Yesterday the Advertising Standards Authority cracked down on TripAdvisor for its marketing claims and forced a re-write. This came on the same day as they condemned a L’Oreal advert starring Rachel Weisz for mis-leading consumers.
Is this a nanny state gone mad or are there interesting points things to learn for PRs and marketers?
There’s one thing that’s obvious, it’s completely different for consumer and B2B brands. B2B brands are given almost free reign to make all sorts of claims about ‘industry firsts’ and ‘market-leading’ products and services, whereas consumers are constantly molly coddled by government run authorities. Whilst it’s true that buying a software solution for your business might not effect specific individuals if it goes wrong, why is buying a holiday based on someone else’s recommendation any different?
Perhaps they assume that the business world is more discerning. They might be right there, you’ve got to jump through a lot of budgetary, management and contractual hoops before buying a new business tool, but surely you’d do a lot of research before buying a holiday and in the case of the L’Oreal advert everyone knows that one face cream is more or less the same as another… What’s the difference? Probably mass appeal I suppose and the Government’s obsessive need to protect the consumer.
It’s a bit pedantic, but whether we like it or not, that’s the way of the world. But in my opinion tighter regulation is a good thing. It should actually make us all better marketers. Be more imaginative, more creative, gain audience and customers through being cleverer than the competition and pushing your marketing department to be braver with their campaigns. Don’t stick with the classic we have the best x formula, create your own brand by using the millions and one channels that are available. Video, podcasts, live events, social media, whatever, make your marketing and PR count.
