>>The UK’s ‘One-Stop Shop’ for advertising standards

The first principle of EASA’s Self-Regulatory Charter, signed in June 2004, is a commitment to achieving the practical operation of ‘comprehensive coverage by self-regulatory systems of all forms of advertising and all practitioners’. The Advertising Standards Authority in the UK took a big step to achieve this late last year. Christopher Graham, ASA’s Director General, explains what has changed, almost one year on.

November 1 sees the first anniversary of the inauguration of the UK’s all-media ‘one-stop shop’ for advertising complaints. For over 40 years, the ASA oversaw self-regulation of non-broadcast advertising only. TV and radio ads were regulated by the statutory authorities as if they were programmes. When broadcasting and telecoms were brought together under a new communications regulator, Ofcom, the decision was taken to bring advertising standards together in one place – a ‘one-stop shop’ ASA. The ASA now has a contractual relationship with Ofcom for TV and radio ads, but the non-broadcast side of the work stays independent of this co-regulatory relationship.

The new ASA operation is increasingly integrated and is able to bring a more consistent approach to multi-media campaigns. The advertising industry is adapting to working with a single body, rather than individual regulators for each media. Such a transition has not always been easy and the ASA has toughened the line in several areas, including advertising claims for skin creams. At least one major advertiser – L’Oréal – whose Perfect Slim and Wrinkle De-Crease TV ads were condemned in recent adjudications – has had to revisit its claims. The ASA and the broadcasters’ pre-clearance bodies – the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC) and the Radio Advertising Clearance Centre (RACC) – are working hard to ensure consistency between pre-clearance decisions and ASA rulings.

Other adjudications have been equally significant but attracted less controversy, for example consistency in the use of ‘free’ in non-broadcast and broadcast ads. New, tougher alcohol rules that had been introduced for TV have been extended to non-broadcast media. A similar co-ordinated approach is anticipated for changes to the food advertising rules next year.

The ‘one-stop shop’ approach provides a good model for the regulation of new media, particular audio-visual services delivered to mobile devices.

‘New’ ASA is heading for a caseload of 30,000 complaints in its first full year of operation. This compares with the 13,000 complaints that the non-broadcast ASA had typically dealt with in previous years. The total has been boosted by the ASA’s public profile, much higher than the former regulators enjoyed. Complaints can now be registered online, by fax, phone and by letter. The 6,000 complaints about TV and radio ads that the ASA typically received each year even before contracting out are now included in the total.

In its second formal quarterly report to Ofcom, the ASA was able to record the fact that turnaround times for complaints are comfortably within the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) agreed in the contract. In fact, turnaround times in both broadcast and non-broadcast are meeting their targets. The ASA will publish its Annual Statement, setting out its performance record and its plans for 2006, in October.

‘New’ ASA now employs more than 100 staff, having taken over some of the people who were working on TV and radio advertising at Ofcom. The operation is housed in modern, open plan offices – to which the ASA moved the weekend that the new regulatory regime went ‘live’.

The UK advertising self-regulatory system is funded by a 0.1% levy on advertising space, collected by the Advertising Standards Board of Finance (Asbof). A parallel broadcast body – Basbof – was established to collect the levy from TV and radio advertisers and income is satisfactorily ahead of plan.

Meanwhile, the non-broadcast Asbof is marking the 30th anniversary of the introduction of the UK’s levy system of funding advertising self-regulation with a party in November, attended by the British cabinet minister responsible for media and advertising Rt Hon Tessa Jowell, MP. The venue will be the impressive Atrium of Mid City Place, High Holborn, the building housing the ASA’s offices.

A year on, the UK’s one-stop shop is about to promote itself and its role to the general public. The ASA is launching an awareness advertising campaign this week with the theme ‘keeping advertising standards high’. The ads – which will run in donated space in the press, on posters, on TV and online – make the point that although the advertising regulator may not be very good at making ads, it’s very effective at ensuring the public isn’t misled, harmed or offended by advertising. Cinema and radio executions will follow in the New Year. Have a look at the ASA’s ads here.

As the ASA enters its second year running the one-stop shop, there is still much to do. New media developments mean that advertising formats are changing – a challenge for both advertisers and the regulator. Cross-media campaigns demand a consistent approach. And the ASA must continue to provide a high level of customer service whilst dealing with record numbers of complaints.

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