Surveys which serve as the basis for any claims made in the media should be in the public domain, the Malta Communications Authority said this afternoon.
It was reacting to a request by Vodafone Malta to intervene with regards to a media campaign undertaken by Go plc.
In its adverts, Go claimed that it was Malta’s best rated provider in terms of innovation, customer experience and reliability. The MCA said it turned out that these claims were based on a survey commissioned by Go, which was not in the public domain.
The MCA said it subsequently communicated with Go to express its concern with such advertising. It said it considered that all undertakings in the communications sector should ensure that any surveys which served as the basis for any claims made in the media should be in the public domain.
Claims based on information not in the public domain could lead to a situation where undertakings made claims about their services and products or those of their competitors which could not be verified for their accuracy and correctness.
The MCA said it considered that if a claim in an advertisement was based on a survey commissioned by the undertaking concerned, this fact should be clearly stated in the said advertisement.
GO plc in a reaction said it had made various references in the media about the research conducted by GfK, which confirmed it as the leading communications company when it came to value for money, customer experience, reliability and innovation. It was as a result of this research that it had launched an advertising campaign focussing on its strengths.
GO said the detailed results were available and were published in an interview given by its CEO to the business supplement of The Times on 18 December. http://www.timesofmalta.com/business/view/20081218/news/hundreds-sign-up -to-go-four-service-package-daily
GfK is one of the world leading's market research firms present in over 100 countries worldwide.
The firm carried out an in-depth research on Malta's communications sector with special focus on the level of customer experience provided by the various operators. The survey was carried out as part of the project using GfK's patented Loyalty Plus methodology among a 1,000-strong population sample. It included also qualitative research via extensive mystery calling and shopping as well as in-depth interviews and focus groups. Gfk has carried out similar exercises internationally for telecoms giants T-Mobile and Telefonica.
GO said that the report showed that its customers were more satisfied than those of the other two main operators in the local market in various areas, including value for money, customer experience, reliability and innovation.
The company said it has been in touch with the MCA and expressed its views and concerns on the claims made by the authority, while substantiating the results of the survey.
"GO reiterates its view that it is completely correct for it, or any other organisation for that matter, to base promotional campaigns on scientifically valid research that it commissions."