Media Angles
Part of Finding a credible media angle
Distinguishing a real finding from a promotional claim
Separate a checkable observation from product praise, broad comparisons and unsupported conclusions before using it as a media angle.
A finding reports what the available evidence shows within a stated boundary. A promotional claim draws a favourable conclusion about a business, product or market position.
The same sentence can do both. To assess it, remove the praise, identify what can be checked and ask whether the conclusion extends beyond the evidence.
Use this check when a proposed media angle starts with wording from a sales or marketing team. Promotional wording is not automatically false, but calling it a finding does not strengthen its evidence.
Separate the observation from the conclusion
Underline the observable part of the sentence. “Customers completed more of a specified task after a change” could be a finding if the group, measure, period and calculation are available.
“Our solution transformed the industry” is a much larger conclusion. The first statement does not establish the second.
Type of statement / What it needs
- Observation
- A defined measure, group, period and source.
- Comparison
- A fair comparator and consistent definitions.
- Interpretation
- Reasoning from the observation and any material alternative explanation.
- Product or market claim
- Evidence for the impression the wording creates.
When checking a proposed finding, verify its material facts and include the context needed to prevent a materially misleading impression.
Check the impression created by the words
A sentence may contain a true number yet overstate its meaning. “Most customers prefer this service” needs a defined customer group and a method that measured preference.
Purchase or enquiry records may show what those customers did; they do not automatically reveal what they preferred or why they acted.
Words such as first, fastest, best, leading and proven can imply a comparison. Ask which market, competitors, outcome and period are covered. If those cannot be established, describe the observed change instead.
The ACCC says it can require businesses to back up claims about their products or services. If a business misleads, it may investigate and take compliance or enforcement action.
Key Facts from ACCC Guidance on Misleading Claims
- ACCC Enforcement Authority
- Yes – can require businesses to substantiate claims
- Misleading Claims Penalties
- Compliance or enforcement action possible
- Consumer Protection Focus
- Preventing materially misleading impressions
Apply the removal test
Temporarily remove the company name, product praise and desired conclusion. What remains?
A useful finding should still tell readers something about a defined group or event. If only praise remains, the material may belong on a company channel until there is an independently useful observation.
Imagine a hypothetical company reporting that a revised booking page was followed by more completed bookings among visitors who used it. The observation would require checked records and a defined comparison.
Calling the page “the most effective in Australia” would require separate comparative evidence and a clear measure of effectiveness. Claiming the redesign caused the increase would require a way to address other plausible causes. No such result or test is asserted here.
Rewrite to the supported point
Keep the group, measure and period in the main sentence. Put a condition that changes the meaning beside it. Label an interpretation as an interpretation.
If the evidence covers only company customers, say so. If the measure was bookings, do not call it satisfaction.
Ask someone outside the campaign team what they believe the sentence establishes. If their reading is broader than the evidence, narrow the wording again.
Compare the sentence’s group, measure and period with the underlying records, and remove any claim those records do not establish.
