Wednesday, March 31, 2021

25 Post Event Survey Questions to Ask

Just like Joey from "Friends," we recognize the importance of giving and receiving in marketing. One of the best things to give and receive is feedback.

Without feedback, we would never be able to improve. And even though it's hard, feedback is a great way to measure success.

With a post event survey, you'll learn what attendees thought about the event, how they heard about it, and what they enjoyed most. Measuring attendee satisfaction will help you improve your event marketing and figure out what's working and what isn't.

In fact, 90% of virtual event organizers use surveys to measure attendee satisfaction. And 80% report that attendee engagement and satisfaction were KPIs used for measuring event success.

To design a post event survey, you'll want to ask several types of questions -- from Yes/No, rating, to open-ended questions.

Below, let's review the best post event survey questions to ask.

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1. How satisfied were you with the event?

First and foremost, it's important to ask attendees about their overall satisfaction with an event. You can also ask participants to rate specific things including the venue, date, speakers, vendors, catering, quality of sessions, amount of sessions, and more.

This will help you gauge specifically how well you did in each area, but also the overall satisfaction of attendees.

This is probably the first and most important question that is asked on most surveys. It's a great starting point for the specific questions that follow next.

2. What was your favorite experience or moment of the event?

This question should be open-ended and let the participants describe what they liked most about the event and why they liked that moment.

This will help you discover what you did right and what experiences are most valuable to your event attendees.

With this information, you can get an idea about how to plan events in the future and figure out if there's anything that a majority of your attendees agree with or want to see again.

3. What could we improve on?

Again, this will be an open-ended question that lets your participants give constructive feedback. While it's hard to hear sometimes, this will help you figure out what resonates with your audiences and what doesn't.

By tracking what audiences don't like, you can then improve and iterate future events so people don't have those barriers about attending your next event.

The point of getting feedback isn't just to receive positive feedback, but to figure out what isn't working as well.

4. How useful was the event?

This is a great question for figuring out how actionable the event content was. Did your attendees find the information useful? Did they learn anything? Were they able to apply something they learned from your event into their work flow?

Depending on the type of event you're holding, this can be a great way to figure out if people felt they got their money's worth.

5. Did the event meet your expectations?

Similar to the question above, this question measures if people got what they thought they were going to get. This answers the question, "Did my audience achieve their goal by attending this event?"

This should be an open-ended question that allows users to expand and explain why the event met their expectations, or why it didn't.

6. How likely would you be to attend our events in the future?

With this question, you'll learn how many people plan to keep up to date with your events. If they were generally satisfied, they'll say yes. If they weren't, they'll say no.

This does a good job of figuring out how well you marketed and sold your company as an authority and trustworthy leader in the industry.

7. Would you recommend our events to a friend or colleague?

Given that people are more likely to purchase a product their friend has shared with them and the importance of customer reviews, referrals are a great way to measure how satisfied your event attendees are.

Liking your event or products isn't enough -- do they like you enough to talk about you with their friends? That's the true mark of success for an event.

8. Did you have an opportunity and place to ask questions and participate?

Whether you provided online support or you had event helpers around the building, it's important to note whether attendees noticed that help and if they felt supported. When you run an event, there are bound to be questions about registration, access to certain workshops, and more.

This question lets you know that your audience knew where to go if they had a question. If they didn't feel like they had a space to ask questions, then you can do better about promoting your support channels.

9. What would have made this event better?

This is a great question to crowdsource event ideas from your target audience. What do they want to see? What gaps did they see in your event from competitors? With this question, you'll be able to brainstorm ways to improve your next event.

10. Why did you attend this event?

You can use this question as a way to inform your pre event marketing. This will let you know what your audience liked about your marketing and what they expected from you. This open-ended question will give you a chance to show up for your audience and give them what they want.

11. How did you hear about this event?

Again, this is a great way to evaluate your pre event marketing. Where are attendees learning about your event? What marketing channels are working best? What marketing channels aren't working at all?

This will tell you where to focus your pre event marketing for your next event and let you know places where you need to pay more attention and improve on.

12. Have you attended this event before?

A great metric to keep track of is how many repeat attendees you have coming to your regular or annual events. This will let you know how many people see the value in your event and want to continue attending.

Again, this metric will let you know where to focus your marketing efforts. Do you want to increase repeat attendance? Then perhaps you need to focus on the customer experience during the event. Do you have great repeat customers but not enough new acquisitions? This will let you know that you need to focus on pre event marketing channels.

13. Would you want to attend this event again in the future?

This question, while similar to one of the above, measures how likely someone is to attend the same event in the future. Do they see value in attending this event every year? Or do they feel like they got everything they needed?

Again, just like it's easier to retain customers than get new ones, it's easier to convince former participants to attend the same event again. This will reveal if your audience is excited about coming to your event in the future and then you can compare with the number of attendees who actually came back the next year.

14. Have you attended our other events before?

This question will let you know how many loyal followers you have. Are the people coming to your events in your community? Or are these new people who haven't heard of your brand before? This will help you measure where you're acquiring event attendees.

15. Were you satisfied with the amount of activities/workshops?

This is a specific question that measures satisfaction with the quantity of activities or workshops available to attendees. Essentially, was there enough for your participants to do during the event. Or was there too much? Either way, this question is important to figure out if you and your audience are aligned on what content they want.

16. Were you satisfied with the quality of the content?

Once you know how much content to offer your audience, it's time to ask about the quality of the content. Did they find the information helpful? Was this worth paying for? This will help establish trust with your audience that you can present high quality content and information that they find valuable and useful.

This will also help you gauge what content your audience is interested in. If they were not satisfied with the quality, it could be because the type of content, the speakers, or the way it was presented.

17. How helpful was the staff at the event?

This is an excellent question that will help you figure out how your staff performed during this event. When attendees asked questions or used support, was the staff friendly and helpful? Or was there a staffing issue?

This will help you figure out how quickly issues were resolved and if participants enjoyed their experience.

18. What was your biggest takeaway from the event?

Again, this helps you determine what people were able to learn from your event and what they got out of it. Does that align with your goals for the event? If not, this is a great way to learn what people took away from your event and what they expected.

19. How satisfied were you with the virtual experience?

If you're holding a virtual event, it's important to add post event questions that measure the success of the virtual experience.

You can leave this as a rating and/or an optional open-ended question to let people explain why they were or were not satisfied with the virtual experience. Attendees might comment on the ease of navigation or the audio quality, for instance.

20. What were your favorite virtual features?

If you offered any special online features or an event app, this is the place to figure out what your attendees thought about those features. This lets you measure the success of your virtual platform overall -- did this platform provide features that your audience liked? Or were there other features they wished were available?

