Marketing and Advertising Archives

New ICC Framework Clarified Do’s and Dont’s for Responsible Alcohol Marketing

Published on March 13, 2014

4689_image002A new global resource has been published by the ICC Commission on Marketing and Advertising to help strengthen self-regulation for marketing alcohol. By clarifying how existing global principles should be applied in practice, the ICC Framework for Responsible Marketing Communications of Alcohol offers companies and advertising self-regulatory bodies a guide for bolstering responsible practice across markets. It will also serve as the basis for developing self-regulatory rules for marketing alcohol where these do not exist.

The ICC framework was developed by the body of global experts responsible for developing and updating the Consolidated ICC Code of Advertising and Marketing Communications Practice, which serves as the gold standard for most national and industry-wide self-regulation.

“The framework takes principles, such as social responsibility, and spells out what it means when developing or assessing an alcohol marketing communication,” said Oliver Gray, executive director of the European Advertising Standards Alliance and co-chair of ICC’s Code Revision Task Force, which drafted the framework.

“So whether you are marketing beer in Japan, wine in Argentina or spirits in the U.S., promoting your product as a means for social success, performance in sport or attractiveness to the opposite sex is not an acceptable practice,” he said. “And for self-regulatory organizations reviewing advertisements to enforce those principles, this extra clarity will be invaluable.”

According to Jonathan Huneke, USCIB’s vice president for communications and public affairs, who staffs USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee, the drafters worked in close consultation with the alcohol industry, including in the United States. “We wanted to make sure that the framework could help companies meet their commitments to strengthening self-regulation, but without disrupting existing codes.”

“We have been strongly supportive of this effort,” said Brett Bivans, senior vice president of the International Center for Alcohol Policies. “This is a significant step in strengthening and clarifying high standards of responsible marketing, and we will work closely with ICC and other partners as the framework is implemented.”

ICC has served as the authoritative rule-setter for international advertising since the 1930s, when the first ICC code on advertising practice was issued. Since then, it has updated and expanded the ICC self-regulatory framework where needed to assist companies in marketing their products responsibly and to help self-regulators apply the rules consistently.

 

Staff contacts: Jonathan Huneke

More on USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee

APEC Leaders Identify Development of Regional Advertising Standards as 2014 Priority

Published on December 18, 2013

4654_image001Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders recently endorsed development work on best practice standards for regulating advertising at their ministerial meeting in Bali.

USCIB and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) are actively supporting this process, and welcomed the endorsement as a step forward validating previous work in this area to establish greater consistency in the rules and application of advertising frameworks in the region. This move will enable the recommendations of the November 2012 Hanoi Dialogue on Advertising Standards and Principles and Practice to be implemented.

USCIB and ICC are working with the Advertising Standards Bureau Australia (ASBA), the European Advertising Standards Alliance, the World Federation of Advertisers and other partners to establish consistency based on international best practice frameworks and encourage greater capacity for economies wishing to build an effective advertising self-regulatory system.

The Consolidated ICC Code of Advertising and Marketing Practice, developed by the ICC Commission on Marketing and Advertising, serves as a foundation for self-regulatory structures around the world. It offers a baseline for APEC economies developing advertising principles while also providing flexibility for local laws and culture to be reflected in a national code.

“Common principles and advertising standards have wisely been recognized as a worthwhile pursuit by APEC economies,” said ICC Commission Chair Brent Sanders, assistant general counsel with Microsoft, who also chairs USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee. “They offer the benefit of reducing trade barriers while offering an effective means to foster corporate responsibility and consumer trust. Alignment with international standards will help position advertising to serve effectively and responsibly as a valuable engine of economic growth across the region.”

Read more on ICC’s website.

The new work stream in APEC will be a focus of discussion when the ICC commission meets in Paris on January 25. Earlier this month, members of USCIB’s committee held a conference call to discuss preparations for the Paris meeting, which will also review developments in developing an ICC framework for alcohol marketing, new work on digital advertising, and a number of other issues.

Staff contacts: Jonathan Huneke

More on USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee

ICC Marketing Commission Advances Global Advertising Standards

Published on June 11, 2013
ICC’s Marketing and Advertising Commission met near an epicenter of advertising, New York’s Times Square.
ICC’s Marketing and Advertising Commission met near an epicenter of advertising, New York’s Times Square.

In early June, marketing experts from around the world gathered in New York as the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)’s Commission on Marketing and Advertising held two days of meetings, at the headquarters of News Corporation, to address emerging challenges in mobile marketing, alcoholic beverages and a number of other areas.

