1.
Annual
Report
2016

2.
The only organisation representing and connecting global marketers.
London, Brussels, Singapore

3.
President’s Vision 2
Message from the CEO 3
Executive Committee 4
Marketing Groups 6 CMOforum
IMCforum
MEdIaforum
7 CdOforum
SOurCInGforum
InSIGhtforum
8 Worldwide meetings
2016 Marketing highlights 10
Staff 12
Public affairs Groups 14 responsible Advertising And Children Programme
Policy Action Group
15 Digital Governance Exchange
Alcohol marketing
2016 Public affairs highlights 16
WFa Events 18 Global marketer Week, Kuala Lumpur
21 regional meeting, Cartagena
Finances 22
2016 In numbers 24

4.
President’s
Vision
What a year we have left behind: much to
reflect on, much to learn from and much to
forget but, above all, much to look forward to.
We’ve seen the digital revolution continue
and its profound impact on the world of
marketing. It has shaken the foundations of
the business to the core, with many talking
up a completely changed approach to
communications and marketing.
But here’s the danger: the basics are
often ignored and shiny new solutions are
reached for without pause for reflection.
for 2017, in the age of post-truth politics
and a renewed need to focus on the basics
of marketing and communications, the
lessons for brands are clear – re-earn trust
through truth, focus on the fundamentals
and combine the art and science of
marketing to deliver for your customers.
As the marketing and communications
services sector adapts to these changing
times, I hope the core skills of creativity
and combining magic and logic to connect
brands to their users will continue to be
celebrated and valued.
There is no algorithm for creativity, there
is no rulebook on how to do it better than
anyone else. But there are lots of great
people who know how to make connections
with people – that is what this sector has
always been about and will always be about.
At the World federation of Advertisers,
we want to continue to champion best
practice that has helped the sector thrive
and challenge the lack of transparency that
sometimes bedevils it.
We try to build effective collaboration
and intend to celebrate the fact that in
2017, despite the increasing focus on
technology, automation and personalisation,
marketing and communications will remain
fundamentally a people business.
The late, great Bill Bernbach said many
years ago: “Human nature hasn’t changed
for a million years. It won’t even change in
the next million years. only the superficial
things have changed. It is fashionable to talk
about the changing man. A communicator
must be concerned with the unchanging
man, with his obsessive desire to survive,
to be admired, to succeed, to love, to take
care of his own.”
Today, Bernbach would have said “the
unchanging man and woman”, and he might
have expanded the thought to include the
multichannel world we live in.
But I bet he would have maintained the core
observation.
So here’s to 2017, then: the year of the
unchanging man and woman in an ever-
changing world. I am looking forward to it
and I’m proud to continue presiding over the
WfA as it helps brands to put people first.
David Wheldon,
WfA President
Cmo rBS
Despite the
increasing focus
on technology,
marketing remains
fundamentally a
people business.
“
2

5.
Message from
the CEO
2016 was not a year that will be forgotten
in a hurry. Profound changes and landmark
events were witnessed both inside and
outside of our industry.
Such changes inevitably bring great
uncertainty and I am acutely aware of
the impact that this has on our national
association and corporate members alike.
So I am more gratified than ever that amidst
such unpredictability the organisation has
been able to consolidate and strengthen.
Total revenues reached an all-time high
with a net growth rate of 12% in corporate
membership.
This has enabled us to re-invest significant
resources into membership services.
our online Global Knowledge Base has
doubled in size and is now used by more
than 80% of our members. A bespoke
Crm tool is currently being rolled out,
which will significantly increase our ability
to proactively identify needs and deliver
relevant insights.
Putting these systems and processes in
place will redouble our efforts to focus on
what is critical to our members.
In 2016, WfA held eighty meetings across
four continents. Between meetings,
over two hundred benchmarks and
twenty surveys were conducted. All with
the objective of helping members get
substantial practical assistance with their
day-to-day challenges.
Digital transformation continues to be the
#1 priority for our members. But 2016 saw
ad fraud and transparency top marketers’
most serious concerns. All will force
marketers into reviewing how they do
business in 2017 and beyond.
Brands face regulatory pressures across
multiple sectors. New rules coming out
of Europe for data collection will have
global ramifications for brands. WfA will
be a trusted and action-oriented partner
capable of offering tangible solutions to
these multiple challenges.
As a lack of transparency threatens to divide
the marketing ecosystem, we must be a
source of collaboration and unity. As policy-
makers seek to restrict our activity, we must
showcase what is great about our industry.
As people call marketing into question
and block us out of their lives, we must
champion customer-centric connections
which offer real value.
2017 promises to be full of challenges. We
look forward to addressing them with your
support.
Stephan Loerke,
CEo WfA
We must champion
customer-centric
connections which
offer real value.
“
3