21. How easy to navigate was the platform for the event?

Similarly, this question is meant to measure the effectiveness of your online platform for your virtual events. If the platform isn't intuitive or easy for participants to use, then they probably won't consider coming back for your other events. This will help you gauge if improvements need to be made to the online experience.

22. How satisfied were you with the networking opportunities provided?

Lots of marketing events are meant to allow networking and a lot of people attend these events to network with other professionals. If networking is something that your audience wants from you, it's important to measure the success of your networking opportunities.

This can be a rating question or an open-ended question so your attendees can elaborate on what they liked about the networking opportunities or didn't like.

23. What topics would you want to see more of at future events?

Again, it's always a good idea to learn what content your audience wants to see. How can you figure that out? Just ask.

In your survey, you can ask what type of topics they're interested in learning about in the future. This will also give you new perspectives and content ideas for your next event.

24. How did this event impact your perception of our company?

This is a great question for learning how effective your brand story and messaging is at your event. Is your branding clear through your event marketing materials? How does it fit in to the larger strategic picture? This question will let you track how effective your event was in terms of branding.

25. Please share any additional comments, thoughts, suggestions for future events.

Of course, ending with an open-ended question where participants can leave feedback on any area is a best practice. You want your attendees to feel like they can tell you their overall thoughts and opinions.

Hopefully the questions in your survey got your attendees thinking and they might also feel like there are other topics to cover. Since you can't ask every question you'd probably like to, this helps you figure out what's important to your audience.

Post event surveys are mainly used to measure how successful an event was. These surveys will give you information that you need to improve future events.

Now, post event survey questions aren't the only type of surveys you'll want to send out. You might consider also sending a pre-event survey. A pre-event survey will help you measure your current event marketing, see what got people excited about the event in the first place, and how to tailor the event to the actual attendees.

Here are some examples of what that might look like.

1. How did you hear about this event?

This question is great to ask either before or after an event. You could send this in a pre event survey to figure out what marketing channels are working the best. This will help you make changes to your budget and priorities when you continue marketing the event.

2. What are you most excited about?

With this pre event question, you can gauge what people are most looking forward to. Again, this will help inform your marketing budget and priorities so you can fulfill any customer expectations.

3. Have you attended this event before?

Similar to the first question, this can be asked before or after an event. The reason to find this out before an event is to see if you are getting a lot of repeat attendees or if you need to do more marketing to previous attendees.

4. Why did you choose to attend this event?

This is a great question to ask before an event because it will tell you what people are most looking forward to. This will help you prepare for an event so you can deliver on what people are expecting.

5. Do you have special accommodations you would like us to be aware of?

Logistically, this is important to know. If you don't have a lot of attendees, and accommodations need to be made, then you should be aware of what those accommodations are. If you're holding a larger event, you need to consider the type of accommodations you'll need to make for various attendees.

6. Was there any event information that was difficult for you to find?

Again, this will help you make adjustments to the pre event and registration process while it's still going on. This should help you get more registrants, ultimately, because you can pivot your strategy in real time.

7. Which social media platform do you use the most?

If you don't have a plan for how you're going to communicate with your attendees during the event, social media is a great option. But what platform would work best? You can use a pre event survey to learn what social media platforms your audience uses the most, so you can provide helpful information during your event.

Conducting pre or post event surveys is an important part of measuring the success of your event team and marketing team. To do this, you can use a survey tool, like HubSpot. Regardless of the tool you use, remember that the goal of sending a survey is to receive both positive and constructive feedback so that you can improve your event marketing and events.

Event Marketing


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Scott Alexander gets Dodgers’ final bullpen job over Dennis Santana

LOS ANGELES ― Left-hander Scott Alexander snagged the Dodgers’ final bullpen spot, the only outstanding question as the Dodgers prepare their Opening Day roster. The regular season begins Thursday in Denver against the Colorado Rockies.

Manager Dave Roberts called the choice “a very, very difficult decision.”

“We thought Dennis (Santana) had a great spring, really impressed with his progress, command, all that stuff,” he said. “It’s just more of a numbers game. We felt right now Scott has earned that roster spot.”

Alexander allowed 10 hits and four runs in 7-2/3 spring innings, a 4.70 earned-run average. He’ll join David Price and Victor Gonzalez as the only southpaws in the Dodgers’ eight-man bullpen. Handedness was a factor in the decision, Roberts said.

Alexander, 31, has a 3.18 ERA across 193 relief appearances in six MLB seasons, the last three with the Dodgers.

Santana has allowed nine hits in 8-1/3 innings this spring. He was scheduled to make his team-leading ninth appearance of spring training in Tuesday’s Freeway Series finale against the Angels.

The 25-year-old made a career-high 12 appearances out of the Dodgers’ bullpen last season, going 1-2 with a 5.29 ERA. He’ll be on the Dodgers’ taxi squad for the four-game series against the Rockies. So will catcher Keibert Ruiz, outfielder DJ Peters and reliever Garrett Cleavinger.

The Dodgers will carry 13 position players and 13 pitchers on their active roster for the season-opening series, including three starting pitchers who will begin the season in the bullpen: Price, Jimmy Nelson and Tony Gonsolin.

Rockies manager Bud Black told reporters Tuesday that his Opening Day roster will feature 12 position players and 14 pitchers.

THE MARATHON BEGINS

Every major league front office is contemplating how best to manage a pitching staff over 162 games in 2021 – 102 games longer than the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Only two teams, the Dodgers and Rockies, face the additional challenge of pitching at Coors Field to begin the season.

Baseball’s most hitter-friendly park frequently turns every nine-inning game into a relay race for pitchers. No Dodger pitcher has thrown more than 100 pitches in a start at Coors Field since 2018. What’s the expectation for Clayton Kershaw, Trevor Bauer, Walker Buehler, and Julio UrĂ­as?

“I’m hesitant to put expectations or even limits on our guys,” Roberts said. “For us, the messaging is go as hard as you can as long as you can. We’ve got a lot of guys behind them. Obviously knowing it’s a good lineup, it’s a tough place to pitch historically, but we’ve just got to score more runs than they do. I feel confident with the guys we’re running out there.”

