Marketing Law Selling and Advertising

Question: Discuss about the Marketing Law for Selling and Advertising. Answer: In this assignment, the key issues of marketing law related selling and advertising need to be discussed as the company has developed a program for the purpose of marketing a noble fitness programme in which latest gym equipment and personalized fitness training is offered to the Australian consumers in their homes. In this regard the law provides that when selling advertising their products or services of the company, the company should be aware of the relevant regulations in other to make sure that the consumers are not being misled by the company. For this purpose, the following list of regulations need to be considered by the company violated is conducting its marketing activities related with the fitness program that it is going to offer to the Australian consumers. The law provides that when the company is advertising or marketing its products or services, there are a number of regulations that need to be complied.[1] The first regulations are related misleading and deceptive conduct. In this regard the Australian Consumer Law[2] provides that by promoting its products or services, the company is required to make sure that any branding, statement or any other representation made by the company in this process is not false or misleading for the consumers.[3] In this regard, component pricing can be described as a situation where the company has displayed or advertise the price of a product or service in separate parts. An example in this regard can be given a where the single price of the car has been displayed by the company and the additional on road costs are mentioned separately. In this regard the law provides that if the company is using component pricing, it is required by the Australian consumer law that the company should also mention t he full price, inclusive of the additional costs prominently to the consumers. The law also prohibits bait advertising. In this context, bait advertising[4] can be described as the situation where the manufacturers or the supplier had advertised a product at a particular price but a reasonable supply of the product at such prices not available.[5] According to the law, bait advertising has been prohibited in the business of selling the product even after being aware of the fact that it cannot meet the expected demand. If any competition, promotion or lottery over a particular amount has been offered by the company, such offers above a certain amount may be regulated by a permit. The company is also required to note that it has to make sure that any statement related to the products and services of the company should be true and accurate and should be able to be substantiated. In this regard, fines have been prescribed for the businesses if they mislead the consumers. In this regard it also needs to be noted by the company that it is immaterial if the false or misleading statement has been made intentionally or otherwise by the company. Therefore it is illegal for the company to make statements if such statement is incorrect or it is likely to result in creating a false impression.[6] This includes the statements or the advertisements made in any media like radio, television, print or social media or if the statement has been made on the packaging of the product. It also includes any statement that has been made by a person who represents the business. Therefore, for example the company is required to make sure that it does not be any false or misleading clai ms regarding the quality, price, value or the benefits provided by the goods or services or any related warranty or guarantee. At the same time, the law also prohibits using false testimonials or "passing off". It also needs to be mentioned that when it is being examined if the conduct of the company is likely to mislead or deceive the consumers, in this regard it will be considered if the overall impression created by the statement of conduct was false or inaccurate.[7] The Australian Consumer Law is a part of the Competition and Consumer Act, 2010. This is a national law and is applicable throughout Australia. The result is that the same protections have been provided to the consumers and in the same way, the responsibilities and obligations of the businesses are also the same throughout Australia. This law has been introduced with a view to provide protection to consumers and also to ensure fair trading.[8] The ACL covers several key areas related with marketing and selling. This includes the misleading and deceptive conduct by the businesses. For this purpose, puffery, disclaimers and small print, silence, predictions and opinions are also covered by this legislation. The false and misleading representations include testimonials. At the same time, the ACL also provide certain consumer guarantees to the consumers. Therefore the effect of including these consumer guarantees in the ACL is that the parties cannot remove or restrict the application of these consumer guarantees. In the present case also, when the company is going to offer its fitness program which includes state of the art gym equipment as well as home based training for the consumers, the company is required to keep in mind the above mentioned legal issues. At the same time, the company should also be aware of bundling practices that are commonly used in the fitness industry and such knowledge should be sufficient for defusing any misleading nature of the advertisement. Similarly, the company is also required to make sure that the advertisements are not of the nature that the consumers only observe the dominant message or its general thrust.[9] Therefore, for example if the company is going to offer an attractive membership plan to the consumers, it is necessary that all parts of the plan should be given equal significance and in the same way, the cost and benefits of the individual parts need to be highlighted equally. Bibliography Amanda Bodger and Melissa Monks, (2010) Getting in the Red over Green: The Risks with Green Marketing 3(3) Journal of Sponsorship 284, 284 Carter, JW, Carter on Contracts (LexisNexis Butterworths, Australia Downes, J, The Australian Consumer Law (2011) 19 AJCCL 5 Finn, P, Unconscionable Conduct (1994) 8 JCL 37 Meagher, R P, Heydon, J D and Leeming, M J, Meagher Gummow and Lehanes Equity: Doctrines and Remedies (4th ed, LexisNexis Butterworths, Australia, 2002 Samuel, G, The Australian Consumer Law an ACCC perspective (2011) 19(1) AFCCL 27 Seddon, N C and Ellinghaus, M P, Cheshire and Fifoots Law of Contract (9th Australian edition, LexisNexis Butterworths, Australia, 2008) Legislation s29 Australian Consumer Law s35 Australian Consumer Law