6.
Executive Committee
david Wheldon
CMO
RBS
WFA President
(As elected at the Annual General meeting on march 16, 2016)
1
5
11
6
12
7
13
8
14
9
15
10
16
2 3 4Matthias Berninger
VP Public Affairs
MARS
WFA Deputy President
Mike hughes
Director General
ISBA, UK
WFA Treasurer
Stephan Loerke
WFA CEO
Christian Flouch
Global Head of Media,
Consumer Connections
Anheuser-Busch InBev
Wouter Vermeulen
Group Director,
International Government
Relations & Public Affairs
The Coca-Cola Company
Emmanuelle Wargon
General Director,
Corporate Affairs and
Communications
Danone
alessandro Cagli
EU Affairs Director
Ferrero
Mary Catherine toker
VP Government Relations
General Mills
thomas holzapfel
Global Category Leader
and VP Marketing
Procurement
Deutsche Telekom
WFa Corporate Member representatives
WFa
Officers
2 3 41
11 12 13 14 15 16
5 6 7 8 9 10
WFa regional Vice-Presidents
Sergey Glushkov
President
RAA, Russia
Regional VP C&E Europe
Loïc armand
Senior VP External Affairs
L’Oréal
Regional VP Western Europe
Bob Liodice
President & CEO
ANA, USA
Regional VP North America
Javier Medrano
Senior VP Marketing
Grupo Bimbo
Regional VP Latin America
Sameer desai
Head of Consumer
Healthcare Asia,
MEA and LATAM
Mundipharma
Regional VP Asia-Pacific
achieng Butler
CMO Africa Division
Danone
Regional VP Africa
4

7.
nicki Kenyon
VP Marketing APAC
Visa
Eleonore Ogrinz
Head of International
Advertising
Red Bull
david Oliver
Global Director, Public &
Government Affairs
Mondelēz
Joris Pollet
Director, Government Relations
& Public Policy, Europe, Middle
East, Africa & Asia
Procter & Gamble
americo Campos Silva
Global Head of Digital
and Social Media
Shell
Julie Chan
Global Consumer
Engagement Lead
Pfizer
roel de Vries
Corporate VP, Global Head of
Marketing, Communications
and Brand Strategy
Nissan Motor Company
Luis di Como
Senior VP Global Media
Unilever
Pierre-Jean Bozo
Director General
UDA, France
roger harlacher
President
ASA, Switzerland
ritva hanski-
Pitkakoski
Managing Director
ML, Finland
ron Lund
President & CEO
ACA, Canada
Sandra Martinelli
Executive Vice President
ABA, Brazil
Jan Morten
drange
CEO
ANFO, Norway
Bharat
Patel
Executive Committee
member
ISA, India
ahmet
Pura
Chairman
RVD, Turkey
david arome
Okeme
President
ADVAN, Nigeria
Chris
Van roey
CEO
UBA, Belgium
Joachim
Schütz
Managing Director
OWM, Germany
hou
Yunchun
President
CANA, China
WFa Corporate Member representatives
WFa national association representatives
17
21
18
22
19
23
20
24
25 29
33
26 30
34
27
31 35
28
32 36 37
17 21
18 22
19 23
20
25
31 32 33 34 35 36 37
26 27 28 29 30
24
Mounir Jazouli
President
GAM, Morocco
5

8.
2016 proved to be the most dynamic year yet
fortheCMOFOruM,anexclusive,invitation-
only peer network that offers some of the
most experienced marketing leaders with
the opportunity to exchange experiences
with a view to offering actionable insight
into how to address common priorities.
The group’s meeting at Cannes Lions brought
together twenty-five Cmo-level marketers
with sessions led by unilever’s Keith Weed,
mastercard’s raja rajamannar and WfA
President and rBS Cmo, David Wheldon.
The spotlight also turned to Asia-Pacific
as we expanded with the first meeting in
Hong Kong, anchored by newly-appointed
CMOforum Chair for APAC and APAC Cmo
at mastercard, Sam Ahmed.
The group’s focus inevitably mirrored WfA’s
core priorities. Transformation topped the
agenda, reflected through sessions around
evolving capabilities. Cmos were, of course,
central to much of this change, with many
finding themselves with expanded roles often
incorporating corporate communications.
The digital marketing ecosystem was also
top of mind, with the focus especially
centred on brand owners the victim of ad
fraud and consumers rejecting marketing
communications through increased usage
of adblocking.
Linked to this was a heavy focus on customer-
centricity, as reflected in WfA’s Project
reconnect (project-reconnect.com) on
which many of our Cmo members sit on the
Advisory Board. Whilst many acknowledge
our industry is still far from being truly
‘customer-centric’, others felt they had made
real progress with one Cmo describing his
role as “Chief of Customer obsession”.
2016 was an exciting year for
IMCFOruM as the group significantly
grew in size (+25%) and geographical
footprint. Further to the launch of
our first meeting in dubai and our
workshop series in Singapore, the group
now connects senior marketers in four
regions.
meetings featured case studies and
discussions led by senior marketers from
Coca-Cola, Brown-forman, Diageo, Jaguar
Land rover, LEGo, SAP, mars, mondelēz and
Nestlé. Guest speakers were also invited to
challenge the status quo in their field of
expertise. Isaac mizrahi (Alma) and mark
Adams (VICE), who received the highest
guest presentation rating this year, were
two of them.
Content marketing continued to dominate
ourmembers’agendasandthegroupshared
experience to get better at creating relevant
content. This included initiatives such as
setting up global digital partnerships.
As one member put it, “marketers are living
in blissful ignorance” when it comes to
integrated marketing measurement. The
group accordingly tackled how to evolve
measurement frameworks, providing our
members with insights to move from proxy
metrics to meaningful business metrics.
We concluded 2016 with a re-run of our
integrated briefing research. The novelty
was an agency-version of the survey that
was sent to agency heads. This highlighted
interesting opinion differences and the fact
that work still needs to be done to establish
mutual criteria for ‘integration nirvana’ in
the eyes of clients and agency partners.
2016 was a challenging and fascinating
year for the media industry, with
transparency, ad fraud and programmatic
all key concerns. Skilled global media
expertise has never been in greater
demand.
But change doesn’t just come through new
hires and we are seeing many companies
successfully evolve for the data-driven era.
This involves up-skilling, re-examining agency
relationships and embedding technology and
data to deliver ‘precision at scale’ – the media
director’s mantra in 2016.
Control and transparency are core
requirements for programmatic to work with
full effect, and we’ve seen a number of clients
implementing ‘second generation’ models in
2016. Agency Trading Desks remain the most
common way of conducting programmatic but
the market is evolving rapidly, with in-house
and ‘hybrid’ models on a considerable growth
trajectory.
WfA research in 2016 also found that clients
are moving their programmatic investments
towards Private market Places to limit their
exposure to ad fraud.
WfA’s Compendium of Ad fraud Knowledge
for media Investors, published in 2016,
calculated that ad fraud represents $50bn on
a conservative estimate, but it’s not unrealistic
to assume that the true number might be three
times larger.
our compendium focused on solutions to limit
and reduce fraud and we’ve been developing
these principles in meetings. But ad fraud is
an intractable problem, perpetuated by the
structure and systems in place in the digital
media ecosystem. undoubtedly this will
continue to be a focus for the MEdIaforum.
CMOforum IMCforum MEdIaforum
Marketing
Groups
6