ALSO

A billboard erected by the Dodgers fan club Pantone 294 near Fenway Park thanking the Boston Red Sox for trading Mookie Betts caught the attention of one interested party: Mookie Betts. “I just laughed,” Betts said. “Obviously I didn’t have anything to do with that. It’s just funny.” … Betts declined to comment when asked if he has been vaccinated against COVID-19. “That whole vaccine is a personal decision. I’d like to just leave it in the clubhouse,” he said. … Former Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez signed with the expansion Guadalajara Mariachis of the Mexican League. Gonzalez, 39, hopes to play for Team Mexico in the upcoming Summer Olympics. … Former SportsNet LA reporter Alanna Rizzo is returning to MLB Network, where she will be a regular contributor on Christopher Russo’s “High Heat” show. Rizzo will provide news and commentary during the weekday show. Rizzo was an MLB Network reporter prior to joining the Dodgers’ regional sports network in 2014.

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Orange County swimming leaderboard, March 30

Top reported results from Tuesday, March 30

BOYS SWIMMING/DIVING

Nonleague

HUNTINGTON BEACH 118, NEWPORT HARBOR 52

CORONA DEL MAR 106.5, LAGUNA BEACH 51.5

SAN CLEMENTE 107, ORANGE LUTHERAN 60

200-yard medley relay (OCR standard 1:41.9) SC 1:40.79, CdM 1:41.67

200 free (1:45.9) C. Dodd (HB) 1:45.32

200 IM (2:01.9) Paisley (SC) 2:01.00

50 free (22.2) Cunningham (HB) 21.85, Kelly (LB) 21.97

100 butterfly (52.9) R. Dodd (HB) 52.04

100 free (48.2) Cunningham (HB) 47.56

500 free (4:49.9) Paisley SC) 4:44.82, C. Dodd (HB) 4:45.48, R. Dodd (HB) 4:46.84

200 free relay (1:29.9)

100 back (54.9)

100 breast (1:00.5)

400 free relay (3:25.0) HB 3:13.22, CdM 3:19.33, LB 3:22.30, SC 3:23.97

Diving (350 points)

GIRLS SWIMMING/DIVING

Nonleague

NEWPORT HARBOR 101, HUNTINGTON BEACH 69

CORONA DEL MAR 92, LAGUNA BEACH 78

SAN CLEMENTE 115, ORANGE LUTHERAN 51

200 medley relay ((OCR standard 1:54.9) CdM 1:49.81, SC 1:52.09

200 free (1:58.5) Park (CdM) 1:57.67

200 IM (2:15.5) Tekawy (CdM) 2:06.87

50 free (25.2) Copeland (SC) 23.48, Cook (CdM) 24.64, Gazzaniga (OLu) 24.71

100 butterfly (1:00.1) Schalow (CdM) 58.08, Cook (CdM) 58.88,

100 free (55.1) Gazzaniga (OLu) 53.77, Schalow (CdM) 54.12, Rose (LB) 54.47, Renner (LB) 54.75, Schlom (CdM) 55.06

500 free (5:21.0) Copeland (SC) 5:12.67

200 free relay (1:42.0) CdM 1:39.77

100 back (1:01.3) Schlom (CdM) 1:00.82, Bever (CdM) 1:01.19,

100 breast (1:09.9) Tekawy (CdM) 1:05.79, Jocic (LB) 1:08.37, Phillips (SC) 1:09.33

400 free relay (3.44.9)

Diving (350 points) Roselli (MD) 386

Please send scores and times that meet the O.C. Register standard to Dan Albano at dalbano@scng.com

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Alexander: Another UCLA victory in another crazy finish

Being the 11th Seed That Could is nice. But Mick Cronin noted Sunday night, after his UCLA Bruins knocked off Alabama, that just overachieving is hardly satisfactory.

“Somebody said, ‘Well, now you’ve been to an Elite Eight,’” he said. “That’s not why I came to UCLA. I’ve got a lot of friends in the NBA, and they make fun of people that have rings that say ‘Conference champion.’ There’s only one. Whoever wins the NBA title is the world champion.

“So for me, we’ve got to win three more games.”

They still have a chance. And now that UCLA is back in the Final Four, maybe we should stop being surprised.

They were ready for the moment again Tuesday night, beating No. 1 seed Michigan, 51-49, in a slog of a game that further demonstrated the resilience that has made UCLA just the second team to go from the First Four to the Final Four. And while Cronin has repeated at each of his post-game news conferences during this run that all the credit should go to the players, those players are a reflection of the guy in charge.

“On April 9, 2019, I told you, I spell fun w-i-n,” Cronin said Tuesday night, a reference to the day he was hired at UCLA. “You have to find a way to win, and these guys are having the most fun they’ve ever had in their life back in that locker room because they won.

“I told them I was going to teach them how to win. And you have to be able to win different ways … to find a way to beat (Michigan) with defense the way we did tonight, I’m obviously extremely proud of our team. It was just resilience.”

Johnny Juzang, who shot the Bruins back into the game in the first half after they trailed 11-4, and finished with 28 points even after hurting his right ankle early in the second half and leaving the game briefly, is an L.A. guy who originally chose Kentucky but had no hesitation returning home to play for Cronin. The shooter and the defensive-minded coach wouldn’t seem to be a natural match, but Juzang said the idea of being coached hard appealed to him.

“There’s just something inexplainable. I just felt something about Coach,” he said. “I knew that he was hard. I knew that he was intense. I knew that he was defensive-minded, and those are things that drew me. I wanted that. I wanted to be pushed. … I knew that he would push me and hold me accountable and challenge me, and I wanted to play for a program where he does that for everybody.”

Consider that he left Kentucky, another of the sport’s blue-bloods.

Also consider that Kentucky missed the tournament, while UCLA knocked off the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in its region to get to the last Saturday. The last 11 seed to do that was LSU in 1986, led by former Crenshaw High star John Williams, which beat the top three seeds in its region.

These Bruins and those Tigers are two of only five No. 11 seeds ever to make it to the Final Four, joining George Mason in 2006, VCU in 2011 – the first team to get there from the First Four – and Loyola-Chicago in 2018.

None of us had the heart during the postgame Zoom session to ask Cronin if he’d started looking ahead to Gonzaga, the undefeated overall  No. 1 seed that laid waste to USC’s Final Four chances in the first game of the evening.

But maybe the Bruins – having won two tourney games in overtime already – were paying close enough attention to that game to be reminded just how important it is to seize the moment. Gonzaga (30-0) took the initiative from the tipoff and USC was on its heels most of that game. In the nightcap, after Michigan (23-5) took its early 11-4 lead with UCLA making just 2 of 13 field-goal attempts, the Bruins (22-9) threw the next punch. Juzang scored 12 points in a 3:40 span to put his team in front, where it would stay most of the game.

