On Friday, August 25, 2017, the leaders of the national trade associations of the advertising industry from the five countries of the region gathered in Zagreb. The meeting was organized by HURA (Croatian Association of Communications Agencies), and was attended by representatives of SOZ Association (Slovenian Advertising Association), UEPS (Association for Market Communications of Serbia), IAA Serbia (International Advertising Association), MAAM (Macedonian Association of Agencies for Marketing) and AMAC (National Association of Marketing Communications of Montenegro).
“Since the associations of the region, apart from the geographic region also share similar problems typical of the market communications industry, exchange of experience, regional cooperation and new joint projects will help improve the work of all the associations, and thus the markets of the region as a whole,” said Davor Bruketa, Board Chairman at HURA.
Mutual support at the regional level will enable the harmonization of standards in markets and the promotion of good practice, including those for the successful implementation of pitches that started last year and has resulted in positive developments in individual markets.
Since adspend (Media AdEx) in the region is being measured in a similar way, it was proposed to harmonize the methodology of assessment, which would result in data that would be directly comparable in all markets. Harmonization of the methodology is crucial for the next proposed initiative – the creation of a regional list of agencies, which would be uniform for all countries and tailored to international practice. Finally, standardization has also been proposed in the context of good practice guidelines that help in the education and development of home markets and the harmonization of standards in markets, which is of paramount importance in the context of regional business and competition. The topic of introducing regional awards for individuals who promote good practice and especially contribute to market development was also proposed.
Although self-regulatory acts like the Code of Advertising and Market Communication in most markets are defined in a similar way and follow international standards, associations point out self-regulatory issues as problematic in particular markets, especially in the online advertising segment.
The meeting was attended by: Mojca Briščik and Ana Ivandić (SOZ, Slovenia), Viktor Nikolić, Vanda Kučera and Stana Šehalić (UEPS, Serbia), Jelena Ivanović (IAA, Serbia), Sašo Pešev and Elena Stefanova (MAAM, Macedonia), Velibor Zolak (AMAC, Montenegro) and Davor Bruketa, Božidar Abramović, Mario Fraculj and Dunja Ivana Ballon (HURA, Croatia) as hosts of the meeting.