9.
‘digital transformation’ has remained a
focus in 2016. Much of this is concerned
with people, culture and organisations,
and our content has concentrated on
helping members to learn from one
another.
Brands have been increasingly courting
‘start-ups’ for their technology, their spirit
of agility and innovation. WfA research
focused on the effectiveness of these
relationships. There are inherent difficulties
with getting ‘a speedboat and an ocean
liner to co-exist’, and 88% of clients agree
that brands often aren’t sure what their
start-up arrangement will look like. But our
sessions have dug deeper and found that
brands with clear objectives and goals have
made a success of these relationships.
Data and technology are also core to this
group, but harnessing data and drawing
meaningful insights remains a challenge.
Data management Platforms may provide
part of the solution but the complexity
of implementing these should not be
underestimated. A data strategy is a start-
point, with details on how this will be used
and whether those use cases are within
legal compliance.
Trust and privacy have become crucial for
those in the CdOforum, described as
“the future of brands” in a recent meeting.
With the democratisation of information,
competitive advantage can be obtained by
those who are customer-obsessed.
In 2016 and into 2017 the focus moves
from digital ‘transformation’ to ‘maturity’.
We hope that WfA’s new digital maturity
diagnostic tool can help brands to
benchmark their progress on this journey.
Sourcing isn’t all about costs. It’s about
managing suppliers so that you get the
right services at the right price at the
right time.
Within the marketing industry, this often
means that sourcing spends more time
on incremental value improvement, rather
than savings. many would agree that this is
as it should be, and procurement’s influence
undoubtedly continues to rise within global
marketing organisations. So how can it best
wield this influence?
many marketing procurement members
feel that the ways they contribute the most
to a brand’s business success is not through
savings, but through helping marketing run
capability assessments, pitch management,
scope of work and briefing alignment,
remuneration model setting/planning and
performance reviews.
There’s much to do here and if marketing
involves sourcing in these areas it can help
to streamline a great variety of complex
business processes, which of course frees
up time for marketing to work on building
great brands.
Who ‘owns’ agency management has been
a core question for the SOurCInGforum
over the past 18 months. Approaches differ
depending on business, legacy and internal
culture, but the most mature marketing
procurement teams are steadily leveraging
more responsibility in these fields.
As agency rosters get ever more complex,
it will be interesting to see how many more
global brands draw on their sourcing teams
to help them take ownership of their diverse
and interdependent marketing supply chains.
the objective of InSIGhtFOruM is
to improve how consumer insight
specialists and marketers work together
to generate actionable insights to
inform unifying marketing ideas.
This group now boasts 150 professionals from
WfA’s membership and is the only global
network for global client-side consumer insight
leaders. In 2016 the group welcomed its first
Chair, Elinor Bateman, Director of Brand Insight
and Sponsorship at Barclays, who hosted the
first meeting of the year and shared the value
derived from creating an insights community
within the organisation.
The group met in London and, for the first time,
in Singapore. Topics included critical areas for
client-side market research specialists. New
methodologies featured in every meeting,
including demonstrations in leveraging artificial
intelligence and behavioural analysis. The group
also focused on improving the effectiveness
of their function within large multinationals,
including through tackling how to disseminate
insights within global organisations.
Building on these themes, the group also
held its first workshop hosted by BrainJuicer.
This interactive session focused on better
understanding the value of the insights
function; seeking to understand how the
Consumer Insights departments measure their
own contribution to profitable brand growth
and how they may further improve in this area.
Between events, the group ran benchmarks
amongst members on several topics including
copy testing and recommended innovative
brand tracking suppliers. The group also
continued to share the findings from our future
of Insights Project with a webinar and remote
meetings.
CdOforum SOurCInGforum InSIGhtforum
more at wfanet.org/ar2016
7

10.
3
10
12
CMOforum
Singapore, 25 may
Cannes, 23 June
Hong Kong, 25 october
Singapore, 27 october
IMCforum
Dubai, 18 february
London, 21 April
miami, 19 may
London, 22 November
MEdIaforum
London, 4 february
New Delhi, 16 february
rome, 18 may
Shanghai, 7 July
New York, 27 october
madrid, 17 November
London, 22 November
1 amsterdam
2 Cannes
3 Cartagena
4 Cologne
5 dubai
6 hong Kong
7 Kuala Lumpur
8 London
9 Madrid
10 Miami
11 new delhi
12 new York
13 Paris
14 rome
15 Shanghai
16 Singapore
Marketing
Groups
Worldwide
meetings
8

