Skip to content
PromoVeritas
PromoVeritas
Contact Us
PromoVeritas
  • Home
  • About Us
  • What We Do and Why
  • Our Work
  • News
  • Join the Team
  • Contact

Daily Mail and Iceland told off over botched Marmite campaign

Abi Roman June 16, 2017

A recent Daily Mail in paper voucher promotion for a free jar of Marmite redeemable at Iceland stores received a lot of consumer complaints and an ASA Ruling. So, where did it all go wrong?

Last week the Daily Mail was found to be in breach of no less than 8 CAP Code rules. See Ruling for full details but in summary, the promoter failed to correctly estimate the likely demand or provide sufficient stock of Marmite to deal with consumer redemptions. As the ASA said; “Some complainants had found or understood that some stores had fewer than ten in stock or none at all…Iceland was not capable of meeting the likely demand for the product.”

Iceland showed evidence that they had over 10,000 jars of Marmite in stock across their stores, and that under 6,500 coupons were redeemed. The problem was that redemption was not evenly distributed across all stores –  some stores received a higher number of vouchers than others and customers were left empty handed resulting in numerous complaints.

The Daily Mail had stated on their front page in capitals that the Marmite was “Subject to availability, while stocks last, today only” and repeated this inside the paper too. However, the ASA Ruling – and the law – makes it clear that a Promoter can only rely on this ‘get out clause’ if they can show that they had made a reasonable and documented estimate of likely demand and that the actual demand was significantly unusual and unpredictable. The Daily Mail admitted that “…unfortunately, due to the promotion being agreed and issued in a very tight timescale, the parties’ lawyers were not involved in checking the wording regarding the number of Marmite jars”.

At PromoVeritas we handle hundreds of promotions every month and we have the knowledge and passion gained from years of experience. So, what would we have done differently to ensure that the promotion would have been handled fairly and compliantly?

  1. Create a Forecast Document: To be based on previous experience and similar promotions. Ensure it is distributed to all stores so they know they need to be well stocked, and it could be used to as proof of planning.
  2. Over estimate: To avoid any disappointments it is always best to have extra products available.
  3. Make sure the stores are well resourced: It would be wise to have stores check their stock levels before launching the campaign.
  4. Quantify the amount: Your T&Cs should state the total number of items being offered.
  5. Have a Plan B: Avoid disappointing customers by offering them an alternative way to redeem the voucher at another local store, or issuing them with an IOU for use at a future date, or transferring stock between local stores. Anything that avoids disappointment.

The key to a successful voucher promotion is planning, planning and more planning. Something our Operations Team are experts at. They have worked on countless redemption promotions and can help you to plan yours carefully to avoid any disasters. Done properly vouchers can be a great way target consumers effectively and drive purchases in stores. Contact us at info@promoveritas.com or call +44 203 325 6000.

« HFSS Breakfast Briefing at Langan’s Brasserie, Mayfair Morrisons fined for harassing unsubscribed customers »

Call us on 0203 325 6000 to find out how we can help your promotion

+44 (0)203 325 6000
info@promoveritas.com
  • Home
  • About Us
  • What We Do and Why
  • Our Work
  • News
  • Join the Team
  • Contact
Proud members of ISO-27001 Accredited Proud members of
Run it Right.
© 2023 PromoVeritas
Privacy Policy Terms of Service Website Terms & Conditions Cookies Policy
We use cookies on our website. All the cookies we use can be viewed using the Cookie Settings button. By clicking “ACCEPT” you consent to the use of all cookies. You cannot disable our essential cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Read More
ACCEPTCookie settings
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Essential
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

CookieTypeDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary011 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-non-necessary011 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Non Necessary".
viewed_cookie_policy011 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Non Essential

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

CookieTypeDurationDescription
_ga01 yearThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, camapign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assigns a randoly generated number to identify unique visitors.
_gat_UA-15728851-301 minuteThis is a pattern type cookie set by Google Analytics, where the pattern element on the name contains the unique identity number of the account or website it relates to. It appears to be a variation of the _gat cookie which is used to limit the amount of data recorded by Google on high traffic volume websites.
_gid01 dayThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the wbsite is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages viisted in an anonymous form.
bcookie01 yearThis cookie is set by linkedIn. The purpose of the cookie is to enable LinkedIn functionalities on the page.
bscookie11 year
csrftoken011 monthsThis cookie is associated with Django web development platform for python. Used to help protect the website against Cross-Site Request Forgery attacks
GPS030 minutesThis cookie is set by Youtube and registers a unique ID for tracking users based on their geographical location
IDE11 yearUsed by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile.
ig_did11 year
ig_nrcb01 year
lang0This cookie is used to store the language preferences of a user to serve up content in that stored language the next time user visit the website.
li_sugr02 months
lidc01 dayThis cookie is set by LinkedIn and used for routing.
lissc01 year
mid01 yearThe cookie is set by Instagram. The cookie is used to distinguish users and to show relevant content, for better user experience and security.
test_cookie011 months
u02 months
UserMatchHistory01 month
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE15 monthsThis cookie is set by Youtube. Used to track the information of the embedded YouTube videos on a website.
YSC1This cookies is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos.
Save & Accept