Explain the limitations and constraints of marketing.
Advertising Standard Authority (ASA)
Advertising Standard Authority is responsible for all advertisements and promotions across every from of media. The ASA responsibility is to ensure that all advertisements are: legal, decent, honest and truthful. For example the ASA make sure the language used in the advert is not bad, and if it is, it won’t be shown day time while children are still watching TV. They also make sure what is said in the advert is true, say; if a business advertises their product saying it can remove spots within 24hours but in real life it doesn’t the ASA will make the advert will not be show because they business is not telling the truth. Also, they ensure the company which is advertising their product respect the principles of fair competition which is generally accepted in the business. For instance, Aldi advertise their product and in so doing they tell the public not to buy from Asda because their goods are not good or their product are expensive. This would be classed as unfair competition by Aldi as they are trying to ruin the reputation of Asda without any valid reason.
When a company breaks the rules of the ASA what they can do to the company is;
The ASA adjudications the company by putting on companies profile a bad publicity- which means the companies public reputation is at risk, since they will be giving a bad reputation in advertising or promotions; so most of the media’s will not be willing to broadcast their adverts. Furthermore, the company will be denied space in publication- the company will not be allowed to post banner on the streets, poster sites or cinemas. In additional, the company will be denied trading privileges such as special discounts. Companies that still advertise misleading advertisements are referred to the Office of Fair Trade by the ASA.
The ASA has adjudication on Colgate-Palmolive (UK) Ltd. The business claim on www.colgate.co.uk “the new Colgate ProClinical A1500 electric toothbrush is the only toothbrush in the UK with smart sensors that automatically adjust the speed and direction of the brush strokes, and also a list of features was shown “FEATURES AT A GLANCE” one of the features was “SONIC WAVE CLEANING ACTION”. The action which ASA took was to tell Colgate-Palmolive (UK) that the advert must no longer appear in its current form, and also the company must ensure that the claims about the product’s cleaning function did not mislead in the future. The reason why college was adjudicated was because they claimed their toothbrush had the features of “sonic wave cleaning action” which ASA believed it implies sonic waves emanate from the toothbrush to clean teeth, which is untruth and misleading because the company is giving out wrong information.
Pressure Groups
Pressure groups are group of people with the same interest and also try to persuade a government or other authority to do something, for example they are group of people who are against of animal cruelty (animal testing). Pressure groups can influence how an organisation act and can be extremely effective in changing the behaviour of an organisation. For example, the organisation which is against animal testing, will try to influence the society by not buying product from companies that test their product on animals; due to that the company will lose some customers therefore they will try to move away from animal test.
McDonald’s has been criticised by pressure group Corporate Accountability International, which accused McDonalds of “refusing to address dangerous toll that fast food and predatory marketing is taking on kids” which contributes to the rise of obesity and health condition such as diabetes and heart disease. The group wrote an open letter signed by 550 health professionals. http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/mcdonalds-stands-behind-ronald-mcdonald-mascot/3026632.article. Though the pressure were trying to persuade McDonalds to make their fast food healthier; I fell McDonalds has taking it into consideration and are providing their customers with healthier foods and not only junky foods. The reason why the pressure group did this demonstration against McDonald is because, lot of unhealthy food are been sold to the customers due to that it costs the health sectors lot of money, and also it is not only affecting adults but the younger ones as well.
Legislations
Legislation- makers and suppliers of products owe a duty of care to consumers. Several legislations has been passed on to protect customers. Also marketers must beware of the legislations when producing, promoting and describing products/services, this is because, say, a consumer buys a dress from Asos on the description it say it’s a “cotton dress” but it comes and it is a “silk” dress; the consumer is protected by some legislations to send the item back and demand for a new one because it is not as described.