11.
1
2
9
14
5
15
6
413
11
8
16
7
CdOforum
Hong Kong, 20 January
London, 3 march
Singapore, 14 April
Cologne, 13 September
Amsterdam, 25 November
Singapore, 30 November
Hong Kong, 1 December
SOurCInGforum
Paris, 24 february
London, 2 June
Shanghai, 6 July
Singapore, 29 September
Paris, 24 November
New York, 7 December
InSIGhtforum
London, 7 April
Singapore, 28 September
London, 10 November
9

12.
the year in
numbers
aSEan marketers
seek enhanced
digital capabilities
research conducted among
regional and local marketers from
brands that spend over uS$55b per
annum globally highlights need to
boost consumer insight, integrated
activity planning, innovation, digital
marketing and analytics to drive digital
transformation.
new online tools
2016
Marketing
highlights member-led meetings,
remote forums & webinars
on four continents
member representatives
attended meetings
global benchmarks100+
700+
40+
6
3k+ marketers:
peer-to-peer
networks connecting
• CMOforum
• CdOforum
• IMCforum
• MEdIaforum
• SOurCInGforum
• InSIGhtforum
Ground-breaking
guide on combatting
ad fraud
The guidelines are meant to assist
marketers in taking practical steps to
reduce their exposure to ad fraud in
four key areas: people and technology,
education and communication,
standards, and governance.
The Agency Cost Index is WfA’s first
agency remuneration tool
SoNAr measures an organisation’s
digital maturity
10

13.
new marketing
group chairs
CMOforum (APAC)
Sam ahmed
CMO APAC
Mastercard
CdOforum
antonia McCahon
Global Digital Acceleration Director
Pernod Ricard
InSIGhtforum
Elinor Bateman
Director, Insight & Research
Barclays
1st IMCforum in Hong Kong 1st InSIGhtforum in Singapore1st WFaforum in mENA/Dubai
new
reports
Key reports on programmatic, working with start-ups,
media agency remuneration and media procurement excellence
were produced.
Survey on programmatic & trading desks Working with start-ups Survey on Media Agency Remuneration
11

14.
robert dreblow
Global head
of Marketing Services
Will oversees WfA’s public affairs
and communications work, including
Project reconnect. A graduate of
modern Languages from oxford
university, he worked previously as a
journalist in uK, france and Spain.
Based in Singapore, ranji supports
WfA corporate members in Asia
by helping to build on the existing
working groups and nurture fully-
fledged regional Cmo and CDo
groups. A Singaporean national, ranji
previously worked in various digital
marketing roles at Samsung.
Stephan Loerke
Chief Executive Officer
Stephan manages the WfA secretariat, oversees all work carried out on behalf of
its members and is the WfA’s main spokesperson. He sits on all WfA public affairs
and marketing committees, as well as on the WfA Executive Committee.
Prior to joining WfA, Stephan worked at the united Nations in New York and
later in both marketing and management roles at L’oréal. Combining french
and German nationalities, Stephan speaks french, German, English, Dutch and
Spanish.
Staff
robert oversees WfA’s marketing
services and groups, working from
both London and Brussels. His focus
includes championing member
priorities and keeping members
updated on key trends. He was
previously an Associate Director at
mediaCom in London and Toronto.
Will Gilroy
director of Public affairs
and Communications
ranji david
aPaC director
Marketing Services
Claire is focused on delivering
greater added value to WfA member
organisations. A British national, she
has over a decade of membership
services and industry body
experience. Claire works from both
London and Brussels.
Claire Mullen
head of
Membership
matt is responsible for the delivery
services to the WfA MEdIaforum
and CdOforum and for setting the
agenda, for discussion and approach,
to core global media and digital
issues. He is WfA’s subject matter
expert on programmatic buying.
Matt Green
Global Lead
Media & digital Marketing
Steve leads the WfA’s SOurCInG-
forum and InSIGhtforum. Prior
to joining WfA, Steve completed a
master of research in marketing at
the university of Leeds. originally
from the uK, he speaks french and
English.
Steve Lightfoot
Senior Manager
Global Marketing Procurement
12

