Legal - Is "Case Study" the new workaround term for "Testimonial"? | Warrior Forum - The #1 Digital Marketing Forum & Marketplace

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Marvin Johnston

I was just looking at a marketing email talking about case studies in their sales presentation. Since testimonials are under more scrutiny by the FCC, is the term "case study" now the preferred way to refer to testimonials?

Or are there better ways to handle testimonials?

Marvin

I would suggest that you "carefully" read over the guide, also here is some really good information, http://www.warriorforum.com/blogs/ti...-business.html

By the way using "case study" without having verifiable scientific proof, is a great way to end up in a lot of trouble.

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Marvin Johnston

13 years ago

This appears to be more a matter of semantics, and that was what struck me with the email (Russell Brunson BTW). But if a series of case studies can be used to support the sale of a product, it would seem like a good thing.

I tend to view a lot of this as "form over substance", and perhaps this "form" will work

.

Of course with the usual disclaimers (ala Frank Kern ... I don't know anything ...).

Marvin

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VOnline

13 years ago

http://www.warriorforum.com/blogs/ti...-business.html

^^ That's a good read.
"Case study" didn't really mean scientific proof that they actually studied with. Nope. It's all part of the selling act. It works as a testimonial, support, or quotes, etc.

"Case studies" can be a good support. I don't know how to use them myself tho.
But it's a good persuasive thing.

Would you rather buy this skin cleaning product that's brand new to the industry. Or a product that is persuasive AND case studies were done/proven on it to work/do whatever is it.

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Tim Franklin

13 years ago

All I can say is Wow, Seriously you should read the document, FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials

In this case, semantics, will earn you a nice 8x8 Cell in the grey bar hotel.

Serious you should seriously consider reading the document, because words have meaning, in this case, when you say case study the FTC requires that you have reputable scientific proof of any claims you make, (case study) is a claim, if you do not have that proof, then you could be, in violation and found to have engaged in deceptive advertising.

There is no way around this there is no way to word it so that you can CYA, if you make any claim at all, you have to be able to prove it, period.

The best thing to do is to make no claim at all, until and unless you have obtained the advice of a legal professional who is willing to bail you out of jail if he or she is wrong on the advice they give you.

FYI, this is not advice, ---

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Marvin Johnston

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Tim Franklin

In this case, semantics, will earn you a nice 8x8 Cell in the grey bar hotel.

Serious you should seriously consider reading the document, because words have meaning, in this case, when you say case study the FTC requires that you have reputable scientific proof of any claims you make, (case study) is a claim, if you do not have that proof, then you could be, in violation and found to have engaged in deceptive advertising.

You are right, I really need to read the original document

.

"Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect."

"The Guides are administrative interpretations of the law intended to help advertisers comply with the Federal Trade Commission Act; they are not binding law themselves. In any law enforcement action challenging the allegedly deceptive use of testimonials or endorsements, the Commission would have the burden of proving that the challenged conduct violates the FTC Act."

It appears that while we may not be able to CYA, that is exactly what the FTC is doing with their guidelines (note the 2nd quote.)

To some extent, this is a moot point in my situation ... I don't use testimonials, case studies, or anything else except word of mouth.

But it is interesting.

Marvin

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Will Edwards

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Tim Franklin

All I can say is Wow, Seriously you should read the document, FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials

In this case, semantics, will earn you a nice 8x8 Cell in the grey bar hotel.

Serious you should seriously consider reading the document, because words have meaning, in this case, when you say case study the FTC requires that you have reputable scientific proof of any claims you make, (case study) is a claim, if you do not have that proof, then you could be, in violation and found to have engaged in deceptive advertising.

There is no way around this there is no way to word it so that you can CYA, if you make any claim at all, you have to be able to prove it, period.

The best thing to do is to make no claim at all, until and unless you have obtained the advice of a legal professional who is willing to bail you out of jail if he or she is wrong on the advice they give you.

FYI, this is not advice, ---

Nice blog you have there Tim. I enjoyed your article on PLR.

Will

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Roaddog

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Tim Franklin

All I can say is Wow, Seriously you should read the document, FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials

In this case, semantics, will earn you a nice 8x8 Cell in the grey bar hotel.

Serious you should seriously consider reading the document, because words have meaning, in this case, when you say case study the FTC requires that you have reputable scientific proof of any claims you make, (case study) is a claim, if you do not have that proof, then you could be, in violation and found to have engaged in deceptive advertising.

There is no way around this there is no way to word it so that you can CYA, if you make any claim at all, you have to be able to prove it, period.

The best thing to do is to make no claim at all, until and unless you have obtained the advice of a legal professional who is willing to bail you out of jail if he or she is wrong on the advice they give you.

FYI, this is not advice, ---

This is one of those cases where your both right.

Marvin's right.... it is semantics, that people are trying to use to 'slip' by rules and regs..

And your right , you better be careful.

"You" ( average guy) don't have the money to play the games that credit card companies and lawyers and a whole lot of others have been playing for years...trying to turn this into that and that into this.

You better have a whole lot of money before you try changing day into night and vice verse.

The best way is yes and no...am I lying or not.

Remember the golden rule...Those who have the gold define the semantics.

Jim

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Steeleworks

13 years ago

it was mentioned....In this case, semantics, will earn you a nice 8x8 Cell in the gray bar hotel.

First, I am not a lawyer so do not fold, spindle or mutilate this into legal advice.