There are five different types of acts of legislation t has been passed on which marketers must be aware of, they include: * Sale of Goods Acts 1997-is a strict set of rules retailers and sellers must abide by, the products they are selling or distributing must be as described, of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. Fit for purpose simply means the product must function the way they required to work , for example a consumer buys a car from Audi s/he will be expecting it to move or take you from a-b; but when they try to drive it, it’s not moving, this means the product purchase isn’t functioning as required. As described, this means the product must be the same as the customer requested. For example, you go to the garage to buy a car, you tell the seller you want a convertible car, but they sell you a different car without the features you requested. Satisfactory quality means the goods sold must match any sample the seller shows in-store, or any description in a brochure/ catalogue. For instance, in Avon’s catalogue it says, a nail polish is 5ml and has two in a pack, but the product comes and its 3ml and has only one nail polish in the pack, with this the product did not satisfy the customer and that wasn’t quality. Since product purchased from Avon wasn’t has prescribed it will affect the business in different ways such as the business losing it customers, and also the business spoiling it reputation. Say, when I bought the nail polish I told a few friends about it, they want to see it and I receive the package from the post; but I start complaining about the product that it is not as described, next time they want be willing to buy from Avon, and also they will keep in mind, that Avon don’t sell the goods they say they sell and that will be damaging the good reputation of the business Avon. * Consumer Protection from unfair Trading Regulations 2008- is act ban misleading and aggressive companies to stop bothering consumers, such as doorstep selling. For example, some companies use tactics like, special offer we closing down the shop 10% off, but in about a week letter the shop will be opened with almost the same goods in it. For example, the Elephant Car Insurance comes knocking on your door and try to persuade you to change your car insurance to theirs, and also they going to give you a discount on it but you tell them you don’t to; in about half an hour they come back again saying the same story and won’t leave still you tell them something like “okay will think of it”, the days after they keep coming to your house and disturb you with the same issues the consumer has the right to report that company to the police because aggressively and forcing someone to accept what you selling or offering is now against the acts and will be sent to either the Office of Fair Trade or Local Authority Standards Service. This will affect the business in a negative way because they will have a bad reputation, loss out some money. For example, when the business is sent to the office of fair Trade they will make Elephant Car Insurance compensate the consumer. * Consumer Credit Act 1974 and 2006-means all services or repairs must be carried out with reasonable care and skill, done within a reasonable amount of time and at a reasonable price. For instance, a consumer buys a gadget from Argos with 2years warrant and it spoilt within 1 year the consumer can send it back to Argos for services either they give the consumer a new gadget or they repair it for him/her, if Argos will repair the gadget they must make sure they repair it in a reasonable time and they have to service it with care, so they don’t put more damage to the gadget. Furthermore, the act also protects crediting agreements such as giving out loans, however the person that gives out he loan must have licence in order to give out the loan and receive then amount with APR charges, if the person does not have a licences then the person that borrowed does not have to pay it back because the business lending money has no permission to give out loans. For example, if Phon4U does not have the permission to lend consumers phone then no one must pay them back, but since Phone4U has licences to loan out mobile phone to its customers therefore the customers has to pay back the amount of money they owe. This act affects the business in a positive way, because Phone4U will receive back the loans lent out with an interest rate charged. * Consumer Protection-Distance Selling Regulations 2000- This acts governs good bought over the internet or via post and orders. Businesses must make sure they give all reasonable information about the product such as the cost of the product- this is important because the customers has to the customers has to be aware of the price so they know if they can afford buying the product. Say, if I want to buy a product from Amazon and they don’t state the cost of the product I will not know the price, and also Amazon can charge me any price for the product. Therefore it is necessary for every business to give information of the cost of the product. Also, the business has to show the customer the delivery arrangements, as I was saying I buy a product from Amazon they tell me he product will be delivered in three working days, but it turns out the product comes after a week, in this case this acts cover the customers to press accusations on the business Amazon. Furthermore, the business should product all the information about the product am purchasing e.g. if I’m buying a dress from Asos, they should use give detailed information about the product such as, the different sizes, colours, what the dress is made of, silk, cotton, chiffon, satin, if the dress is machine wash or hand wash; so the customers have more ideas of what they buying. If Asos says the dress is a cotton dress but the customer receives and it is silk dress, the customer has every right to return the dress for a new on because this acts cover them. In addition, business must state how long customer can cancel their orders in their terms & conditions, but practically after the product has been delivered the customers has up to seven days to return the product back. For example, after Asos sold a silk dress to me instead of a cotton dress, I have seven days to return the dress, but if Asos say they won’t accept the returned dress, the customers can accuse Asos for not abiding by the acts. * Data Protection Act 1998- this acts controls how customer’s personal information is used by organisation, business or government. Businesses, must ensure the personal that they have on their electronic database were obtain and used fairly and lawfully- like Amazon has information of their customers like their house address, telephone numbers and emails, this doesn’t mean Amazon has the right to be posting things that are not relevant to the customer or because Amazon has the telephone numbers of their customers they can call them any time of the day. The customers can press charges on Amazon for misusing the customer’s personal information because this act gives the customer the lawful right. In addition, businesses must be conscious of this not transferred outside the UK without adequate protection. For example, the Manchester College can pass on the student’s information unto a third party but the third party must be an education sectors not any institution.