The RICS Service Charges in Commercial Property Code of Practice (the Code) suggests that in budgets and reconciliation statements marketing related expenses should be grouped under the category Marketing & promotions (category 11 for those who are familiar with the Code).

Of course, marketing costs could vary a great deal depending on the type of property they relate to. The simplest example would be comparing a multi-let office building to a shopping centre. Whilst a company could comfortably exist in a half-empty office building, apart from certain apportionment related financial implications, for a retailer, occupied space has a direct impact on footfall and therefore is vital for the business. Thus far more substantial marketing costs are justified.
However, service charge costs are commonly associated with the operational vitality of a property. A large proportion of marketing expenses commonly reflected on budgets and reconciliation statements go beyond mere support of the functionality of a shopping centre. Quite the opposite, such expenses could fairly be attributed to the business development cost, providing a basis for implementing the business concept rather than operational qualities of a property.
Echoing the above, tenants do benefit from marketing initiatives, and therefore sharing respective costs seems only fair. At the same time, more popular shopping centres tend to have higher rents, which ultimately suggest that the benefits of a well marketed shopping centre are shared between the landlord and tenants. Interestingly, sharing seems to be a more complex concept than one could normally imagine. Some landlords make very significant contributions towards marketing expenses, and others spread 100% between the tenants.
Due to the lack of rules addressing commercial service charge management and a rather limited amount of best practice guidance, marketing expenses are currently governed by common sense. Unfortunately, that common sense may not be consistent among industry participants. Thus one may wonder, are service charges the most appropriate way for recovering marketing costs?