WFA Annual Report 2016

The only organisation representing and connecting global marketers.

London, Brussels, Singapore

World Federation of AdvertisersLondon, Brussels, Singapore

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Annual Report2016






Annual Report2016

President’s Vision 2 Message from the CEO 3 Executive Committee 4 Marketing Groups 6 CMOforum IMCforum MEdIaforum

7 CdOforum SOurCInGforum InSIGhtforum

8 Worldwide meetings

2016 Marketing highlights 10 Staff 12

Public affairs Groups 14 responsible Advertising And Children Programme Policy Action Group

15 Digital Governance Exchange Alcohol marketing

2016 Public affairs highlights 16

WFa Events 18 Global marketer Week, Kuala Lumpur

21 regional meeting, Cartagena

Finances 22 2016 In numbers 24

President’sVision

What a year we have left behind: much to reflect on, much to learn from and much to forget but, above all, much to look forward to.

We’ve seen the digital revolution continue and its profound impact on the world of marketing. It has shaken the foundations of the business to the core, with many talking up a completely changed approach to communications and marketing.

But here’s the danger: the basics are often ignored and shiny new solutions are reached for without pause for reflection.

for 2017, in the age of post-truth politics and a renewed need to focus on the basics of marketing and communications, the lessons for brands are clear – re-earn trust through truth, focus on the fundamentals and combine the art and science of marketing to deliver for your customers.

As the marketing and communications services sector adapts to these changing times, I hope the core skills of creativity and combining magic and logic to connect brands to their users will continue to be celebrated and valued.

There is no algorithm for creativity, there is no rulebook on how to do it better than anyone else. But there are lots of great people who know how to make connections with people – that is what this sector has always been about and will always be about.

At the World federation of Advertisers, we want to continue to champion best practice that has helped the sector thrive and challenge the lack of transparency that sometimes bedevils it.

We try to build effective collaboration and intend to celebrate the fact that in 2017, despite the increasing focus on technology, automation and personalisation, marketing and communications will remain fundamentally a people business.

The late, great Bill Bernbach said many years ago: “Human nature hasn’t changed for a million years. It won’t even change in the next million years. only the superficial things have changed. It is fashionable to talk about the changing man. A communicator must be concerned with the unchanging man, with his obsessive desire to survive, to be admired, to succeed, to love, to take care of his own.”

Today, Bernbach would have said “the unchanging man and woman”, and he might have expanded the thought to include the multichannel world we live in.

But I bet he would have maintained the core observation.

So here’s to 2017, then: the year of the unchanging man and woman in an ever-changing world. I am looking forward to it and I’m proud to continue presiding over the WfA as it helps brands to put people first.

David Wheldon,WfA President Cmo rBS

Despite the increasing focus on technology, marketing remains fundamentally a people business.

“

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Message from the CEO

2016 was not a year that will be forgotten in a hurry. Profound changes and landmark events were witnessed both inside and outside of our industry.

Such changes inevitably bring great uncertainty and I am acutely aware of the impact that this has on our national association and corporate members alike.

So I am more gratified than ever that amidst such unpredictability the organisation has been able to consolidate and strengthen. Total revenues reached an all-time high with a net growth rate of 12% in corporate membership.

This has enabled us to re-invest significant resources into membership services. our online Global Knowledge Base has doubled in size and is now used by more than 80% of our members. A bespoke Crm tool is currently being rolled out, which will significantly increase our ability to proactively identify needs and deliver relevant insights.

Putting these systems and processes in place will redouble our efforts to focus on what is critical to our members.

In 2016, WfA held eighty meetings across four continents. Between meetings, over two hundred benchmarks and twenty surveys were conducted. All with the objective of helping members get substantial practical assistance with their day-to-day challenges.

Digital transformation continues to be the #1 priority for our members. But 2016 saw ad fraud and transparency top marketers’ most serious concerns. All will force marketers into reviewing how they do business in 2017 and beyond.

Brands face regulatory pressures across multiple sectors. New rules coming out of Europe for data collection will have global ramifications for brands. WfA will be a trusted and action-oriented partner capable of offering tangible solutions to these multiple challenges.

As a lack of transparency threatens to divide the marketing ecosystem, we must be a source of collaboration and unity. As policy-makers seek to restrict our activity, we must showcase what is great about our industry. As people call marketing into question and block us out of their lives, we must champion customer-centric connections which offer real value.

2017 promises to be full of challenges. We look forward to addressing them with your support.

Stephan Loerke,CEo WfA

We must champion customer-centric connections which offer real value.