The little things matter for this team, hugely, and a guy who didn’t score a point might have been indispensable. Kenneth Nwuba, the 6-foot-9 redshirt sophomore from Lagos, Nigeria who had averaged 5.4 minutes in the 16 games he played, was on the court for 21 minutes after Cody Riley got into early foul difficulty. Nwuba had five rebounds, drew two charging fouls early in the game and was one of the guys Cronin was thinking of when he suggested that the stat sheet might as well be crumpled up.

“Kenny has never played that many minutes, I don’t think,” he said. “He dug deep for us – five big rebounds, great physicality, set some great screens. Again, stats can be overrated. Here is a guy that didn’t score but (the questioner) brought his name up for a reason. He had a big impact on the game physically.”

How big a milestone is this? UCLA will be in the Final Four for the first time since 2008 and the 19th time overall (though the 1980 appearance was vacated by the NCAA, so the official number is 18).

Cronin made it in his second season in Westwood. It took Ben Howland three years. It took John Wooden 14.

“I knew the expectations, right?” Cronin said. “I mean, it’s pretty clear at UCLA.

“I thank (former athletic director) Dan Guerrero for believing in me. I tried to convince him and the guys that were around him with this that I understood it and I wanted it. Coach (Rick) Pitino is like an older brother to me, and he used to say, ‘I’d rather live one day as a lion than a thousand as a lamb.’ It’s like I told my father (Hep), ‘If I don’t take this job I’ll feel like a lamb.’”

Oh, he’s a lion all right. His players will attest to that, and so will any official within earshot after a questionable call.

That passion has gotten his team back to the Final Four. It already is a double-digit underdog to Gonzaga in Saturday’s semifinal, according to the experts in the desert. But would you really want to bet against UCLA’s toughness, resilience and stubbornness?

jalexander@scng.com

@Jim_Alexander on Twitter

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CHP K-9 Sam recovering after being stabbed during arrest

California Highway Patrol K-9 Sam was recovering — and showing a healthy appetite — on Tuesday, March 30, a day after being stabbed while helping authorities apprehend a man wanted in a kidnapping investigation.

Sam, a 3-year-old Belgian Malinois, had surgery Monday at Inland Valley Veterinary Specialists & Emergency Center in Upland, said Officer Ramon Duran, a spokesman for the CHP Inland Division. But Sam, a two-year veteran of the force, was back eating on Tuesday after waking up from being sedated, Duran said.

The incident began just before noon Monday near the intersection of Caliente Road and Oak Hills Road in Hesperia when San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies attempted to pull over a car being driven by the wanted man, William Shae McKay, 52, of Rancho Cucamonga.

But McKay sped off in a GMC Sierra, a sheriff’s news release said. The pursuit led deputies south on the 15 Freeway until McKay exited at Highway 138 in the Cajon Pass and headed north. CHP officers were waiting with a spike strip and were able to disable the car.

McKay and passenger Abrianna Valerie Gonzalez, 24, of San Bernardino, ran from the car, the release said.

“Sam heroically sprung into action and tracked down one of the suspects,” the CHP said in a Facebook post.

Gonzalez stabbed the dog before being arrested, the release said. McKay was also arrested.

A sheriff’s helicopter flew Sam to San Antonio Regional Hospital before he was taken to the vet.

Gonzalez was booked on suspicion of kidnapping and cruelty to an animal. Booking information was not available for McKay on Tuesday.

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City of Hope Orange County lands $50 million gift from Lennar Foundation

The size of the gift Lennar Foundation just awarded City of Hope Orange County is eye-popping: $50 million.

Made public on Wednesday, March 31, the money represents the biggest gift yet in the three-year-old effort by City of Hope to bring its expertise in fighting cancer to Orange County.

It’s also the second-largest donation in City of Hope’s 108-year history. The organization has been known for its hospital and research center in Duarte, but the move into Orange County is part of an expansion that will include a specialty hospital, two outpatient treatment centers and a planned network of services that will be closer to home for Orange County patients.

Annette M. Walker, president of City of Hope Orange County, called Lennar Foundation’s donation a “gift to our children” because of the future possibilities it unlocks. Walker spoke on a conference call that included Jon Jaffe, co-chief executive officer and co-president of Miami-based homebuilder Lennar Corp., and City of Hope’s chief philanthropy officer, Kristin J. Bertell.

“The impact of this gift is going to be felt for generations,” Walker said.

  • The 4th Floor Infusion area of the future Lennar Foundation Cancer Center at City of Hope Orange County. (Rendering courtesy of City of Hope Orange County)

  • The patient and family arrivals area for the future Lennar Foundation Cancer Center at City of Hope Orange County. (Rendering courtesy of City of Hope Orange County)

  • The future Lennar Foundation Cancer Center at City of Hope Orange County. (Rendering courtesy of City of Hope Orange County)

  • The lobby of the future Lennar Foundation Cancer Center at City of Hope Orange County. (Rendering courtesy of City of Hope Orange County)

  • The reception area of the future Lennar Foundation Cancer Center at City of Hope Orange County. (Rendering courtesy of City of Hope Orange County)

  • The patient care room of the future Lennar Foundation Cancer Center at City of Hope Orange County. (Rendering courtesy of City of Hope Orange County)

  • The exam room of the future Lennar Foundation Cancer Center at City of Hope Orange County. (Rendering courtesy of City of Hope Orange County)

  • The future 190,000-square-foot Lennar Foundation Cancer Center at City of Hope Orange County will be located on 11 acres at Five Point’s Great Park in the heart of Irvine. (Rendering courtesy of City of Hope Orange County)

  • The Porte Cochere shown at night for the future Lennar Foundation Cancer Center at City of Hope Orange County. (Rendering courtesy of City of Hope Orange County)

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Bertell said Lennar Foundation’s philanthropy follows a $100 million award to City of Hope made six weeks ago by its own research director, Dr. Arthur Riggs. Riggs has earned his wealth through pioneering work at City of Hope that includes development of the technology to create synthetic human insulin for diabetics. The research center in Duarte has been renamed the Arthur Riggs Diabetes & Metabolism Research Institute after the researcher, who has contributed more than $310 million over his three-decade tenure at City of Hope.

Walker and Bertell said the gift from Lennar will enhance the care provided to patients at the Orange County facilities and possibly spur other local donors to make their own stake in the Irvine project. Naming rights are in play: the 190,000-square-foot outpatient center set to open next year is now known as the Lennar Foundation Cancer Center.

City of Hope’s outpatient center in Newport Beach, which opened in January 2020, was the first piece in the cancer care provider’s planned $1 billion investment in Orange County.

Though Walker said it is too soon to say what specific cancer-related services will be supported by the $50 million donation, she termed it “transformational.”

“A gift of this magnitude is going to touch all parts of that cancer center.”

