Background
Summary of Council decision:
Three issues were investigated, two were Upheld and one was Not upheld.
Ad description
A poster ad, for the Sonos Play:3 wireless hi-fi system, included an image of the product with an iPhone as well as the text "IT'S LIKE A DOCK. BUT IN EVERY ROOM. WITH ACCESS TO ALL THE MUSIC ON EARTH. AND IT'S WIRELESS. OK IT'S NOT LIKE A DOCK".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the claims:
1. "IT'S WIRELESS" was misleading, because he understood the product could not function wirelessly without additional hardware to connect it to a router;
2. "WITH ACCESS TO ALL THE MUSIC ON EARTH" was misleading, because he understood the product included only an internet radio service and that an additional service would be required to access music more widely; and
3. "IT'S LIKE A DOCK" was misleading, because he understood it could not play music directly from certain devices, including the iPhone, without additional hardware.
Response
1. Sonos Inc (Sonos) believed the average consumer would interpret the claim "IT'S WIRELESS" to refer to the fact that the units in a Sonos system connected wirelessly and were wirelessly controlled via smartphones, tablets and certain MP3 players as well as via any computer with wireless connectivity. They said while at least one Sonos player in the system must be connected to a router in order for the system to operate, all players were supplied with the ethernet cable required to make that connection and therefore no additional hardware would be required to achieve wireless functionality. They said their website and the product packaging made clear that at least one Sonos component must be connected to a router. Sonos said it was common practice to describe systems that used both wired and wireless technology as "wireless", for example home internet packages which required at least one wired access point to a router in order to function.
They said, in practice, "wireless" was generally used as shorthand for products with the ability to communicate wirelessly, rather than to refer to products that had no wires at all. They believed the average consumer was unlikely to interpret the claim literally. Sonos said it was widely understood that "wireless", in the context of home music systems, referred to the fact that they communicated wirelessly but did not operate entirely wirelessly. They said they had very low return rates for their products, which they believed would not be the case if consumers were being materially misled, in particular because they offered a 30-day money back guarantee for items bought online or via their call centre. In addition, they had an extremely high customer satisfaction rating and had received no direct complaints regarding the use of "wireless". They submitted details of their customer satisfaction scores, of other products described as wireless as well as press articles that referred to their products as "wireless music systems". They also submitted a statement from a retailer that sold Sonos items, which stated that he had not had any products returned due to not meeting consumers' understanding of a wireless music player.
2. Sonos said consumers would not interpret the claim "WITH ACCESS TO ALL THE MUSIC ON EARTH" literally. Instead, it was intended to convey that the product offered access to a huge range of music because it offered access to over 100,000 free radio stations, including a number that allowed listeners to exercise control over the music being played. There were stations from every continent and the players also allowed listeners to stream all of the music in their own music library. The product additionally allowed users access to millions of tracks via streaming services. They said that while access to streaming services often required a subscription, the average consumer would not be surprised by that and would not expect a one-off purchase of a Sonos product to offer permanent access to every track ever recorded.
3. Sonos said an iPhone was shown in the ad, because it was a popular method of controlling Sonos players. They said additional hardware would be required if a consumer had music only on their iPod or iPhone but most consumers already had their music libraries already on a computer. Sonos believed few consumers would rely solely on mobile devices to store music, because they were easily lost or stolen. In any case, the majority of users would have a home computer and could easily transfer music from their iPhone or iPod and then play it via their Sonos player. They said the fact that users could not play music directly from their iPhone was not therefore a significant condition that needed to be made clear in the ad. They pointed out that the ad also stated "OK IT'S NOT LIKE A DOCK", which highlighted that there were material differences between Sonos players and docks. Sonos strongly disagreed that the claims were likely to mislead and said they had not received any complaints directly.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The ASA noted the Sonos system required at least one player to be linked to the router by a wired connection in order to operate wirelessly. We understood that other elements of the system, if a user had more than one element, would then operate wirelessly. We considered, however, the claim "AND IT'S WIRELESS", which we also noted appeared in conjunction with an image of a Sonos product without any wires, was likely to be interpreted as suggesting the system operated entirely wirelessly whether consumers purchased only one speaker or several for use in different rooms. We understood that was not the case, unless an additional wireless ethernet connection (Bridge) was purchased, and therefore concluded that the claim was misleading.
On this point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising).
2. Not upheld
We considered the claim "WITH ACCESS TO ALL THE MUSIC ON EARTH" was not likely to be interpreted literally by the average consumer but that they would instead understand it to mean that the product allowed access to a wide range of music. We understood Sonos gave users access to a range of radio stations and to streaming services as well as allowing them to play their own music library from their computer. We noted that subscriptions applied to many streaming services but, in particular because the ad did not make direct reference to the ability to access those services, considered consumers would not expect to be able to access subscription services for free using the device. In that context, we concluded that the claim was not misleading.
On this point, we investigated the ad under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising) and
3.9
3.9
Marketing communications must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify.
(Qualification) but did not find it in breach.
3. Upheld
We acknowledged that smartphones could be used to control Sonos products but considered the claim "IT'S LIKE A DOCK", particularly but not only because it appeared in conjunction with an image of the product with an iPhone, was likely to be interpreted as suggesting the product, similarly to other 'docking stations', allowed music to be played directly from mobile devices such as smartphones and MP3 players. We noted Sonos's argument that the text "OK IT'S NOT LIKE A DOCK" made clear there were material differences between the product and a docking station but considered, in the context of the overall impression of the ad, it was instead likely to be interpreted as suggesting the product performed like a docking station, by allowing music to be played directly from mobile devices, but that it also had additional features and benefits. We therefore concluded that the claim was misleading.
On this point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Sonos to ensure their future advertising did not imply a product was entirely wireless, or that it could be used to play music directly from a mobile device, if that was not the case.