“

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Executive Committee

david WheldonCMORBSWFA President

(As elected at the Annual General meeting on march 16, 2016)

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2 3 4Matthias BerningerVP Public AffairsMARSWFA Deputy President

Mike hughesDirector GeneralISBA, UKWFA Treasurer

Stephan LoerkeWFA CEO

Christian FlouchGlobal Head of Media, Consumer ConnectionsAnheuser-Busch InBev

Wouter VermeulenGroup Director, International Government Relations & Public AffairsThe Coca-Cola Company

Emmanuelle WargonGeneral Director, Corporate Affairs and CommunicationsDanone

alessandro CagliEU Affairs DirectorFerrero

Mary Catherine tokerVP Government RelationsGeneral Mills

thomas holzapfelGlobal Category Leader and VP Marketing ProcurementDeutsche Telekom

WFa Corporate Member representatives

WFaOfficers

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WFa regional Vice-Presidents

Sergey GlushkovPresidentRAA, RussiaRegional VP C&E Europe

Loïc armandSenior VP External Affairs L’OréalRegional VP Western Europe

Bob LiodicePresident & CEOANA, USARegional VP North America

Javier MedranoSenior VP MarketingGrupo BimboRegional VP Latin America

Sameer desaiHead of Consumer Healthcare Asia, MEA and LATAMMundipharmaRegional VP Asia-Pacific

achieng ButlerCMO Africa DivisionDanone Regional VP Africa

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nicki KenyonVP Marketing APACVisa

Eleonore OgrinzHead of International AdvertisingRed Bull

david OliverGlobal Director, Public & Government AffairsMondelēz

Joris PolletDirector, Government Relations & Public Policy, Europe, Middle East, Africa & AsiaProcter & Gamble

americo Campos SilvaGlobal Head of Digital and Social MediaShell

Julie ChanGlobal Consumer Engagement LeadPfizer

roel de VriesCorporate VP, Global Head of Marketing, Communications and Brand StrategyNissan Motor Company

Luis di ComoSenior VP Global MediaUnilever

Pierre-Jean BozoDirector GeneralUDA, France

roger harlacherPresidentASA, Switzerland

ritva hanski-PitkakoskiManaging DirectorML, Finland

ron LundPresident & CEOACA, Canada

Sandra MartinelliExecutive Vice PresidentABA, Brazil

Jan MortendrangeCEOANFO, Norway

Bharat PatelExecutive Committee memberISA, India

ahmet PuraChairmanRVD, Turkey

david arome OkemePresidentADVAN, Nigeria

Chris Van roeyCEOUBA, Belgium

Joachim SchützManaging DirectorOWM, Germany

hou YunchunPresidentCANA, China

WFa Corporate Member representatives

WFa national association representatives

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Mounir JazouliPresidentGAM, Morocco

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2016 proved to be the most dynamic year yet for the CMOFOruM, an exclusive, invitation-only peer network that offers some of the most experienced marketing leaders with the opportunity to exchange experiences with a view to offering actionable insight into how to address common priorities.

The group’s meeting at Cannes Lions brought together twenty-five Cmo-level marketers with sessions led by unilever’s Keith Weed, mastercard’s raja rajamannar and WfA President and rBS Cmo, David Wheldon. The spotlight also turned to Asia-Pacific as we expanded with the first meeting in Hong Kong, anchored by newly-appointed CMOforum Chair for APAC and APAC Cmo at mastercard, Sam Ahmed. The group’s focus inevitably mirrored WfA’s core priorities. Transformation topped the agenda, reflected through sessions around evolving capabilities. Cmos were, of course, central to much of this change, with many finding themselves with expanded roles often incorporating corporate communications. The digital marketing ecosystem was also top of mind, with the focus especially centred on brand owners the victim of ad fraud and consumers rejecting marketing communications through increased usage of adblocking. Linked to this was a heavy focus on customer-centricity, as reflected in WfA’s Project reconnect (project-reconnect.com) on which many of our Cmo members sit on the Advisory Board. Whilst many acknowledge our industry is still far from being truly ‘customer-centric’, others felt they had made real progress with one Cmo describing his role as “Chief of Customer obsession”.

2016 was an exciting year for IMCFOruM as the group significantly grew in size (+25%) and geographical footprint. Further to the launch of our first meeting in dubai and our workshop series in Singapore, the group now connects senior marketers in four regions.

meetings featured case studies and discussions led by senior marketers from Coca-Cola, Brown-forman, Diageo, Jaguar Land rover, LEGo, SAP, mars, mondelēz and Nestlé. Guest speakers were also invited to challenge the status quo in their field of expertise. Isaac mizrahi (Alma) and mark Adams (VICE), who received the highest guest presentation rating this year, were two of them.

Content marketing continued to dominate our members’ agendas and the group shared experience to get better at creating relevant content. This included initiatives such as setting up global digital partnerships.

As one member put it, “marketers are living in blissful ignorance” when it comes to integrated marketing measurement. The group accordingly tackled how to evolve measurement frameworks, providing our members with insights to move from proxy metrics to meaningful business metrics.

We concluded 2016 with a re-run of our integrated briefing research. The novelty was an agency-version of the survey that was sent to agency heads. This highlighted interesting opinion differences and the fact that work still needs to be done to establish mutual criteria for ‘integration nirvana’ in the eyes of clients and agency partners.

2016 was a challenging and fascinating year for the media industry, with transparency, ad fraud and programmatic all key concerns. Skilled global media expertise has never been in greater demand.

But change doesn’t just come through new hires and we are seeing many companies successfully evolve for the data-driven era. This involves up-skilling, re-examining agency relationships and embedding technology and data to deliver ‘precision at scale’ – the media director’s mantra in 2016.