An unspecified portion of the money will go toward research and development of precision medicine to prevent, treat and cure cancer. Lennar is helping to launch a new partnership between City of Hope Orange County and Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami in Florida.

City of Hope officials believe the relationship with Miami-based Sylvester Center, which serves an economically and racially diverse population, will help researchers get a better understanding of the health care inequities in Orange County, including some that have been exposed by the pandemic.

“We’re excited to help bring about equality in health care,” said Jaffe, who lives in Orange County and was a 2004 recipient of City of Hope’s “Spirit of Life” award.

Jaffe suggested his company’s gift was made possible by its ongoing relationship with City of Hope and the partnership with Sylvester. He said Lennar made similar financial support to the University of Miami health care system.

“It was only a natural extension of our partnership for Lennar to step up,” said Jaffe, whose Lennar Corp. office in Irvine is in a building next to the cancer treatment center, all part of the FivePoint Gateway campus near the Great Park.

City of Hope Orange County has set a goal of raising $300 million by 2025, when the hospital is expected to open. Bertell declined to disclose how much of that money is in hand, but said contributions so far have come from about 12,000 donors and that overall fundraising will beat the stated goal.

“We’re very confident we are going to blow that $300 million away,” Bertell said.

Another gift in the range of the amount contributed by Lennar Foundation could include naming rights for the cancer-centric hospital that will be adjacent to the Irvine outpatient center. Walker said conversations with potential donors have turned more “serious and significant” as construction in Irvine has advanced enough for City of Hope Orange County to show what’s underway.

“We believe the gift from Lennar will inspire all the people we’ve been talking to.”

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New survey shows Asian Americans perceived as ‘perpetual foreigners’ in U.S.

Asian Americans are perceived as “perpetual foreigners” regardless of how long they or their families have lived in the United States, according to results of a survey released by AAPI Data and SurveyMonkey on Tuesday, March 30.

AAPI Data, which publishes demographic data and policy research about the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, launched the survey soon after eight people, including six women of Asian descent, died in three March 16 shootings at Asian-owned spas in Atlanta. A 21-year-old White man has been charged in the case.

The report’s release comes as Asian Americans increasingly find themselves the target of hate crimes and hate incidents amid the coronavirus pandemic. The group Stop AAPI Hate recently reported that it received 3,795 incident reports from March 19, 2020 to Feb. 28, 2021, with the most incidents (1,691, or 44.6%) reported in California.

The Asian American community, from activists to faith leaders and average citizens, have protested against hate nationwide since the shootings in Atlanta. Many in the community also place some blame on former President Donald Trump’s anti-China rhetoric for the surge in anti-Asian hate crimes and hate incidents.

The perils of ‘othering’

The survey, which AAPI Data said was administered only in English because of time limitations, shows Asian Americans are viewed as “perpetual foreigners.” About 64% of Asian American respondents said they’ve been asked questions such as: “Where are you from, assuming you’re not from the U.S.?”

This perception of Asian Americans as outsiders has been on display in disturbing footage of various violent hate crimes against people of Asian descent where a perpetrator, generally of another race, yells out that the victim doesn’t belong in the U.S. or that they should go back to their own country, said Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder of AAPI Data and director of UC Riverside’s Center for Social Innovation.

“It’s the idea that not only are you from somewhere else, but that you don’t belong here,” he said, adding that the survey shows Asian Americans experience this “othering” even more so than Latinos.

“Whenever there are real or perceived threats from other countries, people who are seen as representing those countries come under scrutiny,” Ramakrishnan said. “We saw that with the Japanese internment camps. We also saw that the first person killed after the 9/11 attacks was a Sikh man in Arizona.”

It’s also just a perpetual reminder that one is “not American,” Ramakrishnan said.

“This is also seen in the pressure to anglicize or Americanize your name,” he said. “It’s the wrongful notion that, somehow, you can’t maintain your cultural identity and be American at the same time.”

Protesters assemble at City Hall for the Stop Asian Hate National Rally on Saturday, March 27, 2021.(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

The survey released Tuesday shows Asian Americans are highly likely to encounter people who act as if they don’t speak English (45%) and suggest that they “whiten” or “Americanize” their names (20%). The results are similarly high for Pacific Islanders and Latinos, according to the survey.

About 1-in-4 Asian Americans surveyed by AAPI Data reported experiencing a hate crime or bias incident, defined in the survey as race-motivated “verbal or physical abuse or damage to their property.” The survey also showed 10% of Asian Americans said they experienced hate in 2020 and 2021. But only 30% of Asian respondents said they would be “very comfortable” reporting a hate crime to law enforcement, the lowest of any racial group.

“These numbers are very concerning,” said Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director of Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, the organization that co-founded Stop AAPI Hate. “This (survey) is opening up dialog around ways in which people have been otherized. My own children who were born in the United States have been asked where they are from because of their skin color.”

Racist tropes pervasive

In addition, according to the survey, racial exclusion works differently for different communities of color. For example, while Asian Americans are viewed as “perpetual foreigners,” anti-Black prejudice is built on tropes about violence while ignoring centuries of oppression from slavery and Jim Crow to modern-day incarceration. In the survey, nearly half of all Black respondents reported that people of another race acted as if afraid of them (45%) or as if they were dishonest (47%). Those numbers were high for Pacific Islanders as well, but lowest for White people and Asian Americans.

The intersectionality between misogyny, anti-immigrant sentiment and hate crimes and hate incidents shouldn’t be ignored, said Drishti Pillai, research manager at National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum. The March 16 shootings in Atlanta are an example of that intersection, she said.

“AAPI women are four times more likely to report that gender plays a part in a hate crime or incident,” Pillai added. “Race is a very important factor, but so is gender.”

The Atlanta shootings stirred up nationwide conversations about the hypersexualization and fetishization of Asian American women.

Despite escalating tensions, including those that have historically existed between communities of color, now is the time for all communities to support each other and build solidarity, said Niambi Carter, associate professor of political science at Howard University.

“We can build community and coalitions,” she said. “Don’t be silent about voting rights, police violence, mass incarceration, environmental racism or other issues that are going to affect all of us. Pain and trauma is one part of our relatedness. But there are places outside of our pain where we can also think about being in community with each other.”

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Scott Alexander gets Dodgers’ final bullpen job over Dennis Santana

LOS ANGELES ― Left-hander Scott Alexander snagged the Dodgers’ final bullpen spot, the only outstanding question as the Dodgers prepare their Opening Day roster. The regular season begins Thursday in Denver against the Colorado Rockies.

Manager Dave Roberts called the choice “a very, very difficult decision.”

