World Federation of Advertisers

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World Federation of Advertisers (WFA)
FoundedMay 14, 1953;71 years ago (1953-05-14) in Stresa, Italy
Headquarters,
Belgium
Key people
Website www.wfanet.org OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) is a global association for multinational marketers and national advertiser associations. Its membership is made up of over 140 [1] of the world's top brands and national associations in more than 60 markets. WFA's aim is to champion effective and sustainable marketing communications worldwide.

Contents

WFA is based in Brussels, Belgium, [2] and has offices in London, New York and Singapore.

History

WFA was founded in Stresa, Italy, on 14 May 1953 as the Union Internationale des Associations d'Annonceurs (UIAA) [3] at the initiative of ten existing national advertiser associations representing Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. In 1984, at the Rio de Janeiro World Congress, the UIAA changed its name to the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) [4] and opened its doors to corporate members. [5]

Global Alliance for Responsible Media

In 2019, WFA formed the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), a global cross-industry alliance which aims to improve digital safety and eliminate harmful online content. [6] GARM is made up of advertisers, agencies, media companies, platforms and industry organisations and is part of the World Economic Forum's Platform for Shaping the Future of Media, Entertainment and Culture. [7] The alliance has introduced guidelines concerning misinformation and new standards on ad placements. [8]

Criticism

In 2024, the United States House Committee on the Judiciary released a report claiming that large corporations, advertising agencies, and industry associations coordinated through GARM to withhold spending on advertisements that would fund online content they disfavored. [9] The Chair of the Committee, Republican congressman Jim Jordan, had previously accused GARM of violating United States antitrust law. [10]

Other activities

In 2019, WFA formed a steering group of advertisers and national associations to develop a set of global principles for cross-media measurement for the media ecosystem. [11] In September 2020, an industry framework was released, which aims to set the parameters for cross-media measurement solutions. Digital platforms including Google and Meta were involved in the development of a technical proposal that meet the principles outlined in the WFA framework. [12]

WFA is a founding member of the Unstereotype Alliance, UN Women's flagship partnership with the marketing industry to eradicate harmful gender stereotypes in advertising, launched during the 2017 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. [13] It is also a founding member of the Coalition for Better Ads, a cross-industry initiative to improve consumers’ experience with online advertising. [14]

Each year the WFA holds Global Marketer Week, a series of events bringing together brand marketers to learn about the latest public affairs issues and best practice in marketing. In 2013 this event was held in Brussels to celebrate the organisation's 60th anniversary [15] and in 2023 it was held in Istanbul. [16]

WFA also hosts the WFA Global Marketer of the Year award, an annual competition whose aim is to showcase global and regional marketers. [17]

Related Research Articles

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Greenwashing, also called green sheen, is a form of advertising or marketing spin that deceptively uses green PR and green marketing to persuade the public that an organization's products, goals, or policies are environmentally friendly. Companies that intentionally adopt greenwashing communication strategies often do so to distance themselves from their environmental lapses or those of their suppliers.

The Alliance for Audited Media (AAM) is a North American not-for-profit industry organization founded in 1914 by the Association of National Advertisers to help ensure media transparency and trust among advertisers and media companies. Originally known as the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), today AAM is a source of verified media information and technology platform certifications, providing standards, audit services and data for the advertising and publishing industries.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Data Group</span> Publishing company

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Advertising management</span> Part of the advertising industry

Advertising management is how a company carefully plans and controls its advertising to reach its ideal customers and convince them to buy.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Association of National Advertisers</span> Industry association

The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) represents the marketing community in the United States. Its headquarters is in New York City and it has another office in Washington, D.C. ANA's membership includes over 600 companies with 25,000 brands that collectively spend over 400 billion dollars in marketing communications and advertising.

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Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online-based digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones, and other digital media and platforms to promote products and services. It has significantly transformed the way brands and businesses utilize technology for marketing since the 1990s and 2000s. As digital platforms became increasingly incorporated into marketing plans and everyday life, and as people increasingly used digital devices instead of visiting physical shops, digital marketing campaigns have become prevalent, employing combinations of search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), content marketing, influencer marketing, content automation, campaign marketing, data-driven marketing, e-commerce marketing, social media marketing, social media optimization, e-mail direct marketing, display advertising, e-books, and optical disks and games have become commonplace. Digital marketing extends to non-Internet channels that provide digital media, such as television, mobile phones, callbacks, and on-hold mobile ringtones. The extension to non-Internet channels differentiates digital marketing from online marketing.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Check My Ads</span> Brand safety non-profit

The Check My Ads Institute is an organization founded by Nandini Jammi and Claire Atkin. The Check My Ads Institute is a non-profit advertising watchdog organization created in October 2021, which aims to do deeper investigative research into the advertising technology industry. Jammi and Atkin also publish a newsletter called Branded. The Check My Ads Agency was a brand safety and marketing consultancy that Atkin and Jammi founded in 2020. As of February 2023, the Check My Ads Agency is no longer active.

References

  1. "Global brands - World Federation of Advertisers". wfanet.org. Retrieved 2020-10-12.
  2. Plunkett, Jack W. (2008). Plunkett's advertising and branding industry almanac 2008 : the only comprehensive guide to advertising companies and trends. Houston, Tex.: Plunkett Research. ISBN   978-1-59392-109-5. OCLC   181421837.
  3. Jones, John Philip (2000). Advertising organizations and publications: a resource guide. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications. ISBN   978-1-4522-2186-1. OCLC   808342720.
  4. Mattelart, Armand (1991). Advertising international: the privatisation of public space (Rev. English language ed.). London: Routledge. ISBN   0-203-99421-3. OCLC   61689262.
  5. "World Federation of Advertisers | UIA Yearbook Profile". Union of International Associations. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  6. Hammett, Ellen (2019-06-18). "Brands and tech giants come together to launch first digital safety alliance". Marketing Week. Retrieved 2020-10-12.
  7. "Shaping the Future of Information and Entertainment". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 2020-10-12.
  8. Cohen, David (2022-06-21). "Global Alliance for Responsible Media Celebrates Third Anniversary at Cannes Lions". Adweek. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  9. Seariac, Hanna (2024-07-10). "Ben Shapiro talks about censorship of conservatives in U.S. House hearing". Deseret News. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  10. Nylen, Leah (2023-03-22). "House GOP Accuses Global Ad Group Fighting Misinformation of Violating US Law". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2023-03-22. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  11. "WFA lays out its go-forward plan to standardize cross-media measurement". The Drum. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  12. "The WFA Says the Holy Grail of Measurement Is Here". 17 September 2020. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  13. "Launch of Unstereotype Alliance set to eradicate outdated stereotypes in advertising". Unilever global company website (Press release). Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  14. Ads, Coalition for Better. "Global Online Media Leaders Join Forces to Improve Consumer Ad Experience". www.betterads.org (Press release). Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  15. "Home - World Federation of Advertisers". wfanet.org. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  16. "Global Marketer Week 2020". wfanet.org. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  17. "Overview - World Federation of Advertisers". wfanet.org. Retrieved 2020-09-29.