internet marketing bodies

This page looks at industry, government and academic bodies.

It covers -

• introduction
• industry groups
• government
• academic resources
• activists

     introduction

[under development] 

     industry groups

Online marketing advocacy and professional groups abound. Regrettably there is considerable disagreement about terminology, objectives, standards and methodologies. 

The US Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) is one of the lobby groups for the online advertisers. Its site contains background information (all very positive but - according to government and consumer studies - inconsistent with practice) about online profiling technologies and other issues of government/community concern.

The US Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) - formerly the Internet Advertising Bureau - is a non-profit US-based industry body. It has a disappointing site; we have pointed to its useful 88 page Online Advertising Effectiveness study. The Future of Advertising Stakeholders group (FAST) brings together the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA), Association of National Advertisers (ANA), Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), Direct Marketing Association (DMA), the IAB and IAB Canada (IABC).

FAST in the US was associated with the US DMC2, advertised as

the first industry group that truly exemplifies the collaborative spirit that will drive digital marketing forward. We want to look at the entire spectrum of digital marketing and develop solutions that will work for everyone, but first and foremost, for consumers.

FAST Europe appears be moving more slowly.

The US Direct Marketing Association (DMA), the umbrella organisation you love to hate, has recently released the results of its latest Electronic Media Surveys, offering a fascinating insight into how direct marketers in North America are exploiting the Web.

The DMA has recently taken over the Association for Interactive Media (IMA).

Locally the Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA) has placed its direct marketing Merchant Code of Conduct online, as has its New Zealand counterpart (NZDMA).

The Association of Marketing Research Organisations (AMRO) is the local market research industry body.

One of its US equivalents is the Council of American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO).

     government

Consistent with trends in media regulation it is unusual to find a government agency with explicit responsibility for supervision of internet advertising or marketing.

Responsibility is instead implicit and 'technology neutral' (reflecting a particular function rather than medium), usually spread over several agencies within a particular jurisdiction and dealt with under consumer protection and competition policy legislation.

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has thus taken action against online scams under its deceptive trading powers but has not established formal standards or metrics for internet advertising.

In the US there is a similar spread of responsibilities across the Fderal Trade Commission, Food & Drug Administration, Securities & Exchange Commission and other federal/state agencies.

     academic resources 

Among Australian and overseas academic institutions concerned with electronic commerce the following may be of interest to readers of this guide.

• the Wharton Forum on Electronic Commerce (WFEC) at the Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania (giving Harvard Business School a run for its money in producing MBAs) has useful pointers to recent market studies and other research, although note that much of the material is restricted to Wharton affiliates
• the eLab at Vanderbilt University is headed by Donna Hoffman & Tom Novak. The site includes excellent papers and numerous links. 
• MIT's eCommerce Centre offers links to a number of good studies by Ariely, Brynjolfsson and others.
• the Hermes project at the University of Michigan is primarily of interest for its Web user surveys, discussed in our Metrics & Statistics guide
• Admedia Org at Michigan State University, has produced a short Internet Advertising Research Guide.  

     activists

[under development]

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