“We thought Dennis (Santana) had a great spring, really impressed with his progress, command, all that stuff,” he said. “It’s just more of a numbers game. We felt right now Scott has earned that roster spot.”

Alexander allowed 10 hits and four runs in 7-2/3 spring innings, a 4.70 earned-run average. He’ll join David Price and Victor Gonzalez as the only southpaws in the Dodgers’ eight-man bullpen. Handedness was a factor in the decision, Roberts said.

Alexander, 31, has a 3.18 ERA across 193 relief appearances in six MLB seasons, the last three with the Dodgers.

Santana has allowed nine hits in 8-1/3 innings this spring. He was scheduled to make his team-leading ninth appearance of spring training in Tuesday’s Freeway Series finale against the Angels.

The 25-year-old made a career-high 12 appearances out of the Dodgers’ bullpen last season, going 1-2 with a 5.29 ERA. He’ll be on the Dodgers’ taxi squad for the four-game series against the Rockies. So will catcher Keibert Ruiz, outfielder DJ Peters and reliever Garrett Cleavinger.

The Dodgers will carry 13 position players and 13 pitchers on their active roster for the season-opening series, including three starting pitchers who will begin the season in the bullpen: Price, Jimmy Nelson and Tony Gonsolin.

Rockies manager Bud Black told reporters Tuesday that his Opening Day roster will feature 12 position players and 14 pitchers.

THE MARATHON BEGINS

Every major league front office is contemplating how best to manage a pitching staff over 162 games in 2021 – 102 games longer than the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Only two teams, the Dodgers and Rockies, face the additional challenge of pitching at Coors Field to begin the season.

Baseball’s most hitter-friendly park frequently turns every nine-inning game into a relay race for pitchers. No Dodger pitcher has thrown more than 100 pitches in a start at Coors Field since 2018. What’s the expectation for Clayton Kershaw, Trevor Bauer, Walker Buehler, and Julio UrĂ­as?

“I’m hesitant to put expectations or even limits on our guys,” Roberts said. “For us, the messaging is go as hard as you can as long as you can. We’ve got a lot of guys behind them. Obviously knowing it’s a good lineup, it’s a tough place to pitch historically, but we’ve just got to score more runs than they do. I feel confident with the guys we’re running out there.”

ALSO

A billboard erected by the Dodgers fan club Pantone 294 near Fenway Park thanking the Boston Red Sox for trading Mookie Betts caught the attention of one interested party: Mookie Betts. “I just laughed,” Betts said. “Obviously I didn’t have anything to do with that. It’s just funny.” … Betts declined to comment when asked if he has been vaccinated against COVID-19. “That whole vaccine is a personal decision. I’d like to just leave it in the clubhouse,” he said. … Former Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez signed with the expansion Guadalajara Mariachis of the Mexican League. Gonzalez, 39, hopes to play for Team Mexico in the upcoming Summer Olympics. … Former SportsNet LA reporter Alanna Rizzo is returning to MLB Network, where she will be a regular contributor on Christopher Russo’s “High Heat” show. Rizzo will provide news and commentary during the weekday show. Rizzo was an MLB Network reporter prior to joining the Dodgers’ regional sports network in 2014.

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Now we can’t scream on roller coasters? Ask the lawyer

Q: Amusement parks are reopening, subject to various conditions, one of which apparently is we can’t scream on a roller coaster.  Is that legitimate? We have to ride in silence?

-B.W, Anaheim

Ron Sokol

A: As of early April, theme parks in California can reopen, subject to various conditions. Face coverings, for example, will be required, there will be possible modifications to seat loading patterns, as well as limitations on capacity (including possibly for in-state visitors only), indoor dining may not be permitted and tickets will have to be purchased in advance online. As to yelling or screaming on a roller coaster, let alone other rides, the rationale is to limit activities that may spread the virus. But, the California Attractions and Parks Association has clarified it did not say shouting or screaming must, in fact, be banned. CAPA earlier released information for industries to take into consideration in an effort to prevent or impede the spread of the virus, which can include limiting activities such as shouting. When the parks reopen, we will find out more about how they will try to safely operate. (I am guessing, but I think shouting on a roller coaster ride may still be ok. We will know soon.)

Q: Who regulates amusement rides here?

-T.B., Long Beach

A: Amusement rides in California are regulated by the Amusement Ride and Tramway Unit, which is part of Cal/Osha. The website is dir.ca.gov/dosh/aroffices. ART oversees various aspects of temporary/portable amusement rides, permanent amusement rides and passenger tramways (ski lifts). The website has a detailed booklet titled “Portable Ride Owner Inspection Guide.”

Q: If there is an injury incident on a ski lift, does any government agency deal with it?

-K.L., Gardena

A: Yes. In fact, ART is the agency that typically will be involved (ART is described in the answer to the question above). Tramway owners and operators are required to report an injury or accident to ART.

Ron Sokol is a Manhattan Beach attorney with more than 35 years of experience. His column, which appears in print on Wednesdays, presents a summary of the law and should not be construed as legal advice. Email questions and comments to him at ronsesq@gmail.com.

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USC’s NCAA Tournament run ends at hands of undefeated Gonzaga

INDIANAPOLIS — The cracks showed early, followed by a trickle, then a gush, then the whole dam breaking.

By the time sixth-seeded USC recovered enough to plug some of the holes, there was no catching Gonzaga. And the Trojans’ magical March run came to an end in the Elite Eight with an 85-66 loss to the top-seeded Zags.

“I just can’t say enough about these guys,” USC head coach Andy Enfield said. “I know tonight was not the result we all wanted, but these guys are winners in here.”

The Trojans simply found themselves in front of the unstoppable machine that is the 2020-21 Gonzaga Bulldogs.

USC was the 30th victim of a team that has not lost and has won by single just digits once, and not since December. The Trojans were just the latest to find themselves trailing desperately in a foot race it thought was a basketball game.

The Trojans were playing as good of defense as they had all season entering this game, limiting their first two tournament opponents to 29% shooting before shutting down Oregon in the Sweet 16. But Gonzaga has the best offense in the country, and shot accordingly with a 50% mark.

USC’s defense couldn’t even get into the position with the speed the Zags played the first half, scoring 15 of their 21 fastbreak points before halftime.

The most paint points USC had allowed this season was 36. Gonzaga matched that with 17:41 remaining on a soaring dunk from Joel Ayayi. At that point in the game, the Trojans had amassed only 34 points total.

Gonzaga finished with 46 paint points.

And the Zags’ defense wasn’t too bad, either, holding USC to 38.7% shooting and making it so that the Trojans’ All-American center, Evan Mobley, could do nothing to turn the tide despite 17 points, five rebounds and three assists..

