WFA endorsement of the ICAS framework

By Stephan Loerke, CEO of WFA and Vice-President of ICAS –

Over almost a century the advertising industry has achieved a track record of setting high advertising standards in a growing number of countries and sectors, and it has worked closely with local advertising standards bodies which police and enforce the advertising standards independently.

This advertising self-regulatory system has been effective and WFA is proud that this system has been increasingly recognized by local governments, has been endorsed and encouraged in European legislation and has achieved global recognition by supranational bodies such as the UN, the OECD, and APEC. 

By supporting self-regulatory advertising standards our industry could ensure that consumers can trust the brands, their messages and the media carrying the ads. 

Self-regulation has been crucial to make sure we keep our own house in order by being responsible and by rapidly adapting to changes in advertising or media.

With the rapid shift in advertising expenditure to digital and online media with now well over half of the global advertising ad spent being online, it is absolutely essential that the big digital platforms become part of the advertising self-regulatory system. This is not only important for the future credibility and performance of ad standards but crucial for the general trust in the online advertising ecosystem at global level.

The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) strongly encourages the platforms to start working together with local advertising standards bodies in ICAS and EASA membership in all countries and fully supports the ICAS Framework for a sustainable partnership between platforms and SROs.