Without trust a brand is just a product and its advertising is just noise.
in Advertising
Trust is an important factor in effective advertising – for the public, the advertising industry itself, and policymakers.
For trust to exist, advertising must be legal, decent, honest and truthful. Advertising in the UK is self-regulated, to ensure that this is the case.
The Advertising Standards Board of Finance Limited (asbof) is responsible for collecting the levy that funds this self-regulation – and is carried out by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)
the asbof levy?
The asbof levy is voluntary, raised to fund the self-regulation of advertising in the UK. It is paid by advertisers using specific marketing channels, and is based on the level of spend within those media.
To be truly effective, it is important that all advertisers support this system, and the UK advertising industry has been successfully self-regulating since 1975.
The levy is collected on our behalf by advertising agencies from their clients. It is also paid directly to us by media companies, based on the billings they charge their clients. And, also, directly from advertisers (again based on billings) who deal directly with the digital platforms – for example those who have registered on the asbof.withgoogle site.
For broadcast advertising, visit basbof
It is important for advertisers to pay the levy because it directly – and solely – enables the self-regulation of advertising in the UK.
Regulation is important, because it ensures that advertising is – and is seen to be – legal, decent, honest and truthful. Advertising which isn’t these things won’t be trusted by
the public, and will lose its impact.
And self-regulation (as opposed to alternative, Government regulation) is crucial, because it leads to better trust, relevance, responsibility and effectiveness, for advertisers and the industry as a whole.
you contribute?
This is to help advertisers who do not already have an agency charging
them the levy on their media spend.
To view the ASA's latest cases and adjudications, and understand the issues in advertising right now, please visit their site, or follow their Twitter feed.