Posts Tagged ‘narc’

2 ERA Members, ERSP Representative to Testify Before the Senate

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

pictureTomorrow, the Consumer Protection Subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing entitled “Advertising Trends and Consumer Protection.” The hearing will consider several issues in advertising, including the use of the word “free” and Endorsements and Testimonials. This is part of a broader reevaluation of the FTC’s powers and funding. An explanation of tomorrow’s hearing is really not complete without an explanation of last week’s hearing. Last week, from the first opening statement to adjournment, the hearing focused on testimony from consumer groups and emphasized that consumers are targeted by scams and needed additional protection from the FTC (P.S.- You can watch this hearing and kind of see me in the background on C-SPAN here). On a panel of four, a lone dissenter, Tim Muris, former FTC chairman, claimed that the FTC did not need a major expansion in order to effectively protect consumers.

In contrast, this week we have two ERA members testifying and one representative from the National Advertising Review Council (NARC), which administers the ERSP program (ERA’s independent self-regulatory program). We look forward to hearing some dynamic testimony from Guthy-Renker’s Greg Renker and Product Partners’ Jon Congdon. We worked hard to make sure our industry was represented and that this hearing would be more balanced than the last. We’re certain that Renker and Congdon will provide effective counterpoint claims that the FTC needs more authority on the testimonials issue. They can show that our industry is enthusiastic about creating an environment that protects consumers. They are our customers for Pete’s sake! They will also show how effective principled self-regulation is in promoting honest business practices.

For more information or to watch tomorrow’s hearing live or immediately upon completion, click here. (The video may not post until the conclusion of the hearing)

Follow me on Twitter for my live updates from the hearing: Tomi_ERA

Tomi Turner is ERA’s legislative manager.

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Posted in Advertising, Branding, Direct Response, ERA, Government Affairs, Infomercials, Marketer, Retailer, Social Networks, Video, drtv | 1 Comment »

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 »

Behavioral Tracking or Behavioral Stalking?

Wednesday, September 17th, 2008

leah.jpg Just when I thought social websites, such as Facebook, were attempting to provide a little more security by tweaking the adjustability of the privacy settings, I began to take note of the sponsored link ads that creep along the sides of my homepage and the pages of other unsuspecting users and wonder just how confidential my profile actually is.

Facebook knows my name, my sex, my educational background, my e-mail address and my face, literally. But just because I am a 21-year-old female does not mean I need to visit a website to meet a man, apparently of my dreams, or review a casino’s website with hopes to spend the wads of cash the typical college student has hidden under his or her dorm mattress. Should I take offense to the airbrushed images flashing on the screen promoting weight loss? Hmm, who knew simply taking a weight-loss supplement could make any girl centerfold worthy?

Is it ethical for a website to require such user information and then allow its users to be hounded with what advertisers deem relevant to our being based solely on keywords found scattered amongst our online identities? And it’s not just social networking websites. My e-mail accounts are being bombarded with sponsored links containing keywords evidently scouted out from my e-mails as well. Sure, we have the choice to sign up for such services, but should we not have to give consent for our online personalities to be analyzed and solicited?

I can accept search engines tracking my queries and on some level understand and appreciate the effort and help. Facebook and Gmail stalking my habits and statistics could be seen in some circles as abusing their rights to my personal information, and I don’t think I can get on board with it. I suggest a course of action be taken towards more privacy before many decide it may be time to defriend Facebook and put Gmail in the trash.

Leah Mitter is an intern with the Electronic Retailing Self-Regulation Program.

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Posted in Advertising, ERA, Government Affairs, Just for fun..., Marketer, Online, Research, Retailer, Social Networks | 1 Comment »