ISBA - tackling the key issues… and much more besides

We will soon see further progress towards the Government’s Communications Bill, which will reshape the UK media environment, offering both opportunities and threats for advertisers. ISBA has been active throughout almost three years of consultations on the Bill, lobbying hard for advertiser interests to be fully recognised.

Broadly, ISBA’s lobbying has been informed by three key objectives. These are to see strong commercial media, delivering maximum audience and hence effective commercial communications; to ensure competition in the market for airtime sales; and to reinforce advertisers' fundamental belief in the value and effectiveness of self-regulation.

Specifically, ISBA has underlined to Government that it is crucial for advertisers to have access to mass audiences and that, whilst it is desirable to have a strong ITV drawing the greatest possible audiences, there remain serious concerns over the possibility of a single company ITV and the impact this could have on airtime costs and competition; ISBA has emphasised the need for the BBC to be brought onto a level regulatory playing field with the rest of UK media by bringing it under the regulatory umbrella of OFCOM, the proposed single media and communications regulator; and ISBA has continued to press for Government to commit OFCOM to examining the possibility of extending advertising self-regulation into the broadcast arena as an early priority.

Meanwhile, in Europe ISBA is dealing with proposals from DG Sanco, the European Directorate General responsible for health and consumer protection, for a single set of EU-wide ‘Fair Trading/ Consumer Protection’ laws. DG Sanco envisages implementing a Directive aimed at harmonising member state laws in the areas of advertising, marketing and after-sales practices. Crucially the Directive would incorporate a general clause obliging advertisers to undertake to ‘trade fairly’. Whilst ISBA welcomes the broad principle of the initiative, concerns remain over DG Sanco’s reluctance to supply a clear definition of what would constitute ‘fair’ or ‘unfair’ trading - or even to clarify by what process these definitions would be developed. There are also concerns over the effectiveness and proportionality of DG Sanco’s proposals in relation to the stated goal of increasing cross-border trade. ISBA is emphasising that the extension of self-regulatory mechanisms across the EU, coupled with the stronger enforcement of existing Member State laws could provide a better means to ensuring consumer protection across borders than a wide-ranging new Directive, which could impact heavily on advertisers’ freedoms. It’s a crucial debate in which industry has both much to gain and much to lose, and in which ISBA is heavily involved.

Across the EU, we continue to see growing calls for a range of further, more specific - restrictions on advertising and marketing practices. Currently, pressure is particularly acute for advertisers in the areas of marketing to children, cars, food, alcohol and financial services. Working with our partners the UK’s Advertising Association and the Brussels-based World Federation of Advertisers, ISBA continues to play a key role in promoting and defending its members’ advertising freedoms across all sectors, both by countering specific threats as and when they arise and more broadly, by promoting at every opportunity the fundamental value of advertising and marketing, not only as crucial business tools, but as activities which directly empower and serve the consumer.

I strongly believe that if we can ensure that decision-makers recognise the inherent consumer benefits and consumer protection which result from competitive brand marketing, then we will have taken a significant step towards improving the environment into the future for our members. Whilst this is a key goal for ISBA, it is not one which it can achieve alone. Responsibility lies with all marketing-minded people to promote, through every channel, at every turn and to every audience, the fundamental truth that advertising and brand marketing is centrally directed at serving consumer interests – that, in the most fundamental way, marketing and brands serve the consumer.

There is, however, far more to ISBA than confronting advertising restrictions, promoting advertiser interests in the media environment and persuading decision-makers of the consumer benefits of a world of brand marketing. Alongside our issue-focused agenda, we continue to develop practical advice, guidance and training services to help our members increase the effectiveness of their marketing communications spend.

Much of our work involves projects with other bodies in the UK marketing communications industry as, jointly, we develop various ‘best practice’ initiatives particularly in the area of advertiser - agency relationships. The past year saw the realisation of important new projects, such as the production and launch of ‘The Guide to Agency Search, Selection and Relationship Management’. This was a joint initiative negotiated by ISBA with the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, the Public Relations Consultants Association, the Direct Marketing Association and the Marketing Communications Consultants Association. It is a practical industry-wide guide to take advertisers through the entire process of selecting, pitching and appointing new communications agencies and then managing their newfound relationships to achieve the best possible results. Because it is an industry-wide guide, the document – which is available to download free from the ISBA website – can be applied by advertisers for use with just about any communications agency in any area, from direct marketing, PR and sales promotion to media and above the line creative agencies. It is the first time that advertisers – or agencies – have had access to such a wide-ranging and comprehensive guide on which to develop and manage their relationships.

Last year ISBA also launched three new ‘model contracts’. These are legal templates from which advertisers can pick and choose relevant clauses to develop easily, cheaply and quickly the basis for sound, tailored legal agreements with their agencies. The three new contracts were developed in negotiations with the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising with legal support from advertising lawyers Lewis Silkin to provide specialist templates for advertiser agreements with full service agencies, agreements with media agencies and agreements with creative agencies. The new model contracts add to a portfolio of ISBA documents to help members devise legal agreements with Direct Marketing and Sales Promotion agencies and agreements for all forms of sports sponsorships. Although the model contracts are not available to download directly from the ISBA website, members can contact us for copies and for advice and guidance on how to put them into practice. As with all ISBA’s membership services, this guidance is free and exclusive to ISBA members.

In addition, ISBA also continues to support members in their identification and selection of new communications agencies to work with, in discussing and helping to develop members’ agency remuneration and fee strategies, in carrying out and providing members with detailed research into industry trends, in helping members to benchmark the performance of their agencies against industry norms, and in providing expert legal advice through our free legal helpline. Our dedicated Membership Services Team is increasingly in demand - last year alone the team carried out 502 projects in total, an increase of some 25% on the previous year. We anticipate a further increase on this figure through 2003.

Malcolm Earnshaw, Director General
ISBA – The Voice of British Advertisers
Visit: www.isba.org.uk