Control and transparency are core requirements for programmatic to work with full effect, and we’ve seen a number of clients implementing ‘second generation’ models in 2016. Agency Trading Desks remain the most common way of conducting programmatic but the market is evolving rapidly, with in-house and ‘hybrid’ models on a considerable growth trajectory.

WfA research in 2016 also found that clients are moving their programmatic investments towards Private market Places to limit their exposure to ad fraud.

WfA’s Compendium of Ad fraud Knowledge for media Investors, published in 2016, calculated that ad fraud represents $50bn on a conservative estimate, but it’s not unrealistic to assume that the true number might be three times larger.

our compendium focused on solutions to limit and reduce fraud and we’ve been developing these principles in meetings. But ad fraud is an intractable problem, perpetuated by the structure and systems in place in the digital media ecosystem. undoubtedly this will continue to be a focus for the MEdIaforum.

CMOforum IMCforum MEdIaforum

MarketingGroups

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‘digital transformation’ has remained a focus in 2016. Much of this is concerned with people, culture and organisations, and our content has concentrated on helping members to learn from one another.

Brands have been increasingly courting ‘start-ups’ for their technology, their spirit of agility and innovation. WfA research focused on the effectiveness of these relationships. There are inherent difficulties with getting ‘a speedboat and an ocean liner to co-exist’, and 88% of clients agree that brands often aren’t sure what their start-up arrangement will look like. But our sessions have dug deeper and found that brands with clear objectives and goals have made a success of these relationships.

Data and technology are also core to this group, but harnessing data and drawing meaningful insights remains a challenge. Data management Platforms may provide part of the solution but the complexity of implementing these should not be underestimated. A data strategy is a start-point, with details on how this will be used and whether those use cases are within legal compliance.

Trust and privacy have become crucial for those in the CdOforum, described as “the future of brands” in a recent meeting. With the democratisation of information, competitive advantage can be obtained by those who are customer-obsessed.

In 2016 and into 2017 the focus moves from digital ‘transformation’ to ‘maturity’. We hope that WfA’s new digital maturity diagnostic tool can help brands to benchmark their progress on this journey.

Sourcing isn’t all about costs. It’s about managing suppliers so that you get the right services at the right price at the right time.

Within the marketing industry, this often means that sourcing spends more time on incremental value improvement, rather than savings. many would agree that this is as it should be, and procurement’s influence undoubtedly continues to rise within global marketing organisations. So how can it best wield this influence?

many marketing procurement members feel that the ways they contribute the most to a brand’s business success is not through savings, but through helping marketing run capability assessments, pitch management, scope of work and briefing alignment, remuneration model setting/planning and performance reviews.

There’s much to do here and if marketing involves sourcing in these areas it can help to streamline a great variety of complex business processes, which of course frees up time for marketing to work on building great brands.

Who ‘owns’ agency management has been a core question for the SOurCInGforum over the past 18 months. Approaches differ depending on business, legacy and internal culture, but the most mature marketing procurement teams are steadily leveraging more responsibility in these fields.

As agency rosters get ever more complex, it will be interesting to see how many more global brands draw on their sourcing teams to help them take ownership of their diverse and interdependent marketing supply chains.

the objective of InSIGhtFOruM is to improve how consumer insight specialists and marketers work together to generate actionable insights to inform unifying marketing ideas.

This group now boasts 150 professionals from WfA’s membership and is the only global network for global client-side consumer insight leaders. In 2016 the group welcomed its first Chair, Elinor Bateman, Director of Brand Insight and Sponsorship at Barclays, who hosted the first meeting of the year and shared the value derived from creating an insights community within the organisation.

The group met in London and, for the first time, in Singapore. Topics included critical areas for client-side market research specialists. New methodologies featured in every meeting, including demonstrations in leveraging artificial intelligence and behavioural analysis. The group also focused on improving the effectiveness of their function within large multinationals, including through tackling how to disseminate insights within global organisations.

Building on these themes, the group also held its first workshop hosted by BrainJuicer. This interactive session focused on better understanding the value of the insights function; seeking to understand how the Consumer Insights departments measure their own contribution to profitable brand growth and how they may further improve in this area.

Between events, the group ran benchmarks amongst members on several topics including copy testing and recommended innovative brand tracking suppliers. The group also continued to share the findings from our future of Insights Project with a webinar and remote meetings.

