Our history

In 1953, Count Metello Rossi di Montelera, then President of the Italian Advertisers Association and a figure synonymous with the Martini-Rossi legacy, brought together eight national advertiser associations in Stresa, Italy.  

The meeting resulted in the Stresa Resolution and gave birth to the International Union of Advertisers Associations (IUAA). 

The IUAA’s founding mandate was to address three challenges that remain at the heart of marketing today: responsible advertising, reliable audience measurement and transparency across the media ecosystem.  

In 1984 at its Annual General Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, the organisation took a defining step forward, opening its membership to multinational companies, reflecting the increasingly borderless reality of modern marketing. The IUAA became WFA. 

As marketing has become increasingly global over the past five decades, WFA has evolved, fostering collaboration and helping advertisers navigate a rapidly changing media, policy and technology landscape.  

Today, WFA brings together more than 150 multinational brands and 60 national advertiser associations, representing a global network of over 12,000 senior marketing and policy professionals. 

Explore the timeline below to discover the milestones that have shaped WFA into today’s standout global network for senior marketers.