15.
rebecka works on food marketing to
children and coordinates the responsible
Advertising and Children Programme,
which addresses policy issues around
marketing to children. She holds a
masters in Political Sciences from the
Sorbonne university and worked in two
leading consultancies in Brussels.
rebecka allén
Public affairs
Manager
Any leads the IMCforum and helps
manage WfA’s flagship CMOforum
and events, including Global marketer
Week. A french national of Chinese
origin, she worked on the agency side
in Paris for five years before joining
WfA.
any ung
Senior Manager
Marketing Services
Nataliaisfocusedondeliveringremote
knowledge exchange to members and
looks after WfA’s regional meetings
in Latin America. Before WfA, she
worked at millwardBrown and Henkel.
A Colombian national, she holds an
International marketing master’s
Degree.
natalia Echeverri
Knowledge
Manager
Agnieszka leads the alcohol
workstream and covers horizontal
public affairs files, including the
European Audiovisual media Services
Directive. A graduate from Sciences
Po Paris, she was previously at Pernod
ricard and worked for the french
Business Confederation.
agnieszka Katner
Senior Manager
Public affairs
Catherine leads the Digital Governance
Exchange,WfA’sforumforseniorlegal
and digital marketing governance
specialists. A graduate from oxford
and Sciences Po Paris, she joined the
WfA from fleishmanHillard, where
she worked on data protection,
e-commerce and digital policy.
Catherine armitage
Senior Manager
Public affairs
Axel’s work primarily focuses on
initiatives such as the Coalition for
Better Ads and Value of Advertising.
With Agnieszka, he also looks after
Policy Action Group. He previously
worked for the European Interactive
Digital Advertising Alliance and has a
masters in international relations.
axel debry
Public affairs
Manager
Camelia works on communications,
coordinates media Smart World and
manages the WfA network of national
advertiser associations. She has
previously worked on the consultancy
side in Bucharest and Brussels and
as communications adviser in the
European Parliament.
Camelia Cristache
Communications
Manager
Laura supports the team in
implementing WfA’s internal and
external communications plan
and manages WfA’s social media
presence. Combining Belgian and
Philippine nationality, she holds a
master’s Degree in New media and
speaks English, filipino and Dutch.
Laura Baeyens
Junior Communications
Manager
A Belgian national, Karine has been
the first point of contact for WfA
members for many years. She
oversees the back office, the everyday
running of the secretariat, personnel
and finances and works in tandem
with Theresa on administrative issues.
Karine Lesuisse
Office
Manager
Theresa is in charge of the logistics
for WfA meetings and events,
including Global marketer Week,
and supports Karine in running the
office. A German national, she speaks
German, Dutch, English and french.
theresa ruess
Member relations &
Event Coordinator
Stéphane manages WfA’s database,
critical for ensuring the delivery of
quality services to members. He holds
a degree in Visual Communication
and was previously with a company
specialised in the development and
production of indoor and outdoor
branding solutions.
Stéphane arnhem
database
Manager
13

16.
raC now brings together over 900 people globally who have a
direct stake in the sensitive issue of marketing and children.
the network is almost 400 strong in Europe, over 150 of whom
came to our quarterly meetings in Brussels to address the issues
of highest priority to brand owners.
Top of the priorities in 2016 has been the ongoing revision of the Eu
Audiovisual media Services Directive. rAC focused much of its work
around understanding what is at stake for marketing and children and
engaging the right policy-makers to ensure its voice was heard and
heeded in the policy debates.
In parallel, the group has taken the lead in promoting initiatives which
seek to ensure that commercial communications reflect societal
concerns about children, such as the Eu Pledge, which limits the
impact on children of certain food marketing, and media Smart,
which aims to equip children with the skills to be discerning when
faced with brand communications.
The group has also been sensitive to ensuring that members are
respecting fast-changing societal expectations around privacy.
on data collection, rAC engaged academics working on research
commissioned by policy-makers and Insafe, a European network
promoting safer and better usage of the internet.
uNICEf has been prioritising the issue of marketing and how brands
should seek to ensure that they protect and safeguard children’s
rights. uNICEf’s focus is on food marketing, digital marketing and
privacy issues and identifying what kind of brand presence would be
legitimate in schools. rAC is in the process of facilitating an ongoing
exchange with a view to driving consensus on best practice in these
areas.
rAC’s role is also to spot emerging issues in order to help brands
future-proof their ability to communicate. The group heard from
ebiquity to get insight into how kids are served ads online, realEyes
on evolving market research techniques and the secretariat helped
professionals understand the implications of marketing platforms
such as Snapchat, EvanTube, Ar & Vr and connected toys.
Certain sectors continue to face major threats to their ability
to communicate with consumers, such as food, alcohol,
energy drinks and toys. the industry at large faces horizontal
challenges in relation to digital with privacy concerns being
prioritised by policy-makers globally. the broader advertising
ecosystem faces an existential threat in the form of adblocking.
Indeed, the increase in adblocking continues apace. WfA has
embraced this challenge as an opportunity to improve the online
advertising experience. This is the goal of the Coalition for Better Ads,
a global industry-wide initiative co-founded by WfA and launched in
September.
As part of the European Commission’s Digital Agenda, the Digital
Single market Strategy looked to maximise the potential of the digital
economy. The Commission seeks to optimise regulation and holds
the keys to a potentially enhanced recognition for the role of self- and
co-regulation in the digital environment.
The General Data Protection regulation officially came into force in
may and will have a substantial impact on how marketers collect and
use data, not just in Europe but around the world. Brands now face a
crucial 18-month implementation period.
The process to revise the Audiovisual media Services Directive, the
main Eu law governing advertising on TV and online video services,
was the number one focus for brand owners in 2016. The European
institutions are debating on how to keep the regulation relevant as
media consumption patterns continue to evolve and new services are
offered.
The effectiveness of industry programmes to ensure responsible
advertising practices, such as the Eu Pledge and responsible
marketing Pact, will be key to warding off the more disproportionate
calls for regulation proposed by an increasing number of activists and
policy-makers.
responsible advertising and
Children Programme
Policy action
Group
Public affairs
Groups
14