Isaiah Mobley led the Trojans with 19 and seven rebounds and Drew Peterson scored 13.

USC turned the ball over on its first two possessions, with Gonzaga’s 6-foot-10 center Drew Timme stealing the ball from Trojan guard Tahj Eaddy, then intercepting a pass as the Bulldog press panicked the Trojans.

Less than two minutes into the game, Enfield needed to call a timeout, his team down 7-0 and his frustrations over Isaiah Mobley’s transition defense on the previous possession boiling over.

“They had a lot of points in the paint early, off of our turnovers. Then we missed a lot of easy shots,” Enfield said. “There was a little surprise because we’ve been playing great basketball.”

There was a second unplanned pause early in the first half as referee Bert Smith collapsed flat on his back in front of the Gonzaga bench. A heavy silence hung over the stadium as medical staff rushed to Smith’s side.

The official eventually stood up on his own power, drawing relieved claps from the crowd as he sat down on the stretcher and was taken into the tunnel. Smith was not taken to the hospital, though, as the NCAA reported he was alert and stable.

Once the game resumed, Timme continued his domination of the action. The second-team All-American spun his way to the basket, finished awkwardly at the rim and cut when USC overcommitted and left him open.

For every post move, it seemed, he had a different celebration, flexing, shrugging at his own brilliance or running his fingers through his thick mustache. He led all scorers with 23 points on 10-for-19 shooting.

USC found itself down by a season-high 22 points in the second half, but mostly played Gonzaga even after halftime. In the end, the Bulldogs’ utter domination of the first dozen or so minutes of the game was enough to ensure the result.

The dispiriting defeat ended what had been one of the best seasons in the history of USC men’s basketball.

The Trojans (25-8) came within percentage points of a regular-season Pac-12 title. They made the Elite Eight for the fourth time and first since 2001, handing Kansas its worst NCAA Tournament loss along the way.

But sometimes you run into a force that can’t be stopped, and that was Gonzaga on Tuesday night.

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CHP K-9 Sam recovering after being stabbed during arrest

California Highway Patrol K-9 Sam was recovering — and showing a healthy appetite — on Tuesday, March 30, a day after being stabbed while helping authorities apprehend a man wanted in a kidnapping investigation.

Sam, a 3-year-old Belgian Malinois, had surgery Monday at Inland Valley Veterinary Specialists & Emergency Center in Upland, said Officer Ramon Duran, a spokesman for the CHP Inland Division. But Sam, a two-year veteran of the force, was back eating on Tuesday after waking up from being sedated, Duran said.

The incident began just before noon Monday near the intersection of Caliente Road and Oak Hills Road in Hesperia when San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies attempted to pull over a car being driven by the wanted man, William Shae McKay, 52, of Rancho Cucamonga.

But McKay sped off in a GMC Sierra, a sheriff’s news release said. The pursuit led deputies south on the 15 Freeway until McKay exited at Highway 138 in the Cajon Pass and headed north. CHP officers were waiting with a spike strip and were able to disable the car.

McKay and passenger Abrianna Valerie Gonzalez, 24, of San Bernardino, ran from the car, the release said.

“Sam heroically sprung into action and tracked down one of the suspects,” the CHP said in a Facebook post.

Gonzalez stabbed the dog before being arrested, the release said. McKay was also arrested.

A sheriff’s helicopter flew Sam to San Antonio Regional Hospital before he was taken to the vet.

Gonzalez was booked on suspicion of kidnapping and cruelty to an animal. Booking information was not available for McKay on Tuesday.

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Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Super Bowl LVI date set for SoFi Stadium

The first Super Bowl in the Los Angeles area since 1993 officially has a date.

Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium will take place Feb. 13, 2022. The date became official Tuesday after NFL owners voted in approval of expanding the upcoming 2021 season to 17 games per team.

The 2021 season is scheduled to kick off Sept. 9 before ending at the home venue of the Rams and Chargers in Inglewood. The last time the L.A. area hosted the Super Bowl was at the Rose Bowl in 1993 with the Dallas Cowboys defeating the Buffalo Bills 52-17 in Super Bowl XXVII.

Last month, the Super Bowl LVI host committee started the countdown to the big game by revealing its logo for the annual event. This will be the eighth Super Bowl the Los Angeles region has hosted.

 

 

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What is Comparative Advertising? [+ Examples]

Advertising is the process of creating messages that raise awareness of your brand.

These messages can have various purposes like attracting potential customers, promoting upcoming sales, and introducing new products to market. Most advertisements center around one business, but a unique type, called comparative advertising, centers around two.

When done right, comparative ads can successfully convince consumers to do business with one brand over another. But, when done wrong, companies may find themselves in the middle of a lawsuit. Given this, using comparative advertising requires care and attention.

In this post, we’ll explain what comparative advertising is, give examples from real-life businesses, explain the legality of using the strategy, and present pros and cons that you can use to make the best decision for your business.

Download Now: Free Ad Campaign Planning Kit

These ads can directly or indirectly mention a competitor, but consumers can typically deduce who the other business is through product features and call-outs. Comparative ads also give customers a direct point of comparison between two companies, as they can view products and assess features all at once, rather than needing to seek out information from multiple sources.

Although they may feature two businesses, it is important to note that one company creates the ad for their benefit, so its tone is swayed in their favor. That being said, businesses aren’t allowed to make false claims about their competitors, so consumers are presented with factual information.

There is no set template for comparative advertisements; they can be digital or print, videos or images, humorous or serious. Many businesses take advantage of 21st-century viral culture and share ads on social media platforms and capitalize on the traffic from likes, retweets, follows, and shares.

Comparative Advertising Examples

Below we’ll go over some real-life examples of comparative advertising to help you understand the practice.

Popeyes

Popeyes is an American fast-food chain that serves fried chicken. Chick-fil-A is their direct industry competitor, well known for being closed on Sundays.

Popeyes capitalized on this and created a comparative advertisement that emphasized that their restaurant is open on Sundays, ready and able to serve consumers every day of the week, especially while Chick-fil-A takes a day off. The video is shown below.

Sprint

Verizon, a cellular provider, used the same actor as the face of their commercials for nine years. Sprint, an industry competitor, poached the actor in 2016 and used his switch to their service to take a unique approach to comparative advertising.

In the video below, Sprint essentially says, if a long-time, loyal Verizon actor can switch to Sprint, why can’t you change as well? The business positions itself as a qualified competitor by saying that their cell phone service has a 1% difference in coverage than Verizon.

 

Cocoon by Sealy

Casper is a well-known mattress brand that has managed to garner significant hype and recognizability for its products.