CdOforum SOurCInGforum InSIGhtforum

more at wfanet.org/ar2016

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CMOforum

Singapore, 25 mayCannes, 23 JuneHong Kong, 25 octoberSingapore, 27 october

IMCforum

Dubai, 18 februaryLondon, 21 Aprilmiami, 19 mayLondon, 22 November

MEdIaforum

London, 4 februaryNew Delhi, 16 februaryrome, 18 mayShanghai, 7 JulyNew York, 27 octobermadrid, 17 NovemberLondon, 22 November

1 amsterdam2 Cannes3 Cartagena4 Cologne5 dubai6 hong Kong7 Kuala Lumpur8 London

9 Madrid10 Miami11 new delhi12 new York13 Paris14 rome15 Shanghai16 Singapore

MarketingGroups

Worldwidemeetings

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CdOforum

Hong Kong, 20 JanuaryLondon, 3 marchSingapore, 14 AprilCologne, 13 SeptemberAmsterdam, 25 NovemberSingapore, 30 NovemberHong Kong, 1 December

SOurCInGforum

Paris, 24 februaryLondon, 2 JuneShanghai, 6 JulySingapore, 29 SeptemberParis, 24 NovemberNew York, 7 December

InSIGhtforum

London, 7 AprilSingapore, 28 SeptemberLondon, 10 November

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the year innumbers

aSEan marketers seek enhanced digital capabilitiesresearch conducted among regional and local marketers from brands that spend over uS$55b per annum globally highlights need to boost consumer insight, integrated activity planning, innovation, digital marketing and analytics to drive digital transformation.

new online tools

2016Marketing highlights member-led meetings,

remote forums & webinars on four continents

member representatives attended meetings

global benchmarks100+700+

40+

63k+ marketers:

peer-to-peernetworks connecting

• CMOforum• CdOforum• IMCforum• MEdIaforum• SOurCInGforum• InSIGhtforum

Ground-breaking guide on combatting ad fraudThe guidelines are meant to assist marketers in taking practical steps to reduce their exposure to ad fraud in four key areas: people and technology, education and communication, standards, and governance.

The Agency Cost Index is WfA’s first agency remuneration tool

SoNAr measures an organisation’s digital maturity

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new marketinggroup chairs

CMOforum (APAC)Sam ahmedCMO APACMastercard

CdOforumantonia McCahonGlobal Digital Acceleration DirectorPernod Ricard

InSIGhtforumElinor BatemanDirector, Insight & ResearchBarclays

1st IMCforum in Hong Kong 1st InSIGhtforum in Singapore1st WFaforum in mENA/Dubai

newreports

Key reports on programmatic, working with start-ups, media agency remuneration and media procurement excellence were produced.

Survey on programmatic & trading desks Working with start-ups Survey on Media Agency Remuneration

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robert dreblowGlobal head

of Marketing ServicesWill oversees WfA’s public affairs and communications work, including Project reconnect. A graduate of modern Languages from oxford university, he worked previously as a journalist in uK, france and Spain.

Based in Singapore, ranji supports WfA corporate members in Asia by helping to build on the existing working groups and nurture fully-fledged regional Cmo and CDo groups. A Singaporean national, ranji previously worked in various digital marketing roles at Samsung.

Stephan LoerkeChief Executive Officer

Stephan manages the WfA secretariat, oversees all work carried out on behalf of its members and is the WfA’s main spokesperson. He sits on all WfA public affairs and marketing committees, as well as on the WfA Executive Committee.

Prior to joining WfA, Stephan worked at the united Nations in New York and later in both marketing and management roles at L’oréal. Combining french and German nationalities, Stephan speaks french, German, English, Dutch and Spanish.

Staff

robert oversees WfA’s marketing services and groups, working from both London and Brussels. His focus includes championing member priorities and keeping members updated on key trends. He was previously an Associate Director at mediaCom in London and Toronto.

Will Gilroydirector of Public affairs

and Communications

ranji david aPaC director

Marketing Services

Claire is focused on delivering greater added value to WfA member organisations. A British national, she has over a decade of membership services and industry body experience. Claire works from both London and Brussels.

Claire Mullen head of

Membershipmatt is responsible for the delivery services to the WfA MEdIaforum and CdOforum and for setting the agenda, for discussion and approach, to core global media and digital issues. He is WfA’s subject matter expert on programmatic buying.

Matt Green Global Lead

Media & digital MarketingSteve leads the WfA’s SOurCInG-forum and InSIGhtforum. Prior to joining WfA, Steve completed a master of research in marketing at the university of Leeds. originally from the uK, he speaks french and English.

Steve LightfootSenior Manager

Global Marketing Procurement

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rebecka works on food marketing to children and coordinates the responsible Advertising and Children Programme, which addresses policy issues around marketing to children. She holds a masters in Political Sciences from the Sorbonne university and worked in two leading consultancies in Brussels.

rebecka allénPublic affairs

Manager

Any leads the IMCforum and helps manage WfA’s flagship CMOforum and events, including Global marketer Week. A french national of Chinese origin, she worked on the agency side in Paris for five years before joining WfA.

any ungSenior Manager

Marketing ServicesNatalia is focused on delivering remote knowledge exchange to members and looks after WfA’s regional meetings in Latin America. Before WfA, she worked at millwardBrown and Henkel. A Colombian national, she holds an International marketing master’s Degree.

natalia EcheverriKnowledge Manager

Agnieszka leads the alcohol workstream and covers horizontal public affairs files, including the European Audiovisual media Services Directive. A graduate from Sciences Po Paris, she was previously at Pernod ricard and worked for the french Business Confederation.

agnieszka KatnerSenior Manager

Public affairsCatherine leads the Digital Governance Exchange, WfA’s forum for senior legal and digital marketing governance specialists. A graduate from oxford and Sciences Po Paris, she joined the WfA from fleishmanHillard, where she worked on data protection, e-commerce and digital policy.

