2018, the year of...

We asked several heads of WFA national advertiser associations to reflect on the state of the marketing industry in 2018 and what the last twelve years stand out the most for.

‘The year we woke up again’

“Years of extreme digital growth have left us with ad fraud, poor brand safety, lack of transparency, issues with metrics and viewability, etc. After struggling with such challenges for years, marketers globally said enough is enough and launched the Global Media Charter. By acting globally, we can make the industry a better place.” (Jan Morten Drange, ANFO Norway)

"We worked really hard this year to foster transparency and trust in the advertising industry in Turkey. Being aware of the need for a more transparent and secure media environment especially in digital, RVD established GÜR (Safe Digital Advertising Platform) in late 2017. In September 2018, GÜR undersigned a cooperation agreement with the Trustworthy Accountability Group - TAG to lead the implementation of global standards in Turkey, to tackle ad fraud and to prevent invalid traffic and illegal practices.”  (Süreyya Deniz, RVD Turkey)

The year of techlash and digital backlash

“2018 was the year platform scandals followed one after the other, and advertisers have become more frustrated. According to a survey of advertisers in Japan, from next year onwards, they intend to invest more in TV and print advertising.” (Shinji Suzuki, JAA Japan)

“This year we began to realise the impact of the rush to digital ad spend on the funding of public media channels, and the risk that creates for maintaining open political debate and sustaining democracy.” (Lindsay Mouat, ANZA New Zealand)

The year marketers continued to push for a boardroom seat

“The marketing industry in 2018 has seen a push for the marketer to be involved at the board room level to be able to offer more strategic insight into the bottom line and key operations of the business. For the Marketing Society of Kenya, it was the year we rebuilt our brand, created new value propositions and member engagement platforms.” (Joel Karubiu, MSK Kenya)

The year of increased regulatory and economic pressures

“…especially towards the end of the year. This means that we need to reflect on our actions and how we need to gear ourselves for 2019! It also means that member organisations need to realise the need of working more closely and pro-actively with each other and with all stakeholders.” (Qamar Abbas, PAS Pakistan)

“In Greece, 2018 brought a new parafiscal tax of 2%, levied on digital spend by the Ministry of Labour! The tax was aiming at rescuing the health insurance and pensions institution of journalists and all other media employees.” (Nerina Komioti, SDE Greece)

The year of new European rules

“…such as the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, e-privacy, the General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR). It was also the year of cracking the online code with the global (and national) online media charter, as well as of unstereotyping advertising.” (Chris Van Roey, UBA Belgium)