What it really means to be Clear, Accurate, Accessible and Unambiguous

Here’s a bag of Aberdeen Angus Steak Strips from Kings.

I know. Bear with me. It's August.

On the front of the packet in bold letters at both the top and the bottom it states:

81 calories per serve*

and

30g protein

Many people are looking to increase their protein intake for health reasons, and clearly the makers of this product know this. If like me you’re watching your protein intake, or your calorie intake, these numbers are important to you. I bought the packet because it said ‘30g protein’. I’ll take that.

After all I could do with eating 30g of protein.

If you’re observant, or a little bit sceptical, the questions you might be asking are,

1. how much protein (or calories, or both) will I be eating if I eat a ‘serving’ or ‘portion’?
2. how much is a ‘serving’ or ‘portion’?

Let’s look at the bag again.

On the cover there is an asterisk (*) next to the word ‘serve’.

On the back, under the nutritional information and details about where the product was made, it says,?

*this pack contains 2 servings.

So now we know that half the packet is 81 calories.?

But what about protein?

One might think that stating ‘30g protein’ next to ‘81 calories per serve*’ makes it likely that a serving is either 30g protein, or perhaps 15g protein (as the packet might be implied to be 30g protein in total and its two servings.

But no.

The bag is not 30g protein. Neither is a portion 30g protein.

Bogged down in the small print

If we look at the nutritional information, we can see that the nutritional information is given per 100g. This is convenient because it allows you to know what percentage of the product is protein.?

It turns out that the product is 30g protein PER 100g. i.e. 30 percent protein.

However, the bag is not 100g, it is only 60g.

So the whole bag is not 30g protein at all! It is only 60% of 30g, or 18g protein.

And a portion or serving will not be 30g either, it is only half a bag, or 9g protein.

Retrace our steps

Now I know that when the packet says:

81 calories per serve*

and

30g protein

It should actually say:

30g protein per 100g

or

9g protein per serve*

or

30% protein.

You can imagine how many people buy a packet of Kings Aberdeen Angus Steak Strips thinking they are buying 30g protein.

Why am I talking about Steak Strips?

Let’s translate what we’ve learned about unhelpful, ambiguous and unclear marketing information on consumer products, into the construction products sector, and the world of building safety and sustainability.

1. Imagine if the steak strips were instead a type of insulation, a pump, a carpet tile or a partition wall.
2. Imagine if the consumer was instead a specifier trying to source a product.
3. Imagine if instead of walking the supermarket shelves they are searching on your construction product website or looking at one of your brochures for the information they need.

What does this mean for Construction Products?

Many of you will know that I am not a huge fan of the ‘Code for Construction Product Information’ (CCPI) initiative. It is true, I’m not a fan. But its more nuanced than that.

What I’m not a fan of, is the approach and methodology of the CCPI, the way the intention has been enacted.

This is primarily because as a communications exercise and a business model, it is completely wrong – it uses exclusivity when it should be using open source, crowd sourced and free to access communications. You don’t change a whole industry culture by making an exclusive badge.

This is why I think ultimately as a vehicle for changing the culture of construction product information, it will fail, unless it gets some sort of significant overhaul.

Fair enough.

However, I don’t have a problem at all with the principle of the CCPI, also known as the ‘five acid tests’. These are that construction product information should be

“Clear, Accurate, Up-to-date, Accessible and Unambiguous”

Without clear, accurate, accessible and unambiguous construction product information,

1. Specifiers cannot know if they have chosen the right cavity barrier, the right type of natural slate, the roof build up that meets the need for the sustainability requirement their client has.
2. They cannot attest that the design they have produced complies with the building regulations or any particular standard for best practice, for that matter.
3. They cannot comply with their obligations to be competent under the building safety act.
4. They certainly cannot be confident that the product they specify is fit for purpose.

Of course, we in the Plain Language Group would also argue that for this to happen safely and effectively, and to be 'up to date' as well, the product information must also be digitised.

How to be Clear, Accurate, Accessible and Unambiguous with Construction Products

What would make the selection of protein snacks fit these acid tests?

We know why the packet says 30g protein. It says it because the customer wants more protein.

We know why it says 81 calories. It says it because the customer wants fewer calories.

Does your marketing information present information this way?

When you are presenting construction product information, do you tell the specifier what they want to hear? Or do you tell them the truth?

Does your company present product information so that specifiers can compare it with other similar products, using the essential characteristics and their units as set out in harmonized standards?

Do you make it simple for specifiers to find the information they need?

If not, why not?

If you’d like some help working out whether your construction product information is as clear, accurate and unambiguous as it could be, get in touch.?

It isn’t just about the badge.

?

?