Catherine armitageSenior Manager

Public affairs

Axel’s work primarily focuses on initiatives such as the Coalition for Better Ads and Value of Advertising. With Agnieszka, he also looks after Policy Action Group. He previously worked for the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance and has a masters in international relations.

axel debryPublic affairs

ManagerCamelia works on communications, coordinates media Smart World and manages the WfA network of national advertiser associations. She has previously worked on the consultancy side in Bucharest and Brussels and as communications adviser in the European Parliament.

Camelia CristacheCommunications

ManagerLaura supports the team in implementing WfA’s internal and external communications plan and manages WfA’s social media presence. Combining Belgian and Philippine nationality, she holds a master’s Degree in New media and speaks English, filipino and Dutch.

Laura Baeyens Junior Communications

Manager

A Belgian national, Karine has been the first point of contact for WfA members for many years. She oversees the back office, the everyday running of the secretariat, personnel and finances and works in tandem with Theresa on administrative issues.

Karine Lesuisse Office

ManagerTheresa is in charge of the logistics for WfA meetings and events, including Global marketer Week, and supports Karine in running the office. A German national, she speaks German, Dutch, English and french.

theresa ruess Member relations & Event Coordinator

Stéphane manages WfA’s database, critical for ensuring the delivery of quality services to members. He holds a degree in Visual Communication and was previously with a company specialised in the development and production of indoor and outdoor branding solutions.

Stéphane arnhemdatabase Manager

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raC now brings together over 900 people globally who have a direct stake in the sensitive issue of marketing and children. the network is almost 400 strong in Europe, over 150 of whom came to our quarterly meetings in Brussels to address the issues of highest priority to brand owners.

Top of the priorities in 2016 has been the ongoing revision of the Eu Audiovisual media Services Directive. rAC focused much of its work around understanding what is at stake for marketing and children and engaging the right policy-makers to ensure its voice was heard and heeded in the policy debates.

In parallel, the group has taken the lead in promoting initiatives which seek to ensure that commercial communications reflect societal concerns about children, such as the Eu Pledge, which limits the impact on children of certain food marketing, and media Smart, which aims to equip children with the skills to be discerning when faced with brand communications.

The group has also been sensitive to ensuring that members are respecting fast-changing societal expectations around privacy. on data collection, rAC engaged academics working on research commissioned by policy-makers and Insafe, a European network promoting safer and better usage of the internet.

uNICEf has been prioritising the issue of marketing and how brands should seek to ensure that they protect and safeguard children’s rights. uNICEf’s focus is on food marketing, digital marketing and privacy issues and identifying what kind of brand presence would be legitimate in schools. rAC is in the process of facilitating an ongoing exchange with a view to driving consensus on best practice in these areas.

rAC’s role is also to spot emerging issues in order to help brands future-proof their ability to communicate. The group heard from ebiquity to get insight into how kids are served ads online, realEyes on evolving market research techniques and the secretariat helped professionals understand the implications of marketing platforms such as Snapchat, EvanTube, Ar & Vr and connected toys.

Certain sectors continue to face major threats to their ability to communicate with consumers, such as food, alcohol, energy drinks and toys. the industry at large faces horizontal challenges in relation to digital with privacy concerns being prioritised by policy-makers globally. the broader advertising ecosystem faces an existential threat in the form of adblocking.

Indeed, the increase in adblocking continues apace. WfA has embraced this challenge as an opportunity to improve the online advertising experience. This is the goal of the Coalition for Better Ads, a global industry-wide initiative co-founded by WfA and launched in September.

As part of the European Commission’s Digital Agenda, the Digital Single market Strategy looked to maximise the potential of the digital economy. The Commission seeks to optimise regulation and holds the keys to a potentially enhanced recognition for the role of self- and co-regulation in the digital environment.

The General Data Protection regulation officially came into force in may and will have a substantial impact on how marketers collect and use data, not just in Europe but around the world. Brands now face a crucial 18-month implementation period.

The process to revise the Audiovisual media Services Directive, the main Eu law governing advertising on TV and online video services, was the number one focus for brand owners in 2016. The European institutions are debating on how to keep the regulation relevant as media consumption patterns continue to evolve and new services are offered.

The effectiveness of industry programmes to ensure responsible advertising practices, such as the Eu Pledge and responsible marketing Pact, will be key to warding off the more disproportionate calls for regulation proposed by an increasing number of activists and policy-makers.

responsible advertising and Children Programme

Policy action Group

Public affairsGroups

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In 2016 the concept of digital governance continued to grow in importance within many brands. Previously, good governance was perceived by many as the domain of the risk-averse ‘naysayers.’ now, it is being increasingly recognised as a key enabler of progress, allowing companies to embrace technologies more rapidly.

