WFA President’s Awards recognise exceptional industry initiatives around the world

WFA President and Mastercard Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Raja Rajamannar, has rewarded five outstanding industry initiatives around the world as well as handing out one special award at an awards ceremony held during WFA Global Marketer Week in Athens on April 7.

Launched in 2010, the annual President’s Awards recognise initiatives run by national industry associations that have helped advance the marketer’s agenda and contribute to positive change in the marketing industry and society. Submissions were judged on being able to compellingly demonstrate that they had made a measurable impact and could be replicated in other markets.

This year’s winners were selected from 24 initiatives submitted by 14 associations from WFA’s sixty strong membership of national industry associations.

The winners are:

UBA, Belgium: UBA Academy relaunches with 24/7 Academy and Digital Bootcamp - UBA reinvented its long-running training programme and launched UBA Academy 24/7, which features eLearning videos with industry experts who cover the fundamentals of marcomms including on Insights, Strategy, Data & Technology, Content, Media and eCommerce. The association also developed a Digital Bootcamp which combines both on-site and online training. The new services aim to fill the training gap at local level and make learning more accessible and up-to-date with industry developments and trends.

ANDA, Colombia: Responsible Commercial Communication Footprint - With the support of Deloitte, ANDA Colombia launched the Responsible Commercial Communication Footprint, a measurement tool that lets advertisers evaluate, align and effectively implement their commitments and policies around responsible advertising, including on sustainability, gender equality and transparency and safety in the digital ecosystem. The tool allows companies to assess their responsible advertising strategies against eight core principles.

MSK, Kenya: Mentorship Program: Access to professional mentorship and coaching - MSK worked with Prosper Mentor, a digital mentorship company, to launch a personalised mentorship program for marketing professionals and university students across Kenya. This unique partnership provides MSK members with access to career and personal growth mentorship from Prosper Mentor’s portfolio of more than 100 experienced, diverse, multisector, multinational and cross-generational Fortune 1000 industry leaders.

Sveriges Annonsörer, Sweden: The Effectiveness System - As part of its Effectiveness initiative, Sveriges Annonsörer launched the Effectiveness System – the first Swedish industry standard that shows how to define, explain and measure effectiveness and demonstrate the connection between marketing and profitable growth. It features 36 key performance indicators in six areas: media/investments, digital metrics, campaign metrics, brand metrics, financial metrics and relationship metrics.

ISBA, UK: Ad Net Zero - Ad Net Zero is an industry-wide drive developed by ISBA, the Advertising Association,  and the IPA to reduce the carbon impact of developing, producing and running advertising to real net zero by the end of 2030. It has grown to over 100 supporters including brands, agencies, media owners and tech platforms. A carbon calculator was launched enabling advertisers to measure and affect emissions, a qualification has been created to help industry professionals understand the climate crisis and a Global Summit was held during COP26 to discuss the role of the ad industry.

A special award was also given to ABA for adapting the GARM Brand Safety Floor & Suitability Framework for Brazil. By localising the framework, the ABA brought best practice in combatting harmful content online to one of the biggest ad markets in the world, demonstrating advertisers’ role of bringing about positive change to the digital ecosystem and society. It was supported by Google, Meta and Twitter.

“While there is much focus on the work that we do on a global level, powerful local initiatives inspire us to translate those goals into meaningful action across a much broader advertiser base," said Raja Rajamannar, WFA President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer of Mastercard. "These initiatives are facilitating better marketing, that is better for brands, better for society and better for the planet. Congratulations to all the teams behind these outstanding initiatives; you are helping the industry achieve positive change.”

More about the WFA President’s Awards here. Photos from the awards ceremony here.