Matrix accepts ASA ruling

By Leon Engelbrecht, ITWeb senior writer

Johannesburg, 18 Oct 2007

The Matrix Warehouse has accepted an Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruling that rival Incredible Connection is the country`s largest IT retailer.

However, Matrix MD Jan Boshoff took solace in the fact that the ASA found there was no independent and credible evidence that Incredible Connection was the fastest-growing retailer.

The ASA Directorate made the ruling earlier this month. The ruling was a sequel to an earlier decision by the ASA - in April - that Incredible Connection withdraw advertising claiming it was both the biggest and fastest growing IT retailer. It found the boast was not supported by information that emanated from, or was evaluated by, an independent and credible expert.

Incredible Connection was instructed to remove the claim from its advertising with immediate effect. It was informed that, "the claim may not be used again in its current format until new substantiation is submitted, evaluated, and a new ruling is made".

Subsequent to the ruling, GFK Marketing Services SA provided the ASA with information regarding the retail market. "In essence, GFK confirmed that the respondent is the biggest IT chain in SA with regard to turnover, and that it has an unrivalled scope of products across a large variety of categories. It did not, however, confirm the respondent is the fastest-growing IT retailer in SA," the ASA Directorate`s ruling says.

The Code of Advertising Practice requires advertisers "to hold documentary evidence to support all claims that are capable of objective substantiation, and that such evidence shall emanate from, or be evaluated by, an independent and credible expert in the field to which the claims relate".

The ASA Directorate in its ruling added that it had previously accepted GFK as an independent and credible source of information. Therefore, it accepted that Incredible Connection is the biggest IT retailer in SA when it comes to turnover.