The AAAAs Shows Significant Support
New York, NY (March 2, 2006) – The IAB, in conjunction with its Terms and Conditions Task Force, today announced its recommendation that all IAB members enforce the Late Creative provision. This provision, as stated in the IAB/AAAAs Terms & Conditions v2.0, requires that online creative be delivered to publishers on time.
This recommendation addresses the systemic problems relating to the delivery of late creative within the Interactive industry. Delivering creative later than the committed date, results in serious operational issues for the media companies and forces agencies to constantly revise their plans.
Specifically, the provision states: If Advertising Materials are late, Advertiser is still responsible for the media purchased pursuant to the Insertion Order. To assist in enforcing this clause, and to clarify to the buying community how late creative will be managed, the IAB is recommending the following: in the absence of a mutually acceptable resolution negotiated between the Media Company and an Agency or Advertiser, if Advertising Materials are late, the Media Company may elect to enforce one of the following:
- Advertiser is still responsible for the media purchased pursuant to the Insertion Order.
- Advertiser is still responsible for the media purchased pursuant to Insertion Order and Media Company may run a Public Service Announcement (PSA) as a replacement until the creative is received; or
- Advertiser is still responsible for the media purchased pursuant to Insertion Order and Media Company may run a house promotion until the creative is received.
Additional policies, including late fees and penalties, are also being explored and used by IAB members.
We applaud the IAB members that have stepped forward to lead the industry to a more efficient and mature way of conducting business, said Greg Stuart, CEO, IAB. This is an important step forward in improving the efficiency and increasing the profitability for all parties involved in the buying and selling of online advertising.
The following is a list of companies who have publicly stated their intention to enforce a late creative policy within the next 3-6 months:
- ABC.com
- ABCNews.com
- About.com
- AccuWeather.com
- Allrecipes.com
- American Greetings
- AOL
- BusinessWeek Online
- Cars.com
- CNET Networks, Inc.
- Disney Online
- ESPN.com
- Forbes.com
- IAC Advertising Solutions
- iVillage
- Kelley Blue Books kbb.com
- Local Media Network/WorldNow
- LPI Media
- MSN
- MTV Networks
- National Geographic
- NYTimes.com
- TVGuide.com
- Vibrant Media
- weather.com
- Yahoo!
We encourage all of our members to follow all aspects of the IAB/AAAA Terms and Conditions 2.0, said Michael Donahue of the AAAAs, The Interactive Marketing and New Media Committee actively endorses the Late Creative provision and supports the PSA option offered to advertisers.
To facilitate the securing of creative assets for those members who are interested in using PSAs, the IAB has enlisted the assistance of The Advertising Council. We are excited that the IAB and its membership have included the option to use PSAs as part of this initiative, said Peggy Conlon, President and CEO, of The Advertising Council Since all of our campaign materials are already sized in compliance with IABs Universal Ad Package (UAP) this should ensure a seamless process, The Ad Council stands ready to help wherever possible. For more information on how The Advertising Council can assist, please contact Angela Hui, Director, Digital Media.
The IAB is further recommending that prior to implementing this Late Creative policy, IAB members communicate the specifics of their policy directly to their individual clients in an effort to alert them to a change in T&Cs enforcement. In addition, IAB member companies should consider publishing their late creative policy as part of their standard policies.
In 2002, the IAB and AAAAs negotiated and released T&Cs v2.0 which was a collaborative effort by agencies and publishers designed to identify and address key issues facing today’s Internet advertising industry. The IAB/AAAAs Terms & Conditions v2.0 are available here.
ABOUT THE IAB
Founded in 1996, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (www.iab.net) represents over 225 leading interactive companies that actively engage in, and support the sale of interactive advertising. IAB members are responsible for selling over 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices; fields interactive effectiveness research, and educates the advertising industry about interactive advertising.
IAB Media Contact:
Lynn Trono