Polish Organisation of Advertisers launched

The Polish Organisation of Advertisers (Polska Organizacja Reklamodawców - POR) has been officially launched in November with the support of WFA, creating a new and powerful voice for the interests of brand marketers in Poland and central Europe.

Total annual ad spend in Poland is $3.7 billion, making it one of the largest markets in the world without a local advertiser association, until now. POR joins WFA's global network of national industry associations spread across more than 60 countries.

The creation of POR has been realised thanks to the determination of marketers, driven by Anna Dzierzędzka, Connections & Media Planning Director CE at PepsiCo, and Aleksandra Gawlas, Marketing Director at Henkel Consumer Brands. Prior to this, Rafal Szysz, CEO and Founder of STARS – a Polish marketing consultancy, has been advocating for establishing a local advertiser association for several years.

From left to right: Elżbieta Gorajewska (POR Managing Director), Anna Dzierzędzka (PepsiCo) and Małgorzata Lubelska (Kompania Piwowarska).

The Polish association appointed a management board in September, with Anna Dzierzędzka elected as its first president. She is joined by Aleksandra Gawlas, Barbara Pijanowska - Kuras (Credit Agricole), Katarzyna Skrzeczyńska (H&M) and Dariusz Maciołek (BNP Paribas) as board members. They also elected a supervisory board chaired by Małgorzata Lubelska (Kompania Piwowarska), with Marta Życińska (Mastercard), Donata Wolińska (LOreal), Magda Kosińska (Versuni) oraz Piotr Bobrycki (Dr Oetker) as board members.

Commenting on the launch, Anna said: “The establishment of POR has been eagerly awaited by the whole marketing industry. It will allow a strong voice for advertisers in Poland, which is such an important market in Europe. For me, it is a grat honour to contribute to the development of the marketing profession, introducing new standards and boosting effectiveness by being part of POR and also WFA.”

The organisation has also appointed Elżbieta Gorajewska as Managing Director. She has worked in the media industry for more than 30 years, including as Managing Director for Nielsen Audience Measurement in Poland.

Elżbieta said of her appointment: “I am proud to work for the newly established POR, which will foster a united voice of marketers that was sorely lacking in our market. Becoming a part of WFA enables us to draw on a global organisation’s know-how, network and resources, to champion the interests of advertisers in Poland.”

The POR founding companies are: PepsiCo, Henkel, L’Oreal, T-Mobile, AutoPay, Dr. Oetker, Visa, Mastercard, Wedel, Haleon, Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas, Asahibeer, Nestle, H&M, Mondelez and Versuni.

POR’s focus will be on marketing and media-related issues, including effectiveness, measurement and client-agency relations, as well as on working closely with other industry associations such as IAA, IAB Polska, Rada Reklamy and SAR.

Stephan Loerke, WFA CEO, said: “What makes WFA truly global is the national industry associations in our network, who champion and defend advertisers’ interests locally. We warmly welcome the launch of POR and look forward to working closely with them in promoting more effective and sustainable marketing. A huge congratulations to Anna, Aleksandra and Elzbieta for this important achievement.”

For more information on POR and how your company can become a member, please get in touch with Elżbieta Gorajewska at elzbieta.gorajewska@por.org.pl.