ANA Unveils Comprehensive Ethics Framework
ANA’s “Ethics Code of Marketing Best Practices” Includes Guidance to Inform and Protect Consumers on Issues Including AI, Privacy, Bias, Ads to Children
Washington, D.C. (July 17, 2024)—To promote a common set of rigorous standards for ethical marketing, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) today unveiled a comprehensive marketing ethics framework, the ANA’s “Ethics Code of Marketing Best Practices.” This broad ethical framework and resource guide brings together existing ANA guidelines with a range of best practice recommendations to inform and protect consumers across emerging and important areas, including artificial intelligence (AI), privacy, advertising to children, and diversity and inclusion.
For example, the Ethics Code includes the ANA’s first guidelines around the ethical use of AI in marketing. To ensure that AI technologies are deployed responsibly and ethically by marketers, the Ethics Code outlines a range of best practices, including the standard that marketers be transparent about their use of AI in their campaigns.
“Ethical marketing practices leads to better business results by building trust between brands and consumers,” said Bob Liodice, CEO, ANA. “ANA’s comprehensive ethical framework elevates brand marketing and strengthens the bond between brands and consumers across standard marketing channels and those influenced by emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.”
The ANA Ethics Code includes new and consolidated standards across seven broad areas of ethical responsibility. Those areas include:
- Part 1 – Advertising Claims and Offers
- Part 2 – Accessibility, Older Adults and Children (Audiences)
- Part 3 – Diversity and Inclusion
- Part 4 – Data Privacy, Security and Stewardship
- Part 5 – Regulated Products and Services
- Part 6 – Digital Innovation (Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Automated Processing)
- Part 7 – General Principles
The Ethics Code was designed by industry leaders and further strengthened through ANA membership input. The ANA Marketing Ethics Code Steering Committee met over a six-month period, between May and December 2023, to help shape generally accepted principles of conduct for all media. The Ethics Code was then released for member input prior to publication. It will be regularly reviewed and amended to address changing technologies, marketing practices, and legal requirements.
“Thanks to this framework, ANA members now have a one-stop resource to ensure they set and uphold industry best practices around ethical marketing,” said Christopher Oswald, ANA’s EVP for Law, Ethics and Government Relations of the Washington Office which includes the Center for Ethical Marketing. “It is important for the industry to have this guide to best practices, which complements existing legal requirements and industry self-regulatory programs with new proactive steps that all companies should take.”
To educate members, ANA plans to roll out training modules, roundtable discussions, committee meetings, and white papers over coming months.
Recognizing the need for reinforcement of existing high ethical standards, the Center recently created a Marketing Ethics Code Steering Committee. This group of top thought leaders will review and address new and emerging ethics issues, legal standards, and industry self-regulatory programs to ensure the Ethics Code remains current and effective.
“The ANA Ethics Code reflects the advertising and marketing industry’s long-standing policy of providing ethics-based data and marketing stewardship that enables fairness and trust and builds on decades of development by seasoned marketers, advertisers, fundraisers, and solution providers,” said Senny Boone, SVP, Center for Ethical Marketing, ANA. “It represents the baseline that marketers and advertisers can utilize to bridge the gap between their work and a consumer’s expectations of the industry.”
Members of the ANA are invited to read the Code and send in any comments or inquiries to ethics@ana.net. The Code will be used for consumer inquiries and self-regulation by the Center for Ethical Marketing by December 1, 2024. Training materials will be produced and publicized by the Center for Ethical Marketing and promoted to members of the ANA.
The new Code can be accessed at ana.net/ethicscode.
The first Benchmark report can be accessed at ana.net/programmaticbenchmark.
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ABOUT THE ANA CENTER FOR ETHICAL MARKETING
The ANA Center for Ethical Marketing serves as a robust self-regulatory system that builds consumer trust in accountable, data-driven marketing and fundraising. It reviews thousands of consumer inquiries about marketing each year and produces semi-annual compliance reporting and ethics case resolutions. Through the Center, ANA offers a distinct, world-class program to provide ANA members with insight, connection and guidance on ethical marketing across marketing practice areas and technologies.
ABOUT THE ANA
The mission of the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) is to drive growth for marketing professionals, brands and businesses, the industry, and humanity. The ANA serves the marketing needs of 20,000 brands by leveraging the 12-point ANA Growth Agenda, which has been endorsed by the Global CMO Growth Council. The ANA’s membership consists of U.S. and international companies, including client-side marketers, nonprofits, fundraisers, and marketing solutions providers (data science and technology companies, ad agencies, publishers, media companies, suppliers, and vendors). The ANA creates Marketing Growth Champions by serving, educating, and advocating for more than 50,000 industry members that collectively invest more than $400 billion in marketing and advertising annually.