WFA Charter 3.0 calls for transparent media ecosystem
By Felicia Nwosu
Following the immense progress made in achieving brand safety and measurement in its previous charters, the World Federation of Advertisers Charter 3.0 has identified competition, partnership, society, accountability, responsibility, sustainability, plurality, and people as some of the key areas that advertisers need to pay more attention to. This, the body noted, will enable them to sustain the momentum in the media ecosystem.
The new WFA Media Charter urged advertisers to reflect and confront some of these major challenges identified to be rearing their ugly heads negatively on the advertising ecosystem globally in 2023. The Charter therefore identified five key themes where focus is needed to unlock concerns and grow the ecosystem. These include Competition and Plurality, Measurement and Accountability, Responsibility and Society, Sustainability and Planet, People and Partners, while noting that the revised Global Media Charter encourages media leaders to reflect on their role, business decisions, and their upstream and downstream impacts.
WFA, therefore, reaffirmed that it is committed to ensuring that the Global Media Charter 3.0 takes a wider lens on the industry than its predecessor by ensuring that the document gives media leaders the strategic platform to ensure that their corporate responsibility agenda is represented in the media decisions made, platforms invested in and partners selected.
“The Charter reflects on market structures and the importance of a competitive market for innovation and growth in digital search, display, video and commerce. The document encourages advertisers to support a plurality of competitors in the pursuit of customer-focused innovation. This includes bringing media into wider supplier diversity initiatives and targets.
Meanwhile, Stephan Loerke, CEO, WFA, affirmed that these initiatives have shown considerable success. GARM has been effective at creating new voluntary standards in brand safety.
“It’s hard to overstate how important the Media Charter has been for WFA. The 2018 Charter acknowledged that, perhaps more than ever before, the ad-funded internet was having a profound impact upon human behaviour, upon society, upon politics and while it’s not yet ‘mission accomplished’ on many of the issues flagged in the Media Charter 2.0, there has been progress. In 2023 clients are facing a new wave of challenges and concerns, including the climate challenge and the rise of AI so we need to kick start a new programme of governance with global industry leaders from the advertiser, agency, technology and media owner,” he said.
He further stated that when t it comes to sustainability, advertisers are looking for the whole ecosystem to work together to create efficiencies, by way of a global approach for carbon calculation models.
“This will allow brands to better balance their respective media planning and buying choices with a view to reducing CO2 emissions for the benefit of the climate and a green economy. The Charter sets out the need for uncommon collaboration to provide for ways to solve this challenge, and the WFA’s GARM are already beginning work with Ad Net Zero in this pursuit. The previous Charter from 2018 has been responsible for catalysts in the advertising ecosystem including the creation of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) and a cross-industry consortium (Halo) that was established to build client-centric and future facing measurement infrastructure,” he said.
The new Charter has been developed by the WFA’s Media Board to align advertiser’s vision with the media ecosystem, and it features global media leaders and association leaders from companies, including AB InBev, ANA (US), Beam Suntory, Danone, Diageo, Goldman Sachs, Haleon, ISBA (UK), Jacobs Douwe Egberts, L’Oreal, Lipton Teas & Infusions, LVMH, Nestle, P&G, PepsiCo, Reckitt and Unilever. The Charter has also been backed by the whole membership.
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