Cocoon by Sealy, a direct competitor, uses comparative advertising in search engine result pages (SERPs) to target Casper’s intended audience. The company placed a paid ad in a SERP for the term Casper mattress (shown below), with the headline “Don’t Buy the Hype, Shop Cocoon & Save Hundreds.”

paid ads top result in google search engine results page for "casper mattress" query

Cocoon claims that its competitor is only a competitor because people buy for the name-brand hype. If a curious consumer clicks on the ad, they learn that Cocoon offers mattresses that are worthwhile because they are conducive to peaceful sleep and are affordable (displayed in the image below).

side by side image of woman sitting on cocoon by sealy mattress and empty casper mattress

Image Source

Adidas

Adidas is a well-known sports apparel brand that is only outshined by Nike. Adidas created a comparative video (shown below) that features a person running in the desert wearing Nike shoes.

Runners know outdoor terrains are challenging to run in. Still, the most impressive thing in the video is that the cameraman carrying a 50-pound camera can keep up with the runner because he’s wearing Adidas shoes.

 

Kroger

Kroger is a grocery store chain that took out a full-page comparative advertisement against a local competitor (Publix) in a Tennessee newspaper.

The advertisement, shown in the image below, features two long receipts from both stores that are the same length, but costs were cheaper, and savings were higher at Kroger. The brand essentially says that, even if you buy the same products, Kroger offers lower prices, savings, and additional perks that consumers cannot find at Publix.

Image Source

Bounty

Bounty is a paper towel brand that created a comparative ad to display the benefits of using their paper towels versus the leading generic brand. While they don’t explicitly name a competitor, they make a dig at whoever it may be by calling them the “ordinary brand” because they can’t clean up messes as well as Bounty can.

Essentially, they’re saying Bounty is premium, and any other option is just regular.

bounty paper towel comparative advertisement that reads "2x more absorbent so you can use less."

Image Source 

While all of these businesses used comparative advertising, it’s essential to understand that it’s only that — comparative. Each company believes it is the best option, but they say that through comparison, not false or misleading claims.

However, given that the line can be vague, many countries have laws that dictate how comparative ads can and can’t be used.

Comparative Advertising Law

Below, we’ll discuss the comparative advertising laws from three different countries and the explicit language they use to explain what advertisers are allowed to do.

United States Comparative Advertising Law

The U.S.’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) protects consumers from being deceived, defrauded, and manipulated by businesses. It also protects companies from unfair practices and activities of competitors.

The FTC ruled on comparative advertising and said, “Comparative advertising, when truthful and nondeceptive, is a source of important information to consumers and assists them in making rational purchase decisions. Comparative advertising encourages product improvement and innovation, and can lead to lower prices in the marketplace.”

In brief, the FTC supports comparative advertising, as it benefits consumers by giving a well-rounded view of product offerings. What they don’t tolerate is advertising that disparages competitors and is deceptive as a means to get consumers to do business with one company over another. Companies can use the FTC ruling to file claims if they feel as though they are being discredited.

Australia Comparative Advertising Law

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says that “Businesses may use comparative advertising to directly promote the superiority of their products over another.” Like U.S. law, businesses must follow general advertising best-practices of not being deceptive or misleading in an attempt to entice consumers to do business with them.

Hong Kong Comparative Advertising Law

Hong Kong has no specific legislation intended to limit comparative advertising. Still, the Trade Descriptions Ordinance prohibits false trade descriptions and misleading or incomplete information advertisements, and the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of Hong Kong has the authority to investigate instances of violation.

All in all, regardless of your location, it’s important to understand the laws and regulations of comparative advertisements, so you don’t find yourself in the middle of a lawsuit.

Comparative Advertising Pros and Cons

The reality of choosing to use comparative advertising is up to your individual business needs.

Suppose you have an industry competitor that owns most of the market share. In that case, comparative advertising can be beneficial as you’re letting your target market know that there are other options out there. If you’re a new business, comparative advertising can also help generate awareness around the fact that you exist.

However, if you’re unable to support your claims of superiority and your advertisements seem more berating than comparative, you can stand to lose business. Overall, as mentioned above, the decision to use comparative advertising depends on your goals.

We’ve compiled a list of comparative advertising pros and cons that will help you make a comprehensive decision about whether you should opt to use the strategy.

Pros

Cons

Explicit product emphasis.

Comparative advertising specifically focuses on a single product or feature that makes you better than a competitor, which is helpful advertising for your products in general.

Even if you don’t sway your audience, they are still becoming aware of its direct specifications, benefits, and features.

You can face legal action.

As mentioned above, many countries have laws protecting consumers and other businesses from comparative ads.

If you don’t follow legal requirements, you may face legal action from your competitors that requires significant legal fees. If you’re a big name brand, publications will likely report on it, which can also negatively impact your reputation.

Raise awareness.

Comparative marketing can help you raise awareness for your business, especially if you’re new to the industry or a small business standing up to a competitor.

Mentioning their name gives you exposure to their market share and an entirely new audience that may be ready to make the switch.

Can create brand name confusion.

Just as comparative ads can generate brand awareness, they can also spur confusion.

Mentions of multiple competitors in the same ad can lead consumers to become confused about which business offers the features they prefer or which company proved to be the best option to meet their needs.

Gain new followers and attract new clients.

Comparative advertising can help you gain new followers and attract new clients, primarily when these ads are widely distributed and placed in high-volume consumer traffic areas.

For example, many businesses in the United States create humorous comparative advertisements to share during the Super Bowl because they know the event has significant viewership.

You may lose integrity and look bad to your audience.

Suppose your advertisements don’t align with your countries comparative advertising rules and are flat-out disparaging of your competitors. In that case, you may look bad to your target audience, which is the opposite effect you’re trying to have.

In addition, even if you follow the laws, some people just don’t appreciate ads that pit two companies against each other. It’s best to first understand your target audience before electing to create and share comparative advertisements.

Inform consumers about what is important.

As comparative ads focus on a specific feature or experience that comes with a product or service, you’re informing consumers about the factors they should keep in mind when making purchasing decisions.

Essentially, you’re showing them that they should consider more than just the brand name of the product they’re interested in.

 

Comparative Advertising Can Help Your Business Grow

Should you opt to use it as part of your business’ marketing strategy, be mindful of comparative advertising laws in your country, ensure that you’re providing benefit to the consumer, and that you’re not simply disparaging your competitor and claiming superiority.

If done successfully, you can stand to raise significant brand awareness, drive revenue, and even capture a higher portion of your industry market share and position yourself as an industry leader.

advertising plan

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