ICC, the world business organization for which USCIB serves as the American national committee, has served for many years as the standard-bearer in developing respected industry advertising standards worldwide. The commission is chaired by Brent Sanders (Microsoft), who also chairs USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee.

Digital communications were top of mind for many commission members. A working group chaired by David Fares (News Corp.) weighed the possible development of new rules on marketing to mobile devices, and reviewed current regulatory initiatives as well as technical solutions designed to promote consumer choice, and protect privacy, in an increasingly mobile environment.

“We had a good discussion of the various programs and tools being developed to ensure company compliance with the EU’s e-privacy directive and self-regulatory programs to address online behavioral advertising,” said Sheila Millar (Keller & Heckman), a vice chair of the commission. “Industry is being pro-active in the face of fast-moving technological changes, demonstrating that it takes both choice and privacy seriously.”

Alcohol framework

The commission agreed to develop a new global framework for responsible marketing of alcoholic beverages, responding to global commitments for robust rules that can serve as a baseline for the establishment of local codes in markets where these do not already exist. An experts’ group discussed a draft guide, which identifies existing principles from the Consolidated ICC Code of Marketing and Advertising and offers interpretation and further guidance to help marketers and self-regulatory authorities. The final product may be ready as early as this fall.

“This voluntary effort, initiated from within the alcohol beverage industry, reflects the goal of the industry to act responsibly around the world,” observed Carla Michelotti (Leo Burnett Worldwide), the vice chair of USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee and a member of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council in the United States. “These voluntary principles, if adopted by ICC, would certainly have a significant impact on advertising for alcohol beverages in many countries where no self-regulation is in existence.”

Looking to the Asia-Pacific

USCIB and ICC are also working with other stakeholders to encourage further progress on advertising standards within the Asia-Pacific region. Alongside relevant sectoral associations in several APEC countries, we are supporting initiatives by the Australian government and advertising standards body. At a dialogue last November in Vietnam, APEC governments, industry and experts from economies using globally aligned advertising standards recommended further work towards a common APEC approach, including educational and capacity-building programs.

Also at the meeting, John Manfredi, the former longtime chair of the ICC Commission and USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee, was presented with the ICC Merchant of Peace Award by USCIB Chairman and ICC Chairman-elect Terry McGraw, the CEO of McGraw-Hill Financial. Manfredi, managing partner with Manloy Associates, and previously an executive with Proctor and Gamble, Gillette and Nabisco, led efforts to develop and revise ICC codes and guidance resources on topics such as environmental advertising, marketing and advertising on the Internet, and food and beverage marketing. Click here to read more about the award presentation on ICC’s website.

Staff contact: Jonathan Huneke

More on USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee

Experts Developing Framework for Responsible Marketing of Alcohol

Published on May 30, 2013

4522_image001The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), for which USCIB serves as the American national committee, has a long and distinguished history of establishing global self-regulatory standards for marketing and advertising.

Now, heeding the call of industry to ensure that robust rules are well understood and coherently applied across markets, the ICC Commission on Marketing and Advertising is developing a new global framework for responsible marketing communications of alcohol.

An experts’ group will convene at the upcoming commission meetings in New York on 3-4 June to discuss the draft guide, which identifies existing principles from the Consolidated ICC Code and offers interpretation and further guidance to help marketers and self-regulatory authorities.

“The ICC framework will complement steps already taken by sectoral groups to bolster existing self-regulatory efforts and expand on them in markets where they are lacking,” said Brent Sanders, chair of ICC’s Marketing and Advertising Commission and associate general counsel with Microsoft (who also chairs USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee). “While the commission’s work is oriented to rules for broad business interests and not sectoral codes, we agreed that the interpretive instrument proposed would help self-regulatory bodies implement existing ICC Code articles more effectively and coherently across markets.”

“The goal is to increase existing confidence in the self-regulatory approach even further, and ensure that it reaches across all markets,” said Oliver Gray, co-chair of the ICC experts’ group drafting the framework and executive director of the European Advertising Standards Alliance. “This new initiative will do just that and, by building on the global commitments of the major alcohol beverage companies, will demonstrate responsibility via strong and coherent industry rules.”

Development of an ICC framework was initially proposed by the International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP) with strong support of the World Federation of Advertisers. The base draft was developed against the background of the ICAP guiding principles. These represent a consensus built and globally committed to by CEOs of 13 major companies representing beer, wine and spirits producers.

