The International Advertising Association (IAA) is a global association that represents marketers, ad agencies and mass media that carries advertisements. The association is headquartered in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and maintains chapters in 77 countries.

History

The association was founded on April 9, 1938 at the Harvard Club of New York by Thomas Ashwell, publisher of ''Export Trade & Shipper'' magazine, and 12 other advertising industry managers. Initially known as the Export Advertising Association, the association's goal is to exchange information about successful practices in international

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

. In 1954, the association adopted its current name. IAA as an international

industry association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. Through collaboration between compani ...

positions itself as a platform for advertising industry issues, and as an organization that protects and advances the freedom of commercial speech, responsible advertising,

consumer choice The theory of consumer choice is the branch of microeconomics that relates preferences to consumption expenditures and to consumer demand curves. It analyzes how consumers maximize the desirability of their consumption (as measured by their pr ...

, and the education of marketing professionals by researching and providing advertising regulation literature in many countries of the world. The International Advertising Association has conducted and summarized surveys over the years, on

culturally sensitive Cultural sensitivity, also referred to as cross-cultural sensitivity or cultural awareness, is the knowledge, awareness, and acceptance of other cultures and others' cultural identities. It is related to cultural competence (the skills needed fo ...

topics such as the relative use and permissibility of "sex and decency" in advertisements.

Role and priorities

The association encourages self-regulation to keep advertising "legal, decent, honest and truthful", and it advocates increasing consumer choice and freedom of commercial speech. It is also a forum where advertising and marketing industry professionals discuss issues and concerns in diverse environments. The IAA supports internship programs for youth exploring job opportunities in the industry, as well as ''pro bono'' advertisement campaigns on global themes such as its "Give a Kid a Hand" campaign in 1998.

Meetings, awards and standards

The IAA organizes the biennial World Advertising Congress, a worldwide meeting of advertising professionals. The association also holds regional conferences wherein key speakers from the regional markets are invited to participate. At these events, it also honors individuals in the advertisement industry and in the mass media who have made significant positive impact on the mission and priorities of the International Advertising Association. The IAA has developed accreditation standards for advertising diploma programs in 35 countries, and these standards were the basis for 1-year courses in some 50 institutes as of 2014.

Literature

The IAA publishes an annual report, a membership directory as well as periodic literature authored by scholars in academia that is aimed at keeping its stakeholders informed about changing laws, issues and perspectives on advertisement and marketing. The IAA started publishing monographs on international advertising in the 1980s, in particular about regulations and self-regulation initiatives in each country. The association's literature on relative perception of similar advertisements in different cultures and regional regulations is one of the most comprehensive, states Gordon Miracle. For example, the Jean Boddewyn surveys and publications sponsored by the IAA on issues such as "sex and decency" in advertisements show a wide relative variation. The top regional concerns vary, according to these IAA studies, ranging from the ads being generally received as "tasteless", or "sexy", or "sexist", or "objectification of women", or "violence against women" depending on the surveyed country. The IAA monographs are in use by the advertising industry professionals and as teaching materials in the academic community.

Structure

The IAA operates at three levels: central, regional and national/local (chapters), each of which operate with considerable autonomy. It has three important bodies that are crucial to the running of the organization: the board of directors, the executive committee and vice-presidents. The IAA official website has published a complete list of the IAA past presidents and chairmans since 1938. The IAA, states Jones, had over 5,300 individual members and 97 corporate members in 95 countries by 1999. A majority of its membership is from the developed economies, the second largest group of members were from Asia and Pacific region, while the Middle East, Africa and Latin America accounted for the remaining.

Campaigns and controversies

In 2009 the " Hopenhagen"-campaign was created by the IAA in support of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15). In the interest of the entire industry it has through its chapters launched various

pro bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...

campaigns illustrating the role of marketing communications to economies. The close connections and collaboration of IAA – as well as other advertising industry organizations such as the European Association of Advertising Agencies – with the tobacco industry has been controversial.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control 1938 establishments in New York City Advertising organizations International non-profit organizations Marketing research Organizations based in New York City Organizations established in 1938 Trade associations based in the United States