National industry associations from 25 countries gather in Istanbul

40 heads and representatives of 25 national industry associations from around the world gathered in Istanbul and remotely for the National Associations Council (NAC) meeting during Global Marketer Week 2023 in April.

Attendees discussed progress and next steps for global initiatives in collaboration with national associations around cross-media measurement, online safety and sustainability, and best practices in driving them locally to help marketers and the wider industry address these challenges.

On cross-media measurement, WFA, ISBA and Meta shared on the progress of ‘Halo’, an advertiser-led, multi-stakeholder framework to deliver on global and local advertisers’ demands for measurement solutions. Attendees were updated on pioneering pilots led by ISBA (Origin) in the UK and by the ANA in the US, and discussed best practice and considerations for other associations looking at this solution for their market.

On sustainability, WFA gave an update on environmental sustainability efforts and resources available to national associations, as well as the work of WFA’s D&I Task Force. Attendees discussed ideas and actions to address the challenges and needs of marketers locally when driving national association-led programmes on climate action and DEI and global industry initiatives such as Planet Pledge and the Global DEI Census.

On online safety, ABA (Brazil), ISBA and Sveriges Annonsörer (Sweden) who are part of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media to address harmful content on digital media platforms, shared best practices for local activation including how ABA mobilised the entire ad industry to support the local launch of the GARM Brand Safety + Suitability Framework in Brazil and how Sveriges Annonsörer along with Marketing Finland and DAOM (Denmark) launched GARM Nordic, the first regional offshoot of the global initiative. WFA also presented a toolkit for national associations that are looking to drive the GARM work locally.

The 25 participating associations were AAI, Ireland; AANA, Australia; ABA, Brazil; ADVAN, Nigeria; ANDA, Bolivia; ANFO, Norway; ANZA, New Zealand; APAN, Portugal; bvA, the Netherlands; DAOM, Denmark; GAM, Morocco; ISA, India; ISBA, UK; Marketing Finland; MASA, South Africa; OWM, Germany; PAS, Pakistan; RVD, Türkiye; SDE, Greece; Sveriges Annonsörer, Sweden; SWA-ASA, Switzerland; SZZV, Slovakia; TULI, Estonia; UBA, Belgium; and Union des marques, France.

The next in-person NAC meeting will be held on September 29 in Helsinki, hosted by Marketing Finland. National associations in WFA membership can register for the meeting HERE.

Photos from the NAC meeting and Global Marketer Week in Istanbul can be viewed HERE. For more information on how your organisation can get involved in the industry initiatives mentioned above and to request a copy of the meeting minutes and presentations, visit the NAC hub or get in touch at NAC@wfanet.org.

About the National Associations Council

The National Associations Council (NAC) is the global forum for heads and representatives of WFA’s network of national industry associations in 60 countries. It offers a unique opportunity for national associations representing the common interests of marketers to learn from each other, collaborate and share ideas, insights and success stories. Find out more at wfanet.org/NAC.