AANA launches AdWatch guide to community standards
The Australian Association of National Advertisers has launched AdWatch, an online guide for marketers on community standards in advertising.
The announcement:
In a further commitment to its members AANA today launched AdWatch – a one-stop web portal that provides real case
histories that illustrate evolving community standards, particularly around the portrayal of people, language, sex and
nudity, violence and health and safety in Australian advertising.AANA Acting CEO, Alina Bain said AdWatch will become a valuable, immediately accessible tool in the marketing arsenal for
advertisers explaining why public complaints have or haven’t been upheld by the ASB thereby making it easier for them to
comply with the code and with the AANA self regulatory system.“AANA has responsibility for developing and maintaining the self-regulatory system and defining what’s in and what’s out.
This system is underpinned by a concept of community standards which in themselves are not static. Adwatch will go a
long way to keeping marketers abreast of community expectations,” said acting AANA CEO, Alina Bain.The Codes are platform and technology neutral and apply to all marketing communications over which the brand owner
has reasonable control, irrespective of whether a payment has been made. They cover media such as television, radio,
newpapers, magazines, store posters, online and social media.“No matter where you’re advertising or who your audience is, AdWatch will ultimately serve as a learning device for
advertisers and become part and parcel of any induction process for new and junior marketers. It’ll be updated monthly to
reflect the most current thinking on community standards and to give guidance and understanding to members on
changing community values and expectations”, said Ms Bain.AdWatch addresses each section of the Code of Ethics separately and explains in detail ASB decisions relevant to each
section. Members can access the most recent learning on the development and application of community standards by
viewing a summary of the complaint, a description of the advertisement, a summary of the ASB decision and the learning
that arises from that decision all in one place.In addition to the ASB decisions, AdWatch will feature a brief instructive video presentation by the CEO detailing the
intention, interpretation and application of each section of the Code of Ethics.”
Source: AANA media release
