12 Point Growth Agenda

Advocacy & Self-Regulation

Summary

The industry’s backbone is strengthened by a robust self-regulatory system and strong advocacy/government relations programs. Our industry is superbly served by the Advertising Self-Regulation Council (ASRC) in mitigating competitive claims and stewarding responsible children’s advertising. The Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) puts the consumer in control for all behavioral advertising and oversees the industry’s privacy posture. CMOs should support the ANA’s government relations team to ensure that our industry is advanced, promoted, and protected against encumbering legislation emanating at the state and federal levels. The ANA’s most ardent challenges come from those seeking to tax marketing and media investments and to diminish free speech and information exchange.

However, the most important priority is in the area of privacy. Our industry was dealt a double blow in 2018 with the implementation of GDPR and the passage of adverse privacy legislation in California. The ANA is leading a coordinated industry response to pass national legislation and to remove the most onerous provisions in the California legislation. That group is called the Privacy Coalition.

A key industry management initiative for the ANA is The Coalition for Better Ads, focusing on bending downward the trajectory of ad blocking growth by generating and enforcing new standards aligned with optimum consumer experience.