This is of particular importance in light of the speed in which digital innovation is occurring and the increasing inability of traditional legislation to keep up. In this relatively unchartered environment, the ability for brands to exchange risk mitigation practices with peers across critical areas – from data management to IP challenges when crowdsourcing content – becomes very valuable. Some of the recurring themes in our 2016 meetings included:

Consumer vs. compliance: the inability of policy to govern rapidly-evolving developments has resulted in situations where a brand can easily be legally compliant without being aligned with consumers’ expectations. Discussions around how brands can effectively secure sustainable data flows have repeatedly highlighted the need to look beyond compliance in order to strengthen relationships with consumers.

Privacy & data protection: data protection has been high on the agenda following the adoption of new, stricter privacy rules in Europe. Discussions focused on what the new regime will mean for the relationships between brands and their consumers. Whilst many brands want to get closer to their consumers, the new rules will push marketers to be more creative in how they communicate complex privacy policies and terms and conditions in an understandable and transparent way.

Control vs. creativity: the number of risks presented by the online ecosystem has led many brands to implement robust governance standards across their operations. However, these standards must have sufficient flexibility to allow marketers the freedom to remain creative and dynamic. Strategies relating to digital security and copy approval processes have demonstrated the need to balance risk and commercial considerations.

there is increasing pressure on alcohol producers in light of marketing’s perceived role in encouraging underage consumption.

The responsible marketing Pact (rmP) is the industry’s flagship response to this challenge and focuses on three core areas.

firstly, it addresses advertising placement by using common controls to ensure that ads are only placed in media where the audience is composed of at least 70% adults over the legal drinking age. Secondly, it identifies a ‘standard alcohol profile’ on social networks to limit minors’ access to brand communications. finally, it ensures, through a blacklist of creative features, that ads don’t primarily appeal to minors.

2016 was the first year in which the independent monitoring exercise was carried out on the three pillars. The commitment on advertising content was assessed by the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA) and national self-regulatory organisations (Sros) who found 83% compliance. This is an encouraging start but more clearly needs to be done to ensure that alcohol advertising is not primarily appealing to minors.

The two other rmP pillars – on placement and social media – are being monitored together with the corresponding commitments of the International Alliance for responsible Drinking (IArD) by ebiquity and EASA.

The World Health organization and the wider health community are equally concerned about alcohol advertising in digital media. In order to respond to these growing concerns, WfA took part in “Protecting underage through responsible Alcohol marketing,” an event organised in the margins of the World Health Assembly by IArD.

finally, the revision of the Eu Audiovisual media Services Directive harbours the possibility of strict Eu wide controls on alcohol marketing. The group is playing a lead role in representing the rmP as a meaningful and effective component of the policy mix in this context.

more at wfanet.org/ar2016

digital Governance Exchange

alcohol Marketing

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responsible Marketing Pact2016 was the first year during which the official, independent monitoring exercise was carried out on the three pillars of the programme. All results will be made public.

audiovisual Media Services directive revisedThe Eu institutions are debating a proposal on how to keep the main law governing advertising on TV and online video services (AVmSD) relevant as media consumption patterns continue to change and new services are offered. for WfA, this is an opportunity to promote ad standards as a meaningful and effective component of the policy mix.

Improving the online ad experienceLeading international actors involved in online media join forces to improve consumers’ experience with online advertising. The Coalition for Better Ads will use consumer insights and cross-industry expertise to develop and implement new global standards for online advertising.

member-led meetings.

Engagement with WhO, OECd, unICEF, European institutions.

WfA working groups connecting 1k+ legal, public affairs and privacy professionals.

Local engagement in more than 30 markets to develop industry programmes in the face of potential statutory controls.

2016 Public affairs highlights

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alcohol compliance monitoringTwo global monitoring exercises launched in collaboration with the International Alliance for responsible Drinking (IArD) to assess compliance with the Digital Guiding Principles and the 70/30 rule on online media.

Effective food marketing self-regulationWfA was instrumental in driving the adoption by IfBA members of a strengthened IfBA policy on marketing to children. The enhanced commitment forms the basis for local food marketing pledges, which the industry has now launched in 52 countries.

Eu PledgeEu Pledge launches implementation guidelines, announces more stringent criteria across some categories and a new mechanism to increase transparency and accountability.

data ProtectionThe Eu General Data Protection regulation officially came into force in may and will have a substantial impact on how marketers collect and use data, not just in Europe but around the world.

advertising generates €7 in GdP for every €1 spentValue of Advertising, an independent study commissioned to Deloitte by WfA and industry partners, is the first-ever Eu-wide report to assess the economic and social contribution of advertising. The study found that advertising contributed nearly 6m jobs across the Eu and 4.6% of total GDP. more at www.valueofadvertising.org.

