if the claim is ambiguous you risk misleading consumers
when making an objective claim, make sure you hold documentary evidence
superiority and top parity claims are objective, unless obviously "puffery"
Claim
"No. 1" or "Market leading"
Superiority claims
"Nr. 1, Premier, Leading" will be interpreted as best-selling claims
Hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation
Comparative evidence relating to unit-sales, market share, or both, will be required
“best-selling” claim will need to be supported by sales data (Medichecks.com Ltd, 2018)
"leading": to provide comparative evidence to demonstrate data relating to their competitors’ sales figures
Top parity claims
“unbeatable taste”, “you won’t find the same deal for less”, “no other car has a better safety record”
when a superiority claim is not possible, or where it would be difficult to prove
if the benefit is not meaningful to consumers then marketers should limit themselves to making a top parity claim
acceptable if a marketer can show that their product or service is demonstrably as good as that of their competitors
"Just as strong as any other"
Assessment of claims
When assessing the claim:
consider an ad from the consumer’s perspective
consider how consumers are likely to interpret any claim
ensure that they do not unintentionally mislead
ensure to hold evidence to support all claims that are likely to be interpreted as objective
be careful: if a claim is considered objective and capable of substantiation, the claim can be considered misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation
Is it a comparison with an identifiable competitor?
Identifiable competitor
no need to explicitly name the competitor or product
depends on the ad, claims, audience, context and nature of the market
must not mislead the consumer about the product or the competing product, must be about products which meet the same need or are intended for the same purpose, and must be verifiable
if it is possible to name at least one competitor, then it is a comparison with identifiable competitor
What comparison?
What comparisons can be made?
comparisons should be between products meeting the same need or intended for the same purpose
comparisons must objectively compare one or more material, relevant, verifiable and representative feature of those products which may include price
Comparing products with significant differences
if likely to influence a consumer’s understanding, marketers should acknowledge the difference in the marketing communication
ensure that the basis of the comparison is clear
Significant differences
Hold the evidence
Evidence
hold up-to-date substantiation
capable of objective substantiation
Are you comparing the right things?
products meeting the same need or intended for the same purpose
must display a sufficient degree of interchangeability for consumers
e.g. branded and non-branded, organic and non-organic
Products
Make the claim verifiable
sufficient information to allow them to understand the comparison
able to check the claim was accurate
ask someone suitably qualified to do so
include enough information in the ad to enable consumers to fully understand, and check the accuracy of comparative claims
Verifiable
Verifiability
Verifiability
information about what the comparative claim is based on and a signpost to where consumers can find this information