Actually, it is a fine that is the concern. I believe it is $11,000. However, in an interview, the head of the FTC said that if you mess up, you will get a warning shot fired over the bow of your ship. It will come in the form of a letter. You simply comply and there will be no foul, no harm, no fine.

He then went on to say that there are truly bad offenders and they will go after them. So, if you are evil incarnate, they will come after you with the full force of the law. I doubt anybody here is.

But.

And this is a big but. In a conversation with my internet attorney (he also teaches this stuff at colleges) I asked the question, what about states coming after us for federal regs.

He said it is not only possible, it may be probable in the future.

Case in point, Kayhall. They sell retirement products like revocable living trusts.

In their early years, they had a 30 day right to rescission. You would not think it would get much better than that if you were a consumer. Well, the State came after several companies, including them. Mind you, the right to rescission is a federal law.

Because they did not specifically have a 3 day clause, even thought they had a 30 day clause, they paid a $10,000 fine. This is a company that has a bunch of lawyers and at the time made probably dozens of millions a year and they still lost.

The point...why try to get around it. It is the fine that states could impose that is of more concern. No state has yet. There have only been a couple of FTC cases so far.

Ann Taylor was the first case and the FTC decided No Enforcement in their case.

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Marvin Johnston

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Steeleworks

it was mentioned....In this case, semantics, will earn you a nice 8x8 Cell in the gray bar hotel.

Since this is the second time this has been mentioned, time to address it (old sales adage - you can ignore an objection the first time, but better address it the second time.)

IMO, this type of statement is nothing more than scare tactics TO THE AVERAGE PERSON. And that is a shame. A recent email headline is right on target - Getting Naked - Conditioning for Compliance. This was in reference to some of the TSA tactics currently done at airport "security".

As was mentioned (THANKS!), for most people a warning letter will be sent and addressing those concerns will end the potential problem. This is reasonable.

Because they did not specifically have a 3 day clause, even thought they had a 30 day clause, they paid a $10,000 fine. This is a company that has a bunch of lawyers and at the time made probably dozens of millions a year and they still lost.

IMO, This is the type of nonsense that needs to be fought and the brain damage behind it addressed and removed. If that case was lost, it is another case of form over substance, and everyone looses with that kind of nonsense.

And the OP was another way of asking about form over substance. Sounds like okay in some instances and not in others.

Hope you can tell I don't have many opinions

.

Marvin

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Mike McAleer

13 years ago

I did not really think of these as the same word before but I guess they really are. I mean a case study seems to me like someone trying a method and doing well and sharing it. Same thing with a testimonial.

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Sarah Russell

13 years ago

Case studies to me mean actual in-depth analysis, as well as proof of how the tool/product/etc was used. You're right, though, I've been seeing a lot of "case studies" (glorified testimonials) that probably don't meet the FTC's requirements for proof. Be careful if it's something you plan to use.

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seasoned

13 years ago

Case study DOES indicate that it is more controlled, etc.... The way it USUALLY works is people hear about experiences, via things like testimonials, and THEN, if there is a pattern about something worth finding out, they launch a case study. Here is how wikipedia describes it:

A case study is a research method common in social science. It is based on an in-depth investigation of a single individual, group, or event. Case studies may be descriptive or explanatory. The latter type is used to explore causation in order to find underlying principles

NOTE, it says RESEARCH, COMMON METHOD, IN DEPTH INVESTIGATION.

Steve

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Lance K

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Marvin Johnston

I was just looking at a marketing email talking about case studies in their sales presentation. And I was struck with that term. Since testimonials are under more scrutiny by the FCC, is the term "case study" now the preferred way to refer to testimonials?

Or are there better ways to handle testimonials?

Marvin

What's your attorney's opinion?

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psresearch 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Lance K

What's your attorney's opinion?

Definitely needs to ask the attorney - but ALSO needs to read the FTC guidelines himself and contact the FTC - they won't answer questions about specific sales letters obviously, but they often WILL answer more general questions to at least give you a sense of HOW they are thinking about things.
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jasonmorgan

13 years ago

Since testimonials are under more scrutiny by the FCC, is the term "case study" now the preferred way to refer to testimonials?

And theft is illegal so I call it permanently borrowing without asking.

Call your fake testimonials anything you want, it's not going to make a difference. Being clever doesn't work in front of a judge or government agency.

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Marvin Johnston

13 years ago

Originally Posted by jasonmorgan

And theft is illegal so I call it permanently borrowing without asking.

Call your fake testimonials anything you want, it's not going to make a difference. Being clever doesn't work in front of a judge or government agency.

I am NOT talking about fake testimonials, case studies, or any other false way of presenting a sales page. Putting down false information is fraud, pure and simple.

I have no idea where you got that idea, but I thought I'd better make it clear that is not what I'm talking about.

Marvin

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jasonmorgan

13 years ago

I am NOT talking about fake testimonials, case studies, or any other false way of presenting a sales page. Putting down false information is fraud, pure and simple.

Then you have nothing to worry about.

Testimonials, case studies or whatever you want to call them are not illegal and if used correctly wont land you in any trouble.

Tim Franklin gave some great links on how to use this stuff properly and avoid trouble.

Unfortunately, the internet is global so you're going to have 3rd world knuckleheads pulling pics from google and making stuff up just to make a buck.

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Legal - Is "Case Study" the new workaround term for "Testimonial"?

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