Advertising funds

Globally, advertising accounts for

EACH EURO INVESTED BY BRANDS IN ADVERTISING

ADVERTISING

FUELS GDP5.8

MILLIONJOBS IN EU

2.6% OF ALL EUEMPLOYMENT

ADVERTISING creates jobS

Internet services

TELEVISIONREVENUES

Advertising provides high-quality jobs

...so that these can be enjoyed for free or at a reduced rate

VALUE ADVERTISINGOF

PERSONALMAIL

SEARCH ANDSOCIAL MEDIAWEBSITES

SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS ARE ACCESSED BYALL SEGMENTS OFTHE POPULATION

valueofadvertising.org #AdsMatter

AS DEFINEDBY OECDSUPPORTS

COMPETITION BYdrivesinnovation BYINCENTIVISINGBUSINESSES TOOUTPERFORMCOMPETITORS

CREATINGDIFFERENTIATEDPRODUCTS ANDSERVICES

INCREASING CHOICE

CAN GENERATE UP TO7 EUROS

OF GDP IN THE EU ECONOMY

JOBS DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN THE PRODUCTIONOF ADVERTISING

JOBS ENABLED IN THE MEDIA AND ONLINE SERVICES due to advertising (e.g. journalists or content producers)

JOBS CREATED IN THE WIDER ECONOMY due to the economic activity driven by advertising

MEDIA & ADVERTISING SECTOR 34 000

WHOLE EU ECONOMY

22 000

INFORMINGCONSUMERS

RADIOREVENUES

40%

OF EU CITIZENS REGULARLY USEE-MAIL SERVICES

Advertising

media internet services

75% 75%

Funded by:

A research by:

AVERAGEGROSS

INCOMEIN THE EU

17

The Global marketer Conference co-hosted by WfA and the malaysian Advertisers Association (mAA) was the centrepiece of the week, with some of the biggest names in marketing sharing insights into how they have built their brands in South-East Asia and globally.

AirAsia CEo and malaysia’s most famous entrepreneur, Tony fernandes, gave the keynote speech and told the story of building a world-beating brand based on genuine consumer insight and human understanding.

The highest-rated speaker from Global marketer Week in Sydney, BrainJuicer CEo John Kearon, then unveiled a unique global study on the future of the marketing insight function.

WfA also held an ASEAN Accelerator panel to discuss the potential of marketing in South East Asia.

Suresh Balaji, HSBC’s APAC Head of marketing, Smita Gupta, TATA Communications’ marketing Director in APAC, miguel de Andrés, Google’s Creative Head of Technology in APAC, ranga Somanathan, Starcom/mediaVest’s Coo in South East Asia and WfA’s marketing Director for Asia, ranji David, offered their perspectives.

James Temple, SVP, managing Director, Executive Creative Director EmEA at r/GA, shared his experiences on how brands and agencies can accelerate innovation. mondelēz’s maria mujica shared the story

of fly fearless, a culmination of many experiments of working with agencies around the globe.

David Wheldon, rBS Cmo and WfA President, closed the conference with a State of the union address and a word of advice to brand owners.

“Brands need to act and think like people,” he said. “In my experience, the people I’ve most admired have a number of traits in common. They are passionate and entertaining, they have a point of view, they show empathy, they are open and transparent in their dealings.

“most importantly, you know you can trust them. The successful brands of the future will be those that most effectively embrace these characteristics. These attributes will govern not only how brands communicate and serve their customers. In an increasingly open and transparent world, they will also be the yardstick by which successful corporations will be judged.”

The Global marketer Week also played host to internal meetings including the Executive Committee meeting, the Annual General meeting and the National Associations Council (NAC), which focused on membership growth strategies with insight-driven sessions led by heads of WfA’s national advertiser associations.

Following on from Beijing, new York, Sydney and Marrakech, Kuala Lumpur played host in March to WFa’s global event for multinational marketers. Global Marketer Week was an unmissable four days of inspiration, discovery and learning, bringing together hundreds of the world’s top marketers and thought-leaders at WFa’s first-ever GMW in South-East asia.

ASEAN Accelerator panel

ASEAN Accelerator panel

Global Marketer Week

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

18

maria mujica

John KearonTony fernandes

James Temple David Wheldon

19

Project reconnect is WfA’s effort to develop a better understanding of what people want and expect from brands. This requires listening, dialogue and change.

Building on previous research with We Are Social on what makes for great brand marketing in the digital world and after looking at the flipside of the coin – what turns people off ads – in 2016, we set out to show how great brand marketing puts people first and how delivering meaningful and valued brand experiences pays dividends.

In march 2016 in Kuala Lumpur a session was led by Karmarama’s Executive Chairman Jon Wilkins alongside Will Sansom, Director of Content and Strategy at Contagious Insider.

Entitled “People Inc.”, the session also brought together a panel of industry experts to share their own experiences and insight on how to foster the best possible conditions for great work to flourish and nurture talent; how to work with other functions internally and get the most out of working with agency

partners; and how to innovate and look beyond the organisation for inspiration and talent.

In 2016, we continued working with marketing Week in the uK and Campaign APAC to identify great brand stories that can inspire marketers. Some of the biggest names in the industry, including Cmos from unilever, Visa, Heineken, rBS and mastercard shared their views on why and how brands need to adapt to what increasingly aspirational and demanding consumers expect: to stand for something more, provide experiences and address the world’s problems.

Their brand stories and more can be found at www.project-reconnect.com

We have all found ads at some point to be annoying, even intrusive. Worse, advertising is often blamed for some of society’s most intractable problems. Some like to point the finger at marketers for online privacy issues, childhood obesity, alcohol misuse, financial debt and for promoting unsustainable behaviours.