17.
In 2016 the concept of digital governance continued to
grow in importance within many brands. Previously, good
governance was perceived by many as the domain of the risk-
averse ‘naysayers.’ now, it is being increasingly recognised
as a key enabler of progress, allowing companies to embrace
technologies more rapidly.
This is of particular importance in light of the speed in which digital
innovation is occurring and the increasing inability of traditional
legislation to keep up. In this relatively unchartered environment,
the ability for brands to exchange risk mitigation practices with
peers across critical areas – from data management to IP challenges
when crowdsourcing content – becomes very valuable. Some of the
recurring themes in our 2016 meetings included:
Consumer vs. compliance: the inability of policy to govern rapidly-
evolving developments has resulted in situations where a brand can
easily be legally compliant without being aligned with consumers’
expectations. Discussions around how brands can effectively secure
sustainable data flows have repeatedly highlighted the need to
look beyond compliance in order to strengthen relationships with
consumers.
Privacy & data protection: data protection has been high on
the agenda following the adoption of new, stricter privacy rules in
Europe. Discussions focused on what the new regime will mean for
the relationships between brands and their consumers. Whilst many
brands want to get closer to their consumers, the new rules will push
marketers to be more creative in how they communicate complex
privacy policies and terms and conditions in an understandable and
transparent way.
Control vs. creativity: the number of risks presented by the online
ecosystem has led many brands to implement robust governance
standards across their operations. However, these standards must
have sufficient flexibility to allow marketers the freedom to remain
creative and dynamic. Strategies relating to digital security and copy
approval processes have demonstrated the need to balance risk and
commercial considerations.
there is increasing pressure on alcohol producers in light
of marketing’s perceived role in encouraging underage
consumption.
The responsible marketing Pact (rmP) is the industry’s flagship
response to this challenge and focuses on three core areas.
firstly, it addresses advertising placement by using common controls
to ensure that ads are only placed in media where the audience
is composed of at least 70% adults over the legal drinking age.
Secondly, it identifies a ‘standard alcohol profile’ on social networks
to limit minors’ access to brand communications. finally, it ensures,
through a blacklist of creative features, that ads don’t primarily appeal
to minors.
2016 was the first year in which the independent monitoring exercise
was carried out on the three pillars. The commitment on advertising
content was assessed by the European Advertising Standards Alliance
(EASA) and national self-regulatory organisations (Sros) who found
83% compliance. This is an encouraging start but more clearly needs
to be done to ensure that alcohol advertising is not primarily appealing
to minors.
The two other rmP pillars – on placement and social media – are
being monitored together with the corresponding commitments of
the International Alliance for responsible Drinking (IArD) by ebiquity
and EASA.
The World Health organization and the wider health community
are equally concerned about alcohol advertising in digital media.
In order to respond to these growing concerns, WfA took part in
“Protecting underage through responsible Alcohol marketing,” an
event organised in the margins of the World Health Assembly by IArD.
finally, the revision of the Eu Audiovisual media Services Directive
harbours the possibility of strict Eu wide controls on alcohol
marketing. The group is playing a lead role in representing the rmP
as a meaningful and effective component of the policy mix in this
context.
more at wfanet.org/ar2016
digital Governance
Exchange
alcohol
Marketing
15

18.
responsible
Marketing Pact
2016 was the first year during which
the official, independent monitoring
exercise was carried out on the three
pillars of the programme. All results
will be made public.
audiovisual Media Services directive revised
The Eu institutions are debating a proposal on how to keep the main law governing
advertising on TV and online video services (AVmSD) relevant as media consumption
patterns continue to change and new services are offered. for WfA, this is an opportunity
to promote ad standards as a meaningful and effective component of the policy mix.
Improving the online ad experience
Leading international actors involved in online media join forces to improve
consumers’ experience with online advertising. The Coalition for Better Ads will
use consumer insights and cross-industry expertise to develop and implement new
global standards for online advertising.
member-led
meetings.
Engagement with WhO, OECd,
unICEF, European institutions.
WfA working groups connecting
1k+ legal, public affairs and privacy
professionals.
Local engagement in more than 30 markets to develop industry programmes in the face of potential statutory controls.
2016
Public affairs
highlights
40+4
16

19.
alcohol compliance
monitoring
Two global monitoring exercises
launched in collaboration with the
International Alliance for responsible
Drinking (IArD) to assess compliance
with the Digital Guiding Principles and
the 70/30 rule on online media.
Effective food
marketing self-
regulation
WfA was instrumental in driving
the adoption by IfBA members of a
strengthened IfBA policy on marketing
to children. The enhanced commitment
forms the basis for local food marketing
pledges, which the industry has now
launched in 52 countries.
Eu Pledge
Eu Pledge launches implementation
guidelines, announces more stringent
criteria across some categories
and a new mechanism to increase
transparency and accountability.
data
Protection
The Eu General Data Protection
regulation officially came into force in
may and will have a substantial impact
on how marketers collect and use data,
not just in Europe but around the world.
advertising generates €7 in GdP
for every €1 spent
Value of Advertising, an independent study commissioned to Deloitte by WfA and
industry partners, is the first-ever Eu-wide report to assess the economic and social
contribution of advertising. The study found that advertising contributed nearly 6m
jobs across the Eu and 4.6% of total GDP. more at www.valueofadvertising.org.
Advertising funds
Globally, advertising
accounts for
EACH EURO
INVESTED BY BRANDS
IN ADVERTISING
ADVERTISING
FUELS GDP
5.8MILLION
JOBS IN EU
2.6%OF ALL EU
EMPLOYMENT
ADVERTISING
createsjobS
Internet services
TELEVISION
REVENUES
Advertising provides
high-quality jobs
...so that these can be enjoyed for free or at a reduced rate
VALUE ADVERTISINGOF
PERSONAL
MAIL
SEARCH AND
SOCIAL MEDIA
WEBSITES
SOCIAL MEDIA
PLATFORMS ARE
ACCESSED BY
ALL SEGMENTS OF
THE POPULATION
valueofadvertising.org #AdsMatter
AS DEFINED
BY OECDSUPPORTS
COMPETITION BY
drives
innovation BY
INCENTIVISING
BUSINESSES TO
OUTPERFORM
COMPETITORS
CREATING
DIFFERENTIATED
PRODUCTS AND
SERVICES
INCREASING
CHOICE
CAN GENERATE UP TO
7 EUROS
OF GDP IN THE EU ECONOMY
JOBS DIRECTLY
INVOLVED IN
THE PRODUCTION
OF ADVERTISING
JOBS ENABLED IN
THE MEDIA AND
ONLINE SERVICES
due to advertising
(e.g. journalists or
content producers)
JOBS CREATED IN
THE WIDER ECONOMY
due to the economic
activity driven
by advertising
MEDIA & ADVERTISING
SECTOR
34000
WHOLE EU ECONOMY
22 000
INFORMING
CONSUMERS
RADIO
REVENUES
40%
OF EU CITIZENS
REGULARLY USE
E-MAIL SERVICES
Advertising
media internetservices
75%75%
Funded by:
A research by:
AVERAGE
GROSS
INCOME
IN THE EU
17

