A relationship ladder prevents a reply, meeting or advisory exchange from being promoted into a partnership claim.
Definition: a ladder of observable relationship states
A relationship ladder is an internal disclosure control. It separates notice sent, acknowledgement received, exploratory meeting, non-binding advice, formal evaluation, signed agreement and live operation. The seven states are not legal categories and do not prove commercial value. Their purpose is narrower: to stop a message, meeting or technical comment from being promoted into a partnership claim. Each upward move requires a dated record that shows who acted, what was agreed and what may be disclosed.
Operating model: define entry and exit evidence
Notice sent requires a copy of the transmission. Acknowledgement requires a reply that can be attributed to the recipient. A meeting requires attendance and purpose records. Advice requires the exact question and answer. Evaluation requires a documented scope and responsible contacts. Agreement requires an executed instrument and effective date. Live operation requires evidence that the contracted activity has actually begun. The register should also contain an owner, next review date, confidentiality restriction and public wording permitted at each state.
Evidence model: public wording must lag the record
Internal optimism is not a publication basis. Names, logos, quotations and terms such as partner, endorsed, approved or in cooperation with should be controlled by written permission and the applicable agreement. A meeting can be described internally as a meeting; it cannot become 'joint development' without additional evidence. A signed agreement may permit a factual contract description but still prohibit logo use. Store the source document beside the approved wording so reviewers do not rely on memory or a sales slide.
Downgrades are part of governance
The register must move downward as well as upward. Downgrade a relationship when an evaluation is paused, a named contact loses authority, an agreement expires, a pilot ends or an activity never starts. Preserve the history rather than overwriting it, because the previous state may explain older publications. On every review date, ask whether the state remains current, whether the permitted wording changed and whether a correction is required on the website, proposal library or CRM record.
Failure conditions
Stop or correct a claim when no evidence owner can produce the underlying record, when the wording exceeds the documented state, or when a logo or quote lacks publication permission. Treat silence, copied recipients, calendar invitations, courteous replies and attendance at a call as insufficient evidence of partnership. A contract alone is insufficient evidence of live operation. If different teams maintain different labels for the same counterparty, the single relationship register has failed and public references should be paused until reconciled.
Action checklist
Create one row per organization and record current state, evidence link, effective date, review date, owner and permitted public phrase. Require a second-person check before a name or logo is published. Run a quarterly expiry review and a review whenever a project closes or a contact changes. For edge cases, use the lower state until new evidence arrives. Keep proposed relationships labelled 'proposed' or 'under evaluation' and never present non-response as consent, participation or support.
Source boundary
This seven-step ladder is a UAM KoreaTech internal governance tool, not an industry standard or a substitute for contract review. The Federal Trade Commission's Endorsement Guides are a useful primary reference for truthful endorsements and disclosure of unexpected material connections in United States advertising. They do not create these seven stages or govern every jurisdiction. The FTC Green Guides separately address deceptive environmental marketing claims. Primary sources: https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/rules/endorsement-guides and https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/rules/green-guides