ICC has served as the authoritative rule-setter for international advertising since the 1930s, when the first ICC Code on advertising practice was issued. Since then, it has updated and expanded the ICC self-regulatory framework on many occasions to assist companies in marketing their products responsibly and to help self-regulators apply the rules consistently.

Staff contact: Jonathan Huneke

More on USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee

APEC Members Look at Advertising Standards

Published on March 26, 2013

4472_image002Prior to the February meeting in Indonesia of the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Committee on Trade and Investment, each of the lead representatives of the 21 member economies were urged by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), part of USCIB’s global network, to support work advancing advertising standards in the region.

USCIB is working with ICC and a range of U.S. business groups to present business views to APEC member economies throughout Indonesia’s host year.

ICC, a leading proponent of self-regulation in many spheres, maintains a highly regarded code on marketing and advertising, which is used as a model by self-regulatory authorities around the world. In a letter, ICC Secretary General Jean-Guy Carrier expressed global business support and ICC endorsement of an Australian-led initiative to develop common principles for advertising standards across APEC economies, with the aim of reducing technical trade barriers.

eferring to a report from a November 2012 dialogue in Vietnam, where government and industry participants issued recommendations, Carrier highlighted the importance of APEC support and follow-up on capacity building proposals to help economies getting started or wishing to further develop national standards to the ICC Code and the best practice model recommendations for self-regulation. Read more on ICC’s website.

On February 19, USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee organized a call with the U.S. Trade Representative’s office and the ICC Marketing Commission to discuss self-regulation in advertising in the APEC area, and the possibility for capacity-building within APEC to promote effective self-regulation of advertising. Outcomes of the call included exploring a possible workshop on self-regulation during the Indonesia APEC year and reporting out to senior APEC officials on the ICC’s code.

Staff contact: Justine Badimon and Charlene Flick

Updated Framework Helps Industry Navigate Responsible Food and Beverage Marketing

Published on September 27, 2012

food scaleThe International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) today released a revised Framework for Responsible Food and Beverage Marketing Communications, intended to provide an updated and relevant self-regulatory tool at a time when pressure on industry is increasing, particularly with respect to marketing to children and growing concerns regarding obesity.

The framework presents a standard, uniformed approach to encourage responsible food and beverage communication and has been used as a foundation for aligning industry efforts and self-regulatory commitments in response to the World Health Organization’s agenda on reducing obesity. The framework requires that responsible food and beverage marketing should be legal, decent, honest and truthful, and clarifies that marketing communications must not undermine the importance of healthy lifestyles. Responsible marketing can help consumers make appropriate choices about products and to understand the role of nutrition, diet and physical activity in healthy lifestyles.

Prepared by the ICC Commission on Marketing and Advertising, the framework has been revised to align with the relevant revisions of the Consolidated ICC Code on Marketing and Advertising Communication Practices (ICC Code). It sets out business positions regarding: the role of commercial communication in our information-focused society, responsible marketing to children, and the importance of marketing to a competitive economy and consumer choice, while offering practical guidance on applying the general code principles specifically to food and beverage marketing.

“The ICC framework was first developed in 2004 at industry’s request and has subsequently been updated twice to keep current with the changes to the general ICC marketing code,” said Brent Sanders (Microsoft), chair of USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee and chair of the ICC Commission on Marketing and Advertising. “It provides a tool industry can apply through effective self-regulation within a legal framework that protects consumers from false and misleading claims.”

USCIB hosted the ICC Seminar on Consumer Savvy Marketing held in New York City June 7, which brought together top consumer protection and advertising self-regulation experts from the United States and around the world. The seminar showcased the importance of self-regulation work, where ICC has been a major rule-setter in international advertising self-regulation since 1937. The revised Consolidated ICC Code of Advertising and Marketing Communication Practice was launched in 2011.

ICC Framework for Responsible Food and Beverage Marketing Communications

Consolidated ICC Code of Advertising and Marketing Communications

Staff Contact: Jonathan Huneke

More on USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee

Self-Regulation Experts Gather at ICC Seminar on Consumer Savvy Marketing

Published on June 28, 2012

Consumer Savvy MarketingAn engaging roster of top consumer protection and advertising self-regulation experts from the United States and around the world made the line-up of speakers at an ICC seminar on Consumer Savvy Marketing held in New York City on June 7. This seminar, hosted by USCIB and the ICC Commission on Marketing and Advertising, provided the opportunity for companies and legal experts to stay up to date with the dramatically changing landscape of marketing campaigns and to better understand how rules apply to technological and practice developments.

