Cable Forum - Virgin Media's 'Sky upgrade' campaign banned

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devilincarnate

02-11-2011 17:59

Virgin Media's 'Sky upgrade' campaign banned

Quote:

A direct mail campaign launched by Virgin Media has been banned by the UK advertising watchdog for misleading customers into thinking that it was an upgrade pack from pay-TV rival Sky.

The campaign, launched in late June, involved an official-looking jiffy bag being sent to customers bearing the prominent text reading: "Satellite TV Upgrade Pack."

Smaller text stated that the bag contained "everything you need" to "upgrade to a better TV experience". A small vertical message on the right-hand side of the envelope revealed that it was "promotional material from Virgin Media".

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/media/ne...gn-banned.html

Hugh	02-11-2011 18:16

Re: Virgin Media's 'Sky upgrade' campaign banned

Naughty......

Sirius

02-11-2011 18:20

Re: Virgin Media's 'Sky upgrade' campaign banned

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugh (Post 35324355)

Naughty......

Indeed :LOL:

Digital Fanatic

02-11-2011 18:56

Re: Virgin Media's 'Sky upgrade' campaign banned

Very naughty indeed! :nono:

BenJSmyth

02-11-2011 19:01

Re: Virgin Media's 'Sky upgrade' campaign banned

Got people's atttention though didn't it ;)

bonzoe

02-11-2011 19:33

Re: Virgin Media's 'Sky upgrade' campaign banned

I can imagine that Sky would adopt similar tactics.........

Alan Fry

03-11-2011 13:05

Re: Virgin Media's 'Sky upgrade' campaign banned

and so the virgin media vs sky battle continues

gcampbell

03-11-2011 13:33

Re: Virgin Media's 'Sky upgrade' campaign banned

Quite right it should be banned, it's a complete lie.

Downgrade more like.

Hugh	03-11-2011 13:59

Re: Virgin Media's 'Sky upgrade' campaign banned

In your opinion - not in others.

That's the beauty of different offerings - people can find different things that suit them.

Chad	03-11-2011 14:02

Re: Virgin Media's 'Sky upgrade' campaign banned

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011...ed?INTCMP=SRCH

"BSkyB has succeeded in getting a Virgin Media direct mail campaign banned for tricking consumers into thinking it was an official offer of a TV upgrade from its pay-TV rival – but lost a bid to stop Virgin being able to claim it offered a "better TV experience"."

So it was banned for tricking customers into thinking it was from SKY, but not for claiming Virgin offer a better TV experience. It's a great move by Virgin. The story is getting coverage in most newspapers and websites today meaning their message is reaching millions of people. They've successfully highlighted a problem with their competitiors service which has been upheald. Genius.

Sirius

03-11-2011 14:04

Re: Virgin Media's 'Sky upgrade' campaign banned

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad (Post 35324696)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011...ed?INTCMP=SRCH
but not for claiming Virgin offer a better TV experience. Interesting.

Excellent :LOL:

batchain

03-11-2011 14:09

Re: Virgin Media's 'Sky upgrade' campaign banned

Quote:

Originally Posted by gcampbell (Post 35324689)

Quite right it should be banned, it's a complete lie.

Downgrade more like.

The ASA disagrees, so all in all a hollow victory for Sky.

While they ruled the ad did not make it clear enough that it was a marketing communication the ASA concluded the "upgrade" and "better TV experience" claims in the mailing were not misleading.

They told Virgin to ensure future mailings made clear that they were marketing communications, but Sky's complaint that the claims made were misleading specifically in relation to picture quality and the number of HD and SD channels offered by Virgin was not upheld.

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