20.
The Global marketer Conference co-hosted
by WfA and the malaysian Advertisers
Association (mAA) was the centrepiece of
the week, with some of the biggest names
in marketing sharing insights into how they
have built their brands in South-East Asia and
globally.
AirAsia CEo and malaysia’s most famous
entrepreneur, Tony fernandes, gave the
keynote speech and told the story of building
a world-beating brand based on genuine
consumer insight and human understanding.
The highest-rated speaker from Global
marketer Week in Sydney, BrainJuicer CEo
John Kearon, then unveiled a unique global
study on the future of the marketing insight
function.
WfA also held an ASEAN Accelerator panel to
discuss the potential of marketing in South
East Asia.
Suresh Balaji, HSBC’s APAC Head
of marketing, Smita Gupta, TATA
Communications’ marketing Director in
APAC, miguel de Andrés, Google’s Creative
Head of Technology in APAC, ranga
Somanathan, Starcom/mediaVest’s Coo
in South East Asia and WfA’s marketing
Director for Asia, ranji David, offered their
perspectives.
James Temple, SVP, managing Director,
Executive Creative Director EmEA at r/GA,
shared his experiences on how brands
and agencies can accelerate innovation.
mondelēz’s maria mujica shared the story
of fly fearless, a culmination of many
experiments of working with agencies around
the globe.
David Wheldon, rBS Cmo and WfA President,
closed the conference with a State of the
union address and a word of advice to brand
owners.
“Brands need to act and think like people,” he
said. “In my experience, the people I’ve most
admired have a number of traits in common.
They are passionate and entertaining, they
have a point of view, they show empathy, they
are open and transparent in their dealings.
“most importantly, you know you can trust
them. The successful brands of the future will
be those that most effectively embrace these
characteristics. These attributes will govern
not only how brands communicate and serve
their customers. In an increasingly open
and transparent world, they will also be the
yardstick by which successful corporations
will be judged.”
The Global marketer Week also played
host to internal meetings including the
Executive Committee meeting, the
Annual General meeting and the National
Associations Council (NAC), which focused
on membership growth strategies with
insight-driven sessions led by heads of WfA’s
national advertiser associations.
Following on from Beijing, new
York, Sydney and Marrakech, Kuala
Lumpur played host in March to
WFa’s global event for multinational
marketers. Global Marketer Week
was an unmissable four days of
inspiration, discovery and learning,
bringing together hundreds of the
world’s top marketers and thought-
leaders at WFa’s first-ever GMW in
South-East asia.
ASEAN Accelerator panel
ASEAN Accelerator panel
Global
Marketer Week
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
18

21.
maria mujica
John KearonTony fernandes
James Temple David Wheldon
19

22.
Project reconnect is WfA’s effort to develop a
better understanding of what people want and
expect from brands. This requires listening,
dialogue and change.
Building on previous research with We
Are Social on what makes for great brand
marketing in the digital world and after
looking at the flipside of the coin – what turns
people off ads – in 2016, we set out to show
how great brand marketing puts people first
and how delivering meaningful and valued
brand experiences pays dividends.
In march 2016 in Kuala Lumpur a session was
led by Karmarama’s Executive Chairman Jon
Wilkins alongside Will Sansom, Director of
Content and Strategy at Contagious Insider.
Entitled “People Inc.”, the session also
brought together a panel of industry experts
to share their own experiences and insight on
how to foster the best possible conditions
for great work to flourish and nurture talent;
how to work with other functions internally
and get the most out of working with agency
partners; and how to innovate and look
beyond the organisation for inspiration and
talent.
In 2016, we continued working with marketing
Week in the uK and Campaign APAC to
identify great brand stories that can inspire
marketers. Some of the biggest names in
the industry, including Cmos from unilever,
Visa, Heineken, rBS and mastercard shared
their views on why and how brands need to
adapt to what increasingly aspirational and
demanding consumers expect: to stand for
something more, provide experiences and
address the world’s problems.
Their brand stories and more can be found at
www.project-reconnect.com
We have all found ads at some point
to be annoying, even intrusive.
Worse, advertising is often blamed
forsomeofsociety’smostintractable
problems. Some like to point the
finger at marketers for online
privacy issues, childhood obesity,
alcohol misuse, financial debt
and for promoting unsustainable
behaviours.
Jon Wilkins Project reconnect panel Will Sansom
Project
reconnect
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
“If a brand considers consumer-centricity
disruptive, it deserves to be disrupted”
Will Sansom,
Contagious Insider
20

