WFA considers name change

The World Federation of Advertisers has been asked by its Executive Committee to consider a name change given that ‘advertisers’ is perceived as outdated and only represents a part of marketers’ current remit. As a non-for-profit, ‘owned’ by its members, it is asking its members for feedback on the idea.

WFA was founded in 1953 in Stresa, Italy as the International Union of Advertiser Associations by nine national advertiser associations from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, India, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland. In 1984 at Global Marketer Week in Rio de Janeiro, it was renamed the World Federation of Advertisers and started taking corporate members into direct membership.

As the roles and responsibilities of the modern marketer have grown, the term “advertisers” has come to be considered limited and outmoded. The organisation’s Executive Committee has therefore turned to its national advertisers in 60 countries and 120 corporate members  to gauge their sentiment as to a renaming and potential rebrand.

The organisation is taking a three-step consultation process. Firstly, it will be asking the views of its global membership. Secondly, it is working with crowd-sourcing experts, Been There Done That, to draw inspiration from the global marketer community. Finally, it is working closely with the organisation’s staff to map out all options.

“For a number of years, senior marketing leaders have been questioning the continued relevance of the term ‘advertisers’. Changing our name is not something we take lightly not least as the brand WFA has grown globally. But as a membership-driven organisation, we feel it’s right to consult those our most important constituents about the organisations’ future direction,” said WFA CEO, Stephan Loerke.

Members are asked to send their all thoughts and feedback to name@wfanet.org by the end of February 2020. In the meantime, WFA will work with Been There Done That for inspiration and internally the WFA team will explore renaming options. The conclusions of the process will be presented to the WFA Executive Committee on 30 March then ratified at the Annual General Meeting at the occasion of Global Marketer Week in Singapore in March.