THE CASE FOR ADVERTISING. INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING ASSOCIATION

THE CASE FOR ADVERTISING. INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING ASSOCIATION

ADVERTISING. YOUR RIGHT TO CHOOSE. The International Advertising Association (IAA), headquartered in New York, was founded in 1938 to champion responsible marketing. The IAA, with members in over 40 countries, is a one-of-a-kind global partnership comprising advertisers, media, advertising and public relations agencies, media companies, and academics. The IAA is a platform for industry issues and is dedicated to protecting and advancing freedom of commercial speech, responsible advertising, consumer choice, and the education of marketing professionals. For more information please visit www.iaaglobal.org

INTRODUCTION As the only global partnership of advertisers, agencies, media and communications services, the IAA is able to speak with one voice on behalf of our members and the industry. The IAA has undertaken large pro-bono communications programs before most notably Hopenhagen the IAA s climate change initiative for the United Nations COP 15, which was the largest ever initiative of its kind. FARIS ABOUHAMAD IAA CHAIRMAN & WORLD PRESIDENT The new IAA Case For Advertising campaign focuses on many of the core benefits that are deeply rooted in marketing communications that advertising promotes choice; educates; informs; encourages innovation; creates jobs; supports the arts, entertainment and sports; and contributes to the costs of providing news and information. The campaign focus is for consumers and governments to understand the value of advertising in its many forms, including sponsored content. It comes at a time when the ad industry is under ever greater scrutiny by governments and policy makers and often on the defensive. What advertising provides - over and above any specific product or service - is choice. To express that core concept the IAA developed the central theme for the campaign: Advertising. Your Right To Choose. MICHAEL LEE IAA MANAGING DIRECTOR

BACKGROUND The advertising and marketing business, it seems, is destined to be on the receiving end of significant misperception. The only sensible reaction to this harsh fact of marketing life is to regard it as yet one more communications task to be professionally tackled. It is too easy to waste time and patience hoping that logic and good sense will always prevail. It is time to recognize that not everyone wants them to prevail and act accordingly. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Freedom of personal expression is undeniable and not to be administrated à la carte. That freedom is threatened just as much as unwarranted censorship of commercial speech, as it is by restrictions on artistic, religious or political expression. In all of these areas there is ample evidence that unrestricted access to relevant information strengthens, rather than weakens, individual responsibility. That is the nature of self-education. A free market economy is a necessary condition of prosperity in modern markets. Consumers have to be sufficiently informed to make intelligent choices. To be properly informed a consumer needs advertising. Informed choices are based on information. Advertising in its broadest sense is the vital conduit for that information between producer and consumer. Advertising = Consumer Choice. Knowledge of the available options and the case for each of them makes choice both possible and meaningful. Informed choice enriches consumer freedom. The classic criticism that Advertising Makes People Buy What They Don t Need must be redefined and defended. In commercial terms few may have been clamouring for innovations like fluoride toothpaste, cornflakes, digital phones or instant coffee, but these products and many others like them have followed latent consumer needs on a global scale. Advertising or, put another way, commercial communication has provided the education needed to help people decide what choices they might make. It has that in common with other fundamental human endeavours like religion and politics.

7. 8. 9. Advertising is the true means of innovation. No marketer is going to spend time and money developing new technology, if there is no way of communicating what has been achieved to consumers. Without the channel of advertising to carry the information and provide the alternatives, innovation and improvement might not be commercially affordable. Every freedom requires intellectual consistency. If there is the freedom to enjoy religious, political or product choice, there must be a corresponding freedom to explain and expound that choice. In our terms, if it is legal to manufacture and market a product, it must be possible to, within responsible limits, communicate what that product is and what it does for the consumer. Self-expression presupposes self-regulation. The argument for freedom must not lead us into license. There is no suggestion that advertising has always been blameless. With it goes the need for self-regulation. It is the obligation of the advertising industry to provide restraint and responsible advertising at every turn. 10. The Case of Advertising is not to do with defending the endangered species of advertising. It is to do with a consumer s right to know what is legally available to determine individual unfettered choice. All of which should be self-evident and generally accepted in today s world though clearly not entirely. In many ways the attacks on advertising are intensifying. And from a variety of different motivations, perhaps sensing moral or political advantage can be gained from laying siege to an often undefended target. And in truth, the defence of advertising and the freedom of commercial speech is needed more than ever and in a coordinated, global, manner. In 2014, during the IAA s 75th Anniversary, it seems appropriate to re-introduce The Case for Advertising. It is the IAA s intention to have an impact, to make a difference, and to forcefully underscore Advertising. Your Right to Choose.

THE CASE FOR ADVERTISING There is an old advertising saying that if you cannot compress your message to fit a billboard, you probably don t have a message worth conveying. The IAA decided that, if a strong message could be created and communicated first through outdoor ads and then with other media channels to follow, it could be very effective. What was devised is a simple format that combines a challenging headline with a simple matter of factual explanation. The layout can easily be approximated in any culture or context, but allows for any variation of content. Whatever the variance, the campaign, seen in total, would have a natural synergy. There are two main goals: 1. 2. The story told would be an endless story. Today advertisers do not have the luxury of taking the backseat while PR does the job. Advertising is a brand in itself and should be considered as one. Like any other brand it needs to go on presenting, re-presenting and constantly renew itself. Everything that is created is a part of a long term, total communications plan. The campaign and its efforts should not be spread too thinly. By focusing on the general public as the initial audience and the government as secondary, the message is able to reach a broad target with single focus messages and a higher penetration power. The IAA identified five main ways that the advertising contributes on a societal level: Advertising creates and encourages competition. Advertising encourages product innovation. Advertising plays a part in creating jobs. Advertising through its subsidy role helps provide economic media. Advertising now also contributes significantly to the entertainment industry particularly sport and music.

THE CASE FOR ADVERTISING LAUNCH CAMPAIGN

,, THE MESSAGE IS STRONG, AND THE OBJECTIVE IS CLEAR - THAT CONSUMERS DO HAVE THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE - AND THE ADVERTISING THEME REMINDS US ALL THAT FREEDOM OF CHOICE IS A GOOD STARTING POINT IN DEMOCRACIES.,,

Thanks to all in the IAA who have made The Case for Advertising possible. With special thanks to: Original Creative Director: Creative Director: Copy Writing: Former IAA Director General: Former IAA Chairman: IAA Chairman & World President: IAA Senior Vice President: IAA Vice President: IAA Managing Director: Barry Day Ezer Mascarenhas Christine Gardner Norman Vale Roger Neill Faris Abouhamad Felix Tataru Heather Leembruggen Michael Lee

International Advertising Association Global Office (World Service Center) 747 Third Avenue 2nd Floor New York, NY 10017 United States of America Phone: + (1) 646 722 2612 Fax: + (1) 646 722 2501 www.iaaglobal.org/yourrighttochoose