23.
WFa held its 14th annual regional
LataM meeting in Colombia, back
to back with “Cartagena Inspira,”
Latin america’s showpiece event
for communication, creativity and
innovation.
Co-hosted with ANDA Colombia on 27-28
September, the event brought together in
Cartagena regional marketers and public
affairs professionals, as well as WfA’s
advertiser associations in Colombia, Chile,
Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Guatemala, Paraguay
and Spain.
The meetings tackled some key topics
for public affairs professionals, such as
responsible food marketing, marketing
to children and ad blocking, while the
marketing sessions centred on ad fraud,
internal capabilities and working with start-
ups. A focus was also given to audience
measurement, data privacy and the latest
trends in advertising.
The two-day event was chaired by WfA’s
Vice-President for Latin America and Grupo
Bimbo’s Senior Vice-President of marketing,
Javier medrano. The 2017 meetings will
be co-hosted with the National Advertiser
Association of Paraguay (CAP) in Asunción,
on 26-27 September.
Latin american
regional Meeting 2016
Cartagena
21

24.
(All figures in euro)
Budget 2016 realised 2016
Income 3,536,479,00 3,742,791.05
revenues from associations 410,000,00 434,324.60
revenues from corporate members 2,120,000.00 2,158,164.51
New members 150,000.00 200,194.89
revenues from rmP 246,479.00 246,480.00
revenues from IArD 190,000.00 230,000.00
revenues from IfBA 275,000.00 275,000.00
revenues Sponsorship Conference 40,000.00 45,600.00
Strategic Partners 85,000.00 135,000.00
other revenues 5,000.00 0.00
Discount (early payment) -5,000.00 0.00
financial profit 20,000.00 18,027.05
Expenses 3,535,210.00 3,741,538.93
Personnel & consultants 2,588,000.00 2,478,308.11
operating costs 962,000.00 1,103,834.01
Conference & General Assembly 120,000.00 144,154.93
rmP Costs 96,000.00 96,050.00
Strategic Projects 25,000.00 249,981.88
Provision for recruitment plan 75,000.00 0.00
reinstatement Provision Strategic Projects -320,000.00 -320,000.00
reinstatement Provision for rent Compensation -10,790.00 -10,790.00
total revenues 3,536,479.00 3,742,791.05
total expenses 3,535,210.00 3,741,538.93
Final result 1,269.00 1,252.12
Financial
Statement 2016
22

25.
registered auditor’s report for the year ended december 31, 2016
to the Board of directors of the World Federation of advertisers
We report to you in the context of our appointment as the association’s registered auditor. This report includes our opinion on the financial
statements, as well as the required additional statements. The financial statements include the balance sheet as at December 31, 2016 and
the income statement for the year then ended.
report on the financial statements – unqualified opinion
We have audited the financial statements of the World federation of Advertisers for the year ended December 31, 2016, which show a
balance sheet total of €4,806,803 and a profit for the year of €1,252.
Responsibility of the Board of Directors for the preparation of the financial statements
The Board of Directors is responsible for the preparation of financial statements that give a true and fair view in accordance with the financial
reporting framework applicable in Belgium, and for such internal control, as the Board of Directors determines, is necessary to enable the
preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
Responsibility of the registered auditor
our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with
the International Standards on Auditing (ISAs). Those standards require that we comply with the ethical requirements and plan and perform
the control to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement.
An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The
procedures selected depend on the registered auditor’s judgment, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the
financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the registered auditor considers the association’s
internal control relevant to the preparation of financial statements that give a true and fair view, in order to design control procedures that
are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s internal control.
An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of valuation rules used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by the
Board of Directors, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements.
We have obtained from the Board of Directors and association officials the explanations and information necessary for our audit. We
believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
Unqualified opinion
In our opinion, the financial statements of the World federation of Advertisers give a true and fair view of the association’s equity and
financial position as at December, 31, 2016, and of the results of its operations for the year then ended, in accordance with the financial
reporting framework applicable in Belgium.
auditor’s
report
Lasne, february 14, 2017
michel WEBEr, reviseur d’entreprises
registered auditor
23

26.
Marketing & Public affairs
contacts engaged
6k+ attended by
450+ marketers
in South East Asia
the WFa team
10 nationalities, 15 languages spoken:
Soo-uh Sdaai!Hello! Hallo! Hallå!Привет!Bună!¡Hola!Dag!Bonjour! Hujambo!Dzień dobry! Kamusta! Nín h o!Ciao!moi!
Belgium france uk
T
he
NetherlandsLuxembourgItalySpainGermanyS
witzerlandromaniaSlovakiaTurkeyIndiauAESing
aporemalaysiaHongKongChinaCambodiaColom
bia
Peru Brazil uSA
Meetings in
30 countries
80+
WFa
meetings
average
meeting
attendance29
• WFaforum in Dubai
• CMOforum in Hong Kong
• InSIGhtforum in Singapore
• CdOforum in Hong Kong
First
in corporate
membership to
87 companies
12% growth
Used by 82% of members
marketing
benchmarks
100+
WFa worked with
16 industry sectors
2016 in
numbers
24

27.
World Federation of Advertisers
London, Brussels, Singapore
wfanet.org
info@wfanet.org
+32 2 502 57 40
twitter @wfamarketers
youtube.com/wfamarketers
linkedin.com/company/wfa