaging in true collaboration. True collaboration is an impactful opportunity where one can practice what they desire to lead. The key to success as a compliance professional is to embrace mutuality.

They say culture eats strategy for breakfast. The secret to success in CPG advertising and compliance is for stakeholders to coalesce around a strategy.

What does compliance mean to me? It means leadership rooted in the consistent practice and pursuit of mutuality with stakeholders, where we lead in our practices by practicing what we desire to lead. It is compliance en blanc.