Participants enjoyed a dynamic and informative keynote presentation on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) activities and new projects by Lesley Fair, Senior Attorney of FTC’s Consumer Protection Bureau. Ms. Fair shared examples of recent U.S. advertising cases to illustrate how the FTC enforcement serves as a unique backstop to industry self-regulation efforts discussed later in the event. She discussed the FTC’s recently released privacy report and advised that companies with the most success in this area pursue a privacy-by-design approach to their business activities. Ms. Fair offered examples of cases in new media, explained the testimonials and endorsement guides in practice and gave an update on the review of the FTC green guides.

When asked how the FTC’s handles compliance when a company has campaigns overseas or with international cases, she noted that the FTC has worked with other consumer protection bodies in a cooperative fashion. She was also called on to share U.S. experiences with developing economies and notes that the U.S. boasts over a 90% compliance rate for self-regulation.

The seminar also included three discussion panels, addressing: Social Media Pitfalls and Best Practices, Privacy, Marketing and Self-Regulation and Mobile Marketing and Applications: Developments to Watch.

“The seminar provided us with an important opportunity to bring together a dream team from the community of organizations and experts and to showcase the valuable work being done to make self-regulation work,” said ICC Marketing Commission Chair and Microsoft Corporation Associate General Counsel Brent Sanders. “It is definitely an exercise the commission would like to repeat and expand upon next year and beyond.”

ICC has been a major rule-setter in international advertising self-regulation since 1937, when the ICC Commission on Marketing and Advertising issued the first ICC Code on Advertising Practice – one of the most successful examples of business self-regulation ever developed. The revised Consolidated ICC Code of Advertising and Marketing Communication Practice was launched in 2011 along with CodesCentre.com, a one-stop resource for industry, regulators and academics on self-regulation and advertising.

Click here to read more on ICC’s website, including information on speakers and moderators.

Download a copy of the Consolidated ICC Code

CodesCentre.com

Staff Contact: Jonathan Huneke

More on USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee

ICC Seminar to Help Marketers Keep Up With New Legal and Self-Regulatory Developments

Published on May 7, 2012
Panel discussions will explain how companies, marketers, agencies and media should ensure their campaigns are being conducted responsibly
Panel discussions will explain how companies, marketers, agencies and media should ensure their campaigns are being conducted responsibly

Marketers and corporate counsel are invited to meet rules-writers and enforcers to find out if they are ‘consumer savvy’ at a half-day conference on how to navigate the changing landscape of advertising and marketing regulations. Organized by the ICC Commission on Advertising and Marketing, the seminar “Consumer Savvy Marketing: Understanding and Respecting Consumers Using Self-Regulation” will take place in New York City on June 7, 2012.

ICC, whose marketing and advertising self-regulatory rules form the basis for most countries’ national codes, will bring together global and local experts to examine such issues as privacy, data protection and child-directed advertising, as marketing continues to migrate online.

Panel discussions will explain how companies, marketers, agencies and media should ensure their campaigns are being conducted responsibly in light of the changing laws and not lead to backlash from consumers, regulators or self-regulatory bodies.

Participants will have a chance to hear from and meet speakers from the Federal Trade Commission, the US, EU and international self-regulatory community, as well as senior executives from global corporations, such as Disney, Microsoft and AT&T, Google and News Corporation who deal with these issues on a national and international scale.

Legal directors and corporate counsel advising on advertising regulatory issues, company privacy officers, corporate managers handling US and global marketing campaigns, business consultants and counsel from law firms, as well as government regulators dealing with privacy issues, are all invited to attend.

Staff Contact: Jonathan Huneke

Consumer Savvy Marketing Program

Register online and benefit from a special ICC members rate.

More on USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee

ICC Marketing Commission Appoints Sheila Millar as Vice Chair

Published on May 3, 2012
Ms. Millar brings important technical understanding and legal expertise to the work of the commission
Ms. Millar brings important technical understanding and legal expertise to the work of the commission

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Sheila Millar, partner of Keller and Heckman to the post of vice-chair, Commission on Marketing and Advertising.

