National industry associations from 29 countries gather in Athens

47 heads and representatives of 29 national industry associations from around the world gathered in Athens and remotely for the National Associations Council (NAC) meeting during Global Marketer Week 2022 in April. The meeting was divided into three sessions focused on sustainability around climate action, online safety and media measurement.

On climate action, Jean-Luc Chetrit and Sophie Roosen (Union des marques) presented on efforts to accelerate and promote more sustainable marketing communications in France including through the FAIRe Programme, while Phil Smith (ISBA) shared on the progress of the industry-wide Ad Net Zero initiative to help UK advertising reduce its carbon impact and respond to the climate crisis. WFA also gave updates on the Planet Pledge and how national association partners can drive local support and action.

On online safety, WFA gave an update on the work of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) and highlighted local activation efforts with national associations to improve online safety. Attendees then worked in teams to identify ideas and actions to address the challenges and needs of marketers locally. There was also a fireside chat with Samantha Stetson, VP Client Council and Industry Trade Relations at Meta, who shared on the platform’s work with GARM and discussed how to strengthen local collaboration between Meta and national associations.

On media measurement, WFA shared on the progress of the global cross-media measurement initiative to expedite the implementation of a new wave of solutions in different markets. Norman Wagner (OWM) and Phil Smith (ISBA) updated attendees on cross-media measurement efforts in Germany and the UK (‘Origin’), while Peter Mackhé (Sveriges Annonsörer) presented on efforts to develop industry standards and guidance in Sweden including through The Advertising Value Chain.

The 29 participating associations were AAI, Ireland; AANA, Australia; ABA, Brazil; ADVAN, Nigeria; AEA, Spain; ANFO, Norway; ANZA, New Zealand; APAN, Portugal; bvA, The Netherlands; CAA, Argentina; CANA, China; GAM, Morocco; HAA, Greece; ISA, India; ISBA, UK; JAA, Japan; MAA, Malaysia; Marketing Finland; MASA, South Africa; MAZ, Zimbabwe; OWM, Germany; PAS, Pakistan; RVD, Türkiye; 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 October 21 in Dublin, co-hosted by AAI. National associations in WFA membership can register for the meeting HERE.

Photos from the NAC meeting and Global Marketer Week in Athens can be viewed HERE. For more information and a copy of the presentations, please contact Laura.

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.