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.

                        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
FARIS ABOUHAMAD         innovation; creates jobs; supports the arts, entertainment and sports;
IAA CHAIRMAN &          and contributes to the costs of providing news and information.
WORLD PRESIDENT
                        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. 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.

2. A free market economy is a necessary condition of prosperity in modern markets. Consumers have to be
   sufficiently informed to make intelligent choices.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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. 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.

2. 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: Barry Day
              Creative Director: Ezer Mascarenhas
                  Copy Writing: Christine Gardner
   Former IAA Director General: Norman Vale
         Former IAA Chairman: Roger Neill
IAA Chairman & World President: Faris Abouhamad
      IAA Senior Vice President: Felix Tataru
             IAA Vice President: Heather Leembruggen
         IAA Managing Director: 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