Plaintiff counsel retained Cornerstone Research and a marketing professor to analyze the short-term impact on the plaintiff’s and defendant’s profits and sales.
In a case between two fine jewelry retailers, the plaintiff alleged that the defendant made false representations about one of its products in an extensive print, television, and digital marketing campaign based on “independent laboratory testing.” The plaintiff also alleged that the unscientific testing method yielded inaccurate and unreliable results, making the advertisements false and misleading to consumers.
Professor Hanssens found that the defendant’s sales did increase as a direct result of the advertising campaign.
Plaintiff counsel retained Cornerstone Research and Professor Dominique Hanssens of the University of California, Los Angeles, to analyze the short-term impact on the plaintiff’s and defendant’s profits and sales. In addition, he reviewed the campaign’s claims to determine if they were based on rigorous scientific method and supported by product data.
Professor Hanssens also analyzed the impact of the advertising campaign under different expansion scenarios. He found that the defendant’s sales did increase as a direct result of the advertising campaign. His analysis of the campaign showed that the claims lacked a reasonable level of scientific rigor and validity and were false. The case settled.