Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - The Advertising Standards Authority funding crisis moved a step nearer resolution as a result of last week's stakeholder meeting. A deadline of mid-August has been set to come up with a plan of action to ensure that the maintenance and regulation of standards remains in industry hands.
"We affirmed our belief in self-regulation," says Odette Roper, CEO of the Association for Communications and Advertising. "It is vital to our industry. We are now trying to determine how much extra the industry is able to contribute to the costs of running the ASA."
The ASA - the body that keeps the ad industry moral - is funded by a 1% levy on advertising expenditures, and (in the case of print) by a direct grant from Print Media SA, the publishing industry body. But recessionary conditions have slashed revenue collections by 4%, while costs continue to rise.
The levy will raise about R85m this year, of which R6.5m was budgeted for the ASA and the rest goes to fund the SA Advertising Research Foundation, which produces comprehensive media research, on which advertisers depend when deciding how to spend their advertising budgets.
While the research foundation will manage, the ASA wants more.
"We need more legally trained staff, and this costs money," explains Roper. "It used to be possible to adjudicate on complaints and appeals using people with knowledge of advertising alone. But marketers come into our appeal hearings with senior counsel. These hearings have become more of a legal battle and less of a communications battle. So we need more legally qualified people to defend the matter.
"The ASA will come back to us in two weeks with a final figure, spelling out in more detail their needs and possible ways of trimming their budgets. Then we will know where we stand and how much we need.
"But the industry has made a firm commitment that no matter what, the ASA has to be assisted. Self-regulation is absolutely vital. We intend doing everything we can to preserve it."
The stakeholders, which include just about every organisation in the marketing, advertising and media industries, may be asked for additional direct funding. Print Media SA, which does not participate in the levy system, but makes a direct grant, will be asked for more.
- Fin24.com
