World Federation of Advertisers

World Federation of Advertisers (WFA)
FormerlyUnion Internationale des Associations d'Annonceurs (UIAA)
Company typeProfessional association
IndustryAdvertising
Founded14 May 1953; 71 years ago (1953-05-14) in Stresa, Italy
Headquarters
Brussels
,
Belgium
Key people
Websitewww.wfanet.org Edit this at Wikidata

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.

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

On 18 June 2019, WFA formed the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), a global cross-industry alliance which aimed to improve digital safety and eliminate harmful online content.[6][7] This followed an earlier call

to put pressure on platforms to do more to prevent their services and algorithms from being hijacked by those with malicious intent. The call comes after multiple incidents on some of the world’s biggest digital platforms, including paedophile comments being left in comments below videos of children on YouTube, the glorification of self-harm and suicide content on Instagram and, most recently, the live-streaming of the terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand on Facebook.[8]

GARM was made up of advertisers, agencies, media companies, platforms and industry organisations and was part of the World Economic Forum's Platform for Shaping the Future of Media, Entertainment and Culture.[9] In 2022, the alliance introduced guidelines concerning misinformation and new standards on ad placements.[10]

In 2024, the United States House Committee on the Judiciary released a report claiming that GARM had coordinated with large corporations, advertising agencies, and industry associations to withhold spending on advertisements that would fund online content they disfavored because it was conservative.[11][12] Following antitrust lawsuits from Elon Musk's Twitter and online video site Rumble, the WFA shut GARM down.[13][14][15] WFA said the lawsuit misconstrued the purposes of GARM, which it was forced to shut down due to the costs associated with the lawsuit.[16]

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.[17] 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.[18]

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.[19] It is also a founding member of the Coalition for Better Ads, a cross-industry initiative to improve consumers’ experience with online advertising.[20]

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[21] and in 2023 it was held in Istanbul.[22]

WFA also hosts the WFA Global Marketer of the Year award, an annual competition whose aim is to showcase global and regional marketers.[23]

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. ^ "Global Alliance for Responsible Media launches to address digital safety". 2019-06-18. Archived from the original on 2020-07-07. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  8. ^ "WFA urges brands to hold platforms to account - World Federation of Advertisers (Press release, 28 March 2019)". wfanet.org. 28 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2023-03-08. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  9. ^ "Shaping the Future of Information and Entertainment". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 2020-10-12.
  10. ^ Cohen, David (2022-06-21). "Global Alliance for Responsible Media Celebrates Third Anniversary at Cannes Lions". Adweek. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  11. ^ Conger, Kate; Hsu, Tiffany (2024-08-08). "Elon Musk's X Sued an Advertising Coalition. Now It's Shutting Down". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  12. ^ Seariac, Hanna (2024-07-10). "Ben Shapiro talks about censorship of conservatives in U.S. House hearing". Deseret News. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  13. ^ O'Reilly, Lara (August 8, 2024). "The Global Alliance for Responsible Media is 'discontinuing' after Elon Musk's X filed an antitrust lawsuit against it". Business Insider. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
  14. ^ Thomas Barrabi (9 August 2024). "Global Alliance for Responsible Media shuts down after Elon Musk's X files antitrust suit over censorship". New York Post. Retrieved 16 August 2024 – via www.skynews.com.au.
  15. ^ Orlinski, Michael (16 August 2024). "The Shutting Down of GARM: A New Era of Brand Safety or a Dangerous Precedent?". Overdrive Interactive. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  16. ^ Maruf, Ramishah; Duffy, Clare (2024-08-09). "Elon Musk's X just sued a nonprofit advertising group out of existence | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  17. ^ "WFA lays out its go-forward plan to standardize cross-media measurement". The Drum. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  18. ^ "The WFA Says the Holy Grail of Measurement Is Here". 17 September 2020. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  19. ^ "Launch of Unstereotype Alliance set to eradicate outdated stereotypes in advertising". Unilever global company website (Press release). Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  20. ^ Ads, Coalition for Better. "Global Online Media Leaders Join Forces to Improve Consumer Ad Experience". www.betterads.org (Press release). Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  21. ^ "Home - World Federation of Advertisers". wfanet.org. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  22. ^ "Global Marketer Week 2020". wfanet.org. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  23. ^ "Overview - World Federation of Advertisers". wfanet.org. Retrieved 2020-09-29.