On December 5 in New York, USCIB helped host a semi-annual meeting of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Commission on Marketing and Advertising. It was, in the words of one member, among the most productive the commission has held in recent memory, with approval of several key statements on global marketing practices and regulatory challenges.
For eight decades, ICC has played a critical role in developing cross-border standards for marketing and advertising. The Consolidated ICC Code of Advertising and Marketing Communication Practice is the gold standard for self-regulation of the industry. Since its introduction in 1937, it has served as the foundation and cornerstone for the codes of most self-regulatory systems around the world.
The ICC commission is chaired by Brent Sanders (Microsoft), who also chairs USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee. We will circulate reports on individual initiatives in the days and weeks to come, but here is an overview of the meeting’s major outcomes, as reported by USCIB Vice President Jonathan Huneke:
- A new ICC Statement of Code Interpretation/Reference Guide on Advertising to Children has been approved by the ICC Executive Board.
- Members are nearing completion of a new ICC Guide for Responsible Mobile Marketing Communications.
- Work is beginning on expanded ICC guidelines on online behavioral advertising, to address issues related to mobile such as location data.
- Members endorsed a draft ICC paper on labelling and packaging measures impacting on brand assets, developed jointly with the ICC Commission on Intellectual Property. Following approval by the ICC Executive Board, the document will be disseminated for advocacy purposes by affected industries in specific countries.
- The commission is gearing up for a full revision of the Consolidated ICC Code in conjunction with its 80th anniversary (in 2017) as well as ICC’s centennial celebrations in 2019.
- The revised ICC/ESOMAR International Code on Market, Opinion and Social Research and Data Analytics was launched on December 8.