In a recent promotion in South Korea, the electronics giant, LG held an ill conceived event for their latest smartphone, the G2. In this event, dozens of smartphones were attached to balloons. These balloons were then released into the sky. The participants were instructed to find a way to brings these balloons down and thus win themselves a new G2 smartphone.

The faults in this event was that all the balloons were freed at the same time. Also, once the balloons were popped and the smartphones released, it was anything goes to get the phone. Last, there were no rules on how to bring down the balloons. People brought spears, BB Guns, darts and other sharp devices to pop the balloons. Of the hundreds of phone seekers that attended the event, only 20 of them were injured. LG has taken responsibility of the handling of the event and will reimburse hospital bills.

This is an example of a promotion that was poorly conceived, planned and executed. What does this mean for your business. Whether online or not, promotions are important in the life of a company. It is how we get across to our customer. It is part advertisement, part public relation and part diary. It can be done in conventional ways through sign/video/newspaper/radio promotion or through digital ways through website, social media, video sites and blogs. As there are many ways to promote, there are equally many ways to make mistakes. The following are a not to-do list in promotions.

Legal-ese: Let's get the lawyers out of this. Make sure you understand trademarks and copyright issues. Using images require permission most of the time. Before you use someone's image, whether of them or taken by them, you must seek permission before using them. Also, learn what a "C and D" is. It stands for cease and desist. It's a notice to stop what you're doing because your action are infringing on someone's trademark or copyright material.

Create several versions: You probably have an amazing idea for a promotion. Maybe it's a video, a banner, a website, a blog entry or a podcast. Maybe it's so good that someone else did it before you. Yes, an idea is amazing when conceived in your head but it ceases being great when a host of other people have it. Simply, before you move forward and create a promotion. Even before you think about the logistics of it, take a lot of time to research if it already exists. Furthermore, if you truly have something original, then have an alternative promotion available. Have something to test it against. Corporations go through rigorous testing and retesting and on top of that, stat collection to determine what works best for them.

Before promotions, always know the rules of using images, text and videos. Especially if it's not yours. But also look around and research your market and the competitors or like companies in that market. Do your due diligence, it will save you time, money and lawyer fees.

Image credit: Will Folsom on Flickr