Facebook Ads Agency Africa journal
Hold the evidence before you publish an advertising claim in South Africa
Phrases such as fastest delivery in Pretoria, clinically tested or most trusted in Gauteng are claims, not decoration. Under the Code of Advertising Practice administered by the Advertising Regulatory Board, an advertiser must hold documentary evidence for claims that are capable of objective substantiation, and must hold it before the advertising is published. That timing is where many small campaigns go wrong.
By Facebook Ads Agency Africa editorial · · 2 min read
Separate claims from opinion
The code distinguishes objective claims from honest opinion. An opinion can be acceptable when it is clearly presented as an opinion and is not likely to mislead about something that can be assessed objectively. A statement about speed, price, size, results or popularity usually can be assessed, so it needs evidence.
Go through the advert line by line, including images, small print and voice-over, and mark every statement a reader could test. Implied claims count too: a before-and-after picture can make a claim without a single word.
Know what counts as evidence
The code requires evidence that is current and has market relevance. Where a claim relies on a survey, the survey should come from a researcher accredited by the Southern African Marketing Research Association or an entity it accepts. Other documentary evidence should come from, or be evaluated by, a person or entity that is independent, credible and an expert in the field.
An internal spreadsheet, a supplier brochure or a single happy customer is rarely enough on its own for a comparative or performance claim. If a claim depends on research published by a publication, the code asks that the source be stated in the advertising.
Build a claims file
For each claim, record the exact wording, the evidence, its date and who produced it. Review the file whenever the advert is reused, because evidence that was current last year may not be now. If the evidence does not fully support the words, change the words. A narrower claim that you can prove is worth more than a broad one that a competitor can challenge.
- List every objective and implied claim in the advert.
- Match each claim to independent, current evidence.
- Collect the evidence before publication, not after.
- State the source when relying on publication research.
- Rewrite claims the evidence does not fully support.