Ms. Millar has been leading the Commission’s Working Group on Sustainability for five years and has played a critical role both in the development ofICC’s Framework for Responsible Environmental Marketing Communications and the advocacy efforts undertaken to promote it. With vast experience counseling companies, regulators and government in the fields of sustainability and environmental claims, marketing and advertising to children and data protection, Ms. Millar brings important technical understanding and legal expertise to the work of the commission. An active advocate of ICC work, Ms. Millar has presented ICC codes and guidance to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Consumer Policy Committee and recently at a United Nations Environment Program International Workshop on Product Sustainability Information.

“Sheila’s appointment is a welcome addition to the leadership team of the commission. Her extensive experience and wealth of knowledge have been invaluable in developing recent ICC work products, engaging new participants and advocating ICC guidance to audiences around the world,” said Brent Sanders, chair of the ICC Commission on Marketing and Advertising and associate general counsel of Microsoft Corporation.

Ms. Millar will be representing the commission and sharing her expertise at upcoming events in New York. On 7 June, the ICC Commission on Marketing and Advertising will present a seminar entitled ‘Consumer Savvy Marketing’ that will address privacy, data protection and child directed advertising, especially in the context of new technology and social media. Ms. Millar has also been invited to present the environmental claims framework at an ICC event in conjunction with the RIO+20 conferences (20-22 June 2012), where heads of states, government representatives and others will meet to shape the future of our social environment and economy.

Click here to read more on ICC’s website.

Staff Contact: Jonathan Huneke

More on USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee

Benefits of Self-Regulation in Marketing Put Forward at Chile Conference

Published on November 2, 2011
At the workshop in Santiago, Chile (L-R): Chris Martin (USCIB), Sebastian Goldsack Trebilcock (DMA Chile), Alvaro Díaz (AMF Variable Printing); DMA Chile President Rodrigo Edwards (Edwards Associates), Juan Pablo (Viva!), Martín Baeza (COPESA).
At the workshop in Santiago, Chile (L-R): Chris Martin (USCIB), Sebastian Goldsack Trebilcock (DMA Chile), Alvaro Díaz (AMF Variable Printing); DMA Chile President Rodrigo Edwards (Edwards Associates), Juan Pablo (Viva!), Martín Baeza (COPESA).

With business facing calls from Chilean legislators for significant new regulation in marketing and advertising, Chile’s Direct Marketing Association invited Chris Martin, USCIB’s manager for marketing and ICT policy, to address an October conference promoting self-regulation as a better alternative.  USCIB’s Marketing & Advertising Committee is focused on promoting strong and effective marketing self-regulation around the world.

In response to some privacy concerns around the potential tracking of consumer information, Chile is considering an across-the-board “opt-in” provision, which would require consumers to opt in to marketing communications on any platform, including mail, telephone, and digital.  While some countries have privacy laws around marketing and advertising, very few have in place or are considering quite as sweeping regulation as that being proposed in Chile.

“It is important for Chilean businesses and policymakers to understand how self-regulation is addressing similar privacy issues in other jurisdictions like the U.S. and Europe,” said Mr. Martin.  “Especially with regard to digital advertising, the U.S. business community has pioneered self-regulation that responds to privacy concerns and USCIB has been a forceful advocate for harmonizing a global self-regulatory approach, one that balances these important privacy issues with the need to ensure that innovative content and services on the Web can continue to be funded through advertising in order to keep them free or low-cost to consumers.”

As the U.S. affiliate to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), USCIB actively promoted new principles and standards around online advertising in the ICC’s recently revised Marketing & Advertising Code.  Available and searchable online at www.codescentre.com, the Code sets the international gold-standard for ethical standards in marketing by providing guidance to global industry and self-regulatory initiatives.

“The problem in Chile, as well as other regions that are considering privacy-focused regulation, is that policymakers often do not understand the impact of the laws they are proposing,” said Sebastián Goldsack Trebilcock, Executive Director, DMA Chile.  “Having USCIB come down and speak in Chile about what business is doing in the U.S. and globally helps us in our local efforts to educate regulators and inform the business community about self-regulatory models being deployed in other markets.”

While it may seem counter-intuitive to put forward self-regulation as an effective means of addressing privacy concerns, it has proved effective in many ways, according to Mr. Martin.  “What would the Internet look like today if strident privacy regulation had been in place at the outset of the Internet?” he asked.  “Would we have all the free content and services we enjoy today, like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Pandora, free news sites and any number of these things that we take for granted?  It is worth considering.  I hope the next big idea has just as much opportunity to take hold and change our world.”

Staff contact: Chris Martin

More on USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee