Terms & Conditions

These Terms & Conditions ('Terms') apply to all services that Otternative Marketing GmbH ('Otternative', 'we' or 'us') provides to its clients ('you'). They form part of every proposal, quote, order or service agreement you accept from us (the 'Agreement'). If the Agreement says something different from these Terms, the Agreement takes priority. Our services are intended for businesses, not for consumers.

Service provider

Otternative Marketing GmbH
Holeestrasse 108, 4054 Basel, Switzerland
VAT/UID: CHE-183.618.132 MWST
marketing@otternativemarketing.com

1. Fees and payment

Our fees are set out in the Agreement. Depending on the engagement they may include a one-off setup and onboarding fee, recurring management fees, a percentage of advertising spend, performance-based fees or fixed project fees. All fees are exclusive of VAT and of any third-party costs unless the Agreement states otherwise.

Invoices are payable by the date and in the currency shown on the invoice. We may pause work, including live campaigns, while an invoice is overdue.

Overdue amounts bear default interest of 5% per year. If you disagree with an invoice, you must tell us in writing within 14 days of the invoice date; otherwise the invoice is considered accepted. You may not withhold payment, set off your own claims against our invoices, or reverse a payment through your bank or card provider (chargeback). All fees are non-refundable once the work they relate to has started, unless the Agreement expressly says otherwise.

2. Setup and onboarding fee

Where the Agreement includes a setup, onboarding or launch fee (the 'Setup Fee'), it is payment for the work and third-party costs needed to get your account ready to advertise. Most of this work happens before the first ad goes live, and much of it is paid for by us up front. The Setup Fee typically covers:

• market, audience, competitor and platform-policy research for your product and target countries;
• strategy, funnel and campaign architecture;
• sourcing, setting up and configuring advertising accounts, business managers, profiles and related infrastructure from platforms and third-party account providers;
• ongoing communication and coordination with account providers and platform support on your behalf, including verification, appeals and replacements;
• the access infrastructure that keeps accounts healthy: because our team works from several countries, each account needs secure, consistent and dedicated connections, devices, access management and login procedures, so that normal team activity is not mistaken by a platform for suspicious behaviour;
• account-health monitoring and the internal processes that reduce the risk of restrictions;
• account verification and warm-up, so that accounts can spend reliably;
• tracking, pixel, conversion and reporting setup;
• preparation and compliance review of creative assets, ad copy and landing pages;
• internal onboarding, tooling and project setup.

The Setup Fee is due in advance and is earned as soon as we start onboarding. It works like a website development fee: it pays for work carried out and costs incurred, not for a result or for a volume of advertising. It is not a deposit, it is not an advance on advertising spend, and it is not credited against advertising spend or other fees.

3. The Setup Fee is non-refundable

The Setup Fee is non-refundable, in whole and in part, once onboarding has started. This applies in particular where:

• you pause, shorten or terminate the Agreement, for any reason;
• campaigns have not launched yet, or have run only briefly;
• advertising spend has been low or there has been none at all;
• a platform rejects ads, limits delivery, or restricts or closes an advertising account;
• you change your product, offer, target markets or priorities after onboarding has started.

This is particularly relevant in regulated and restricted sectors such as financial services, FX and trading, crypto, gaming and health, where research, account infrastructure and warm-up make up most of the early work and cost.

4. Advertising budget

Advertising budget (media spend) is the money paid to advertising platforms to run your ads. It is separate from our fees. You either pay it to the platforms directly, or you pay it to us in advance and we spend it on your behalf.

An amount counts as advertising budget only if the Agreement or our invoice identifies it as such. Where a single payment covers both fees and advertising budget, the Setup Fee and any other fees due are deducted first, and only the remainder is advertising budget.

If the Agreement ends while we hold advertising budget that has not been spent or committed, we return it after deducting advertising spend already incurred or committed, platform and account-provider charges, bank, transfer and currency-conversion costs, and any fees or invoices still outstanding. The Setup Fee and fees for work already performed are never part of the refundable advertising budget.

5. Keeping track of your spend and top-ups

You are responsible for keeping your own record of your advertising spend and of every payment and top-up you make, whether to us, to a platform or to an account provider, and for checking these against your own bank and accounting records.

The spend figures in our reports, dashboards and messages are provided for information. They can differ from final billing because of platform reporting delays, taxes, platform and provider fees and exchange rates. The billing records of the platforms and account providers are the authoritative figures.

You are responsible for topping up your advertising balance in good time. If a balance runs out, campaigns pause; we are not liable for lost results or for the cost of restarting campaigns. If you believe a spend or top-up figure is wrong, you must tell us in writing within 30 days of the report or statement in which it first appears. After that the figures are considered accepted.

6. Advertising accounts and infrastructure

Unless the Agreement states otherwise, advertising accounts, business managers, profiles, access infrastructure and tools that we source or set up remain under our control, or that of the respective provider, during and after the Agreement. Paying the Setup Fee does not transfer them to you, and we are not obliged to hand them over when the Agreement ends. Assets that you own and give us access to, such as your website, domains, pages and customer data, remain yours.

Accounts can be restricted or closed by a platform or provider at any time. Where this happens we will make reasonable efforts to restore or replace the account. Replacement accounts and the related setup work may be charged separately.

7. Third-party platforms and results

Advertising platforms such as Meta, Google, TikTok and LinkedIn, and third-party account providers, apply their own policies and decide at their own discretion on ad approvals, delivery, account restrictions and closures. We do not control these decisions and are not liable for them. They do not entitle you to a refund of our fees.

We work to the standard of a professional agency, but marketing results depend on many factors outside our control. Forecasts, benchmarks and targets are estimates, not guarantees, unless the Agreement expressly states a guarantee.

8. Your responsibilities

You are responsible for the accuracy of the information and materials you give us, for the legality of your products, services and claims in every market you ask us to advertise in, and for holding any licence, registration or authorisation your business requires. Delays in approvals, access or materials on your side do not reduce the fees due.

9. Termination

Either party may terminate the Agreement as set out in it. On termination, all fees for work performed up to the termination date and all third-party costs already incurred or committed on your behalf remain payable. The Setup Fee remains non-refundable as described in section 3, and unspent advertising budget is handled as described in section 4.

10. Liability

To the extent permitted by law, we are liable only for damage caused by wilful intent or gross negligence, and not for indirect or consequential loss such as lost profit or lost revenue.

In all other cases our total liability under an Agreement is limited to the fees you paid us under that Agreement in the three months before the event that caused the damage. We are not liable for the acts, omissions or insolvency of advertising platforms, account providers, payment providers or other third parties, nor for events beyond our reasonable control.

11. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. The version in force on the date you enter into the Agreement applies to that Agreement, unless we agree otherwise with you.

12. Records and written form

Our time records, work logs, provider invoices and platform records are sufficient evidence of the work performed and the costs incurred. Changes to the Agreement, including any refund, credit or waiver, are only binding if we confirm them in writing (email is sufficient). If one provision of these Terms is invalid, the remaining provisions continue to apply.

13. Governing law and jurisdiction

These Terms and the Agreement are governed by Swiss law, excluding its conflict-of-law rules. The courts of Basel-Stadt, Switzerland, have exclusive jurisdiction, subject to any mandatory place of jurisdiction.

Contact

Questions about these Terms? Email us at marketing@otternativemarketing.com or write to Otternative Marketing GmbH, Holeestrasse 108, 4054 Basel, Switzerland.