Claims Research

Involve Legal from the onset
- they may advise external arms length after core design work
Always have the specific claim language decided in advance of research
Ask as few question as possible and only those that will be useful in substantiating the specific claim. In a legal discovery the questionaire and findings will be looked at and other responses might work to negate a claim.
Avoid asking open-end. Responses can be a can of worms and coding is considered highly subjective.
Any changes to a product nullify existing claims.
For a “line” claim, all SKUs should be individually substantiated. Any line extensions launched need claim confirmation.
Any health related product claim should be reviewed with associated regulatory function.
Types of Claims likely…
- Superiority: claim a higher level of performance relative to competitive brand or earlier formulation
- Parity:
  - Equality: two product are claimed to be equal in some factor (e.g. tastes as good as X)
  - Unsurpassed: claim is mad that the other product is not better/higher in some way (e.g. “No other product smells as good”)
- Non-comparative/Communication: seeks to communicate a product difference or benefit in general but not comparative (e.g. “Feels Great”)