A bit confused on how to structure this 'describe' question...

[AngeloNguyen]

Not sure why I'm finding it difficult to structure what appears to be a relatively straightforward question.

Describe some ethical  and legal aspects that the business must manage and respond to while marketing their product

My attempt:
An ethical aspect of marketing that Apple must manage and respond to is maintaining good taste in advertising. Maintaining good taste in advertising refers to businesses minimising the possibility for their advertisements to offend and create controversy. If Apple fails to do this, their reputation suffers as a result of their status as a large corporation within the public eye. An area in which Apple has faced criticism for ‘bad taste’ in advertising is in their product placement strategies which is a relatively cost efficient strategy. However, Apple faced criticism in the product placement in Toy Story 3. Being a movie aimed towards children, some viewed Apple’s product placement in it as excessive; encouraging materialism. Such allegations resulted in the general public losing faith in Apple as a company that matches the community’s values and ethics, which can cause customers to switch to competing businesses, resulting in a loss in sales. Thus, it is clear that managing and responding to ethical aspects of marketing is important for Apple’s marketing as to maximise profits.

A legal aspect of marketing that Apple must manage and respond to is ensuring that they are complying with consumer laws. As they do operate the Australian market, they need to abide by Commonwealth legislation. The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 aims to protect consumers against undesirable practices such as misrepresentation of products, place of production and misleading and deceptive advertising. Apple generally aims to avoid legal ramifications as to preserve their reputation and to avoid possible fines causing financial loss. However, two Australian law firms considered launching a class action on Apple in 2018 for intentionally slowing down old iPhones in an attempt to cause customers to encourage them to buy a newer generation of the iPhone. This happened as a result of numerous US law firms taking action against Apple, creating an international controversy. As a result, Apple had to release a public relations statement trying to validate the slowing down of phones. Further, their reputation suffered and loyal customers’ trust was damaged. This could have caused a loss in sales as these customers, having lost faith, could have been influenced to switch to Apple’s competitors who are not known for intentionally slowing down phones. Thus, in order to retain customers and maximise profit, Apple’s marketing department must manage and respond to legal aspects of marketing, complying with all relevant legislation.


Did I structure it well? Is there a better structure I would have benefited from in following?

Thanks!