Purplebricks Group Plc (LON:PURP) notes that the ASA has today issued its conclusion on two issues relating to the Purplebricks TV adverts in the UK. The first issue, whether the TV adverts implied that Purplebricks did not charge a fee for its service, was dismissed by the ASA. On the second issue, the ASA agreed that it was not sufficiently clear in the TV adverts for the average consumer, that the flat fee was payable to Purplebricks in all instances.
The group has already updated its UK TV adverts to make this even clearer. The new wording has been approved by Clearcast. While the new text has only been aired for a couple of days, there has been no noticeable impact on the business.
Purplebricks would like to make clear that it now has a proactive, regular and positive dialogue with the ASA and all other relevant professional bodies. The TV adverts followed the proper approvals process, being cleared by industry body Clearcast who, unlike the ASA, have the role of giving prior approval to TV adverts. No issues were raised.
Commenting on the announcement, Michael Bruce, Group CEO, said: “We are surprised by the ASA judgement on the flat fee wording because prior to air our adverts went through the proper approvals process, including the official clearance body Clearcast who have continued to support their original judgement with the ASA.
Purplebricks Group Plc is firmly on the side of the consumer, offering an alternative to the commission based model. As a leader of industry change some noise is inevitable.
Purplebricks is committed to increasing levels of transparency within the industry, publishing its fixed fee rates on the home page of its website so all consumers from the outset have certainty as to the cost of selling. Purplebricks is far more transparent than traditional estate agents who do not typically publish their rates, allowing them to charge much greater and varying fees dependent upon a customer’s ability or capacity to negotiate.”
