Posts Tagged ‘iab’

Membership Has Its Privileges

Friday, February 13th, 2009

petermarinello.jpg As some of you may be aware, the National Advertising Review Council (NARC) recently announced a board expansion to include representatives from the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA), the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). These associations now join the flagship members of the NARC Board, namely: the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA), the American Advertising Federation (AAF) and the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB).

The expansion of the board is an unprecedented step in the history of advertising self-regulation and represents the board’s first move in this direction since NARC was founded in 1971. Last year I had the good fortune of being part of a NARC Strategic Planning Committee along with ERA’s Bill McClellan, NARC President Lee Peeler, his predecessor Jim Guthrie, among others, and we were able to persuade the NARC Board of the significance of ERA’s voice in the advertising industry and its importance in being “ahead of the curve” in identifying the pivotal issues facing the industry. The NARC Board sets policies and procedures for advertising industry self-regulation, and ERA’s well deserved addition recognizes the association’s longstanding support of self-regulation and the expertise that they bring to addressing the challenges of self-regulation.

As if I haven’t used my allowed allotment of acronyms already, this may be a great time to reacquaint everyone with where the Electronic Retailing Self-Regulation Program (ERSP) comes from and what we do. In 1971 ANA, AAAA, AAF formed an alliance with the CBBB to create an independent self-regulatory body, NARC. To ensure the credibility and impartiality of the self-regulation system, the advertising review process was set up to operate under the administrative purview of the CBBB. In 2004, the ERA and NARC partnered to form ERSP, and the recent expansion of the board to include Ms. Coons further solidifies this relationship.

ERSP’s mission is to enhance consumer confidence in electronic retailing by providing a quick and effective mechanism for resolving inquiries regarding the truthfulness and accuracy of claims in direct response advertising. ERSP inquiries originate from competitor challenges, consumer complaints and ERSP’s ongoing monitoring program. To date, companies working with ERSP have modified or discontinued nearly two hundred advertisements in an effort to foster more accurate product information to consumers. ERSP is a recognized example of how industry self-regulation can improve industry standards and the consumer experience, a benefit for all parties involved.

By expanding the NARC Board to include ERA, its members are now going to be ensured an advocate within the advertising community at large, and will be part of the discussion on the future of advertising regulation. So with the heartiest of welcomes, we applaud ERA’s appointment to the NARC Board, which means that this organization now literally has a seat at the table and its rightful place amongst the advertising industry at large.

Peter Marinello works for the National Advertising Review Council and spearheads ERSP.

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Posted in Advertising, Direct Response, ERA, Government Affairs, Infomercials, Marketer, Online, Research, Retailer | No Comments »

ERA’s Julie Coons Joins NARC Board

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

julie-coons.gif WASHINGTON—On the cusp of the Electronic Retailing Association’s (ERA) self-regulation program (ERSP) completing its 200th case and a DRTV spot playing during the Super Bowl, ERA president and CEO, Julie Coons, has been named to The National Advertising Review Council’s (NARC) Board. Coons, who was brought on the board simultaneously with DMA CEO John Greco and IAB CEO Randall Rothenberg, recognizes that the perfect storm of the wary economy, the Obama administration and the broader acceptance of direct response marketing all played a significant role in the updated board appointments.

“The convergence of the decision by NARC to welcome ERA to the board and the economic conditions and the continuing evolution of this industry is incredibly synergistic. It gives us an opportunity as an industry to work more closely with the well established organizations representing the advertising community, which will definitely increase our prominence both with the government and industry players alike,” says Coons.

The Better Business Bureau, NARC and various associations are eagerly waiting to see how the recent changes in Washington will affect advertising regulation, which up this point has been widely self-regulated. “We must be vigilant to see what changes are made at the top, particularly with the FTC. We need to be vigilant in this era in which there’s clearly going to be a focus on greater business regulation, but we do have a very good track record. I am not overly worried today, but again, we must be very vigilant to ensure that these new policy makers and appointees understand the tremendous success of ERA’s self-regulation program,” says Coons. Currently, ERA’s ERSP program independently reviews direct response advertising claims and then refers cases to the FTC when its recommendations are not acted upon.

Coons is eager and excited about ERA’s newly positioned role and believes that in the end it will be a major win for the consumer who can expect a greater level of comfort in remote transactions. “This is a result of the electronic retailing industry working with NARC and pursuing a dialogue with them about the changing landscape of reaching the consumer. To their great credit, it also serves as a recognition on NARC’s part that electronic retailers are a very important marketing channel and should be appropriately represented to ensure consumers are protected against false claims,” she says. Coons sees her role as ensuring that the direct marketing industry has an equal voice within the advertising community. For more information on ERA or its government affairs initiatives, please click here.

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Posted in Advertising, Direct Response, ERA, Government Affairs, Infomercials, Marketer, Retailer | 1 Comment »