Jon Wilkins Project reconnect panel Will Sansom

Project reconnect

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

“If a brand considers consumer-centricity disruptive, it deserves to be disrupted”

Will Sansom, Contagious Insider

20

WFa held its 14th annual regional LataM meeting in Colombia, back to back with “Cartagena Inspira,” Latin america’s showpiece event for communication, creativity and innovation.

Co-hosted with ANDA Colombia on 27-28 September, the event brought together in Cartagena regional marketers and public affairs professionals, as well as WfA’s advertiser associations in Colombia, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Guatemala, Paraguay and Spain.

The meetings tackled some key topics for public affairs professionals, such as responsible food marketing, marketing to children and ad blocking, while the

marketing sessions centred on ad fraud, internal capabilities and working with start-ups. A focus was also given to audience measurement, data privacy and the latest trends in advertising.

The two-day event was chaired by WfA’s Vice-President for Latin America and Grupo Bimbo’s Senior Vice-President of marketing, Javier medrano. The 2017 meetings will be co-hosted with the National Advertiser Association of Paraguay (CAP) in Asunción, on 26-27 September.

Latin americanregional Meeting 2016

Cartagena

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(All figures in euro) Budget 2016 realised 2016

Income 3,536,479,00 3,742,791.05 revenues from associations 410,000,00 434,324.60 revenues from corporate members 2,120,000.00 2,158,164.51 New members 150,000.00 200,194.89 revenues from rmP 246,479.00 246,480.00 revenues from IArD 190,000.00 230,000.00 revenues from IfBA 275,000.00 275,000.00 revenues Sponsorship Conference 40,000.00 45,600.00 Strategic Partners 85,000.00 135,000.00 other revenues 5,000.00 0.00 Discount (early payment) -5,000.00 0.00 financial profit 20,000.00 18,027.05

Expenses 3,535,210.00 3,741,538.93 Personnel & consultants 2,588,000.00 2,478,308.11 operating costs 962,000.00 1,103,834.01 Conference & General Assembly 120,000.00 144,154.93 rmP Costs 96,000.00 96,050.00 Strategic Projects 25,000.00 249,981.88 Provision for recruitment plan 75,000.00 0.00 reinstatement Provision Strategic Projects -320,000.00 -320,000.00 reinstatement Provision for rent Compensation -10,790.00 -10,790.00 total revenues 3,536,479.00 3,742,791.05total expenses 3,535,210.00 3,741,538.93Final result 1,269.00 1,252.12

FinancialStatement 2016

22

registered auditor’s report for the year ended december 31, 2016to the Board of directors of the World Federation of advertisers

We report to you in the context of our appointment as the association’s registered auditor. This report includes our opinion on the financial statements, as well as the required additional statements. The financial statements include the balance sheet as at December 31, 2016 and the income statement for the year then ended.

report on the financial statements – unqualified opinion

We have audited the financial statements of the World federation of Advertisers for the year ended December 31, 2016, which show a balance sheet total of €4,806,803 and a profit for the year of €1,252.

Responsibility of the Board of Directors for the preparation of the financial statements

The Board of Directors is responsible for the preparation of financial statements that give a true and fair view in accordance with the financial reporting framework applicable in Belgium, and for such internal control, as the Board of Directors determines, is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

Responsibility of the registered auditor our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with the International Standards on Auditing (ISAs). Those standards require that we comply with the ethical requirements and plan and perform the control to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement.

An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The procedures selected depend on the registered auditor’s judgment, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the registered auditor considers the association’s internal control relevant to the preparation of financial statements that give a true and fair view, in order to design control procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s internal control. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of valuation rules used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by the Board of Directors, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements.

We have obtained from the Board of Directors and association officials the explanations and information necessary for our audit. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Unqualified opinion

In our opinion, the financial statements of the World federation of Advertisers give a true and fair view of the association’s equity and financial position as at December, 31, 2016, and of the results of its operations for the year then ended, in accordance with the financial reporting framework applicable in Belgium.

auditor’sreport

Lasne, february 14, 2017michel WEBEr, reviseur d’entreprises

registered auditor

23

Marketing & Public affairs contacts engaged

6k+ attended by450+ marketers in South East Asia

the WFa team10 nationalities, 15 languages spoken:

Soo-uh Sdaai!Hello! Hallo! Hallå!Привет!Bună!¡Hola!Dag!Bonjour! Hujambo!Dzień dobry! Kamusta! Nín h o!Ciao!moi!

Belgium france uk The Netherlands Luxembourg Italy Spain Germ

any Switzerland romania Slovakia Turkey India uAE Singapore

malays

ia H

ong

Kong

Chi

na C

ambo

dia C

olombia Peru Brazil uSA

Meetings in30 countries

80+WFa

meetings

averagemeetingattendance29

• WFaforum in Dubai• CMOforum in Hong Kong• InSIGhtforum in Singapore• CdOforum in Hong Kong

First

in corporate membership to 87 companies

12% growth

Used by 82% of members

marketingbenchmarks

100+

WFa worked with16 industry sectors

2016 in numbers

24






Annual Report2016