BOGOTA A partir de la fecha, las organizaciones fabricantes y comercializadoras de productos alcohólicos no requerirán autorización previa por parte del Invima para publicitar sus productos, según lo dio a conocer ayer el ente de control de medicamentos y alimentos.

La medida busca dar cumplimiento a lo establecido en el Decreto Ley Antitrámites 19 de 2012 'Por el cual se dictan normas para suprimir o reformar regulaciones, procedimientos y trámites innecesarios existentes en la Administración Pública', y en lo estipulado en el Artículo 132 que: 'la publicidad de bebidas alcohólicas no requerirá de autorización previa por parte del Invima'.

Asimismo, la entidad dio a conocer que la medida también aplicará para la publicidad de alimentos ya que que no hay una obligación prevista o autorizada por la ley que así lo exija.

Sin embargo, cabe anotar que con esta nueva reglamentación, las empresas no quedan exentas de cumplir con las normas sanitarias vigentes y demás requisitos establecidos por las autoridades sanitarias competentes.

Según la entidad, la regulación no aplicará a las bebidas energizates, caso en el cual las empresas deberán tramitar legalmente la 'Autorización de Publicidad'.

MERIAN ARAUJO

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Durante la XXXVII Asamblea anual de la Asociación Nacional de Anunciantes “ANDA”, realizada en  Bogotá, se entregaron las Placas ANDA a María Isabel Jaramillo, en reconocimiento a su labor como presidente de la Junta Directiva 2011 – 2012;  Bayer, en reconocimiento  a la labor desarrollada durante 100 años para el bienestar de los colombianos; El Espectador, por su compromiso periodístico y social con el país, durante 125 años; Alvaro Arango Correa, en reconocimiento a su aporte durante 50 años en beneficio de la publicidad colombiana; El Colombiano, por sus 100 años de labores periodísticas en Colombia; Andiarios, por sus 50 años en beneficio de la libertad de prensa. Se aprobó el plan de trabajo y se eligió nueva Junta Directiva para  el periodo 2012-2013.

La Junta Directiva para el periodo 2012-2013 quedó integrada por las siguientes empresas:

Banco de Bogotá, Kellogg de Colombia, Nestlé de Colombia, Organización Corona, Procter & Gamble Colombia, Banco Davivienda, suramericana, Protabaco  S.A.S., Grupo Éxito, Bancolombia, Bavaria, Coca Cola Servicios de Colombia, Colgate Palmolive Cía., Unilever Andina Colombia, Seguros Bolívar, Alpina, Bayer S.A. y Telefónica Colombia

La Asociación Nacional de Anunciantes ANDA cumple 33 años al servicio del sector de las comunicaciones y la publicidad.  El jueves 19 de abril se realizará la XXXVII Asamblea General Ordinaria a la cual asisten representantes de las empresas afiliadas para elegir nueva Junta Directiva, aprobar el Plan de Trabajo e informar sobre las actividades realizadas.

En ceremonia especial, en el  Salón de Recepciones del Gun Club, como se hace cada año, el Presidente Ejecutivo, Carlos Delgado Pereira y la Junta Directiva entregarán las Placas ANDA a quienes se han destacado en el sector empresarial, de las comunicaciones, de la publicidad y la cultura.  En esta oportunidad han sido distinguidos: María Isabel Jaramillo, en reconocimiento a su labor como presidente de la Junta Directiva 2011 – 2012;  Bayer, en reconocimiento  a la labor desarrollada durante 100 años para el bienestar de los colombianos; El Espectador, por su compromiso periodístico y social con el país, durante 125 años; Alvaro Arango Correa, en reconocimiento a su aporte durante 50 años en beneficio de la publicidad colombiana; El Colombiano, por sus 100 años de labores periodísticas en Colombia; Andiarios, por sus 50 años en beneficio de la libertad de prensa.

Queremos recordarles que al finalizar la  Asamblea, se ofrecerá una recepción, y se hará entrega de menciones honoríficas,  a quienes  se han destacado en el sector empresarial, de las comunicaciones, de la publicidad y la cultura. La bienvenida estará a cargo de Carlos Delgado Pereira, Presidente Ejecutivo de la Asociación.

En esta oportunidad los homenajeados son:  María Isabel Jaramillo, en reconocimiento a su labor como Presidente de la Junta Directiva 2011 – 2012;  Bayer, en reconocimiento  a la labor desarrollada durante 100 años para el bienestar de los colombianos; El Espectador, por su compromiso periodístico y social con el país, durante 125 años; Alvaro Arango Correa, en reconocimiento a su aporte durante 50 años en beneficio de la publicidad colombiana; El Colombiano, por sus 100 años de labores periodísticas en Colombia; Andiarios, por sus 50 años en beneficio de la libertad de prensa.

EL señor Frank Dietrich, Presidente de Bayer,   se dirigirá  a los asistentes en nombre de los galardonados

El Ministro de Tecnologías, de la Información y las Comunicaciones, Diego Molano Vega,  clausurará la XXXVII Asamblea General Ordinaria.

Beer, not Facebook, is the real social network of today. That is the view of Chris Burggraeve, chief marketing officer of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer and owner of global brands such as Budweiser, Beck’s and Stella Artois.

Burggraeve recognises the power of social media - it makes up nearly a fifth of his marketing spend - but he also worries that the world is forgetting how to socialise offline. He laments the sight that greets him as he passes people in their “Starbucks offices” when leaving work each night in New York.

“You can see young people with their computers open sitting there alone in Starbucks while on Facebook. Nobody knows that they are very alone and sad. I would much rather that these people were in a bar enjoying a beer with friends. That is essentially what beer has been doing for millennia. It has brought friends together.”

Burggraeve wants to reconnect the online and real worlds and make social media, well, more sociable. Rather than being an excuse to spend more time communicating with online acquaintances, it should be the springboard for personal interactions with real friends, he argues.

“The word ‘friend’ was there long before Facebook made it sexy. If you could choose between meeting virtually and meeting in the real world, where would you rather meet?”

Evidence of this attitude can be seen on AB InBev’s branded Facebook pages. The UK Stella Artois page asks fans to post where they are going on a night out, while the Beck’s page recommends cultural events such as music gigs. Burggraeve is clearly determined to encourage a social life that doesn’t just involve spending hours attached to a laptop.

He claims not to have a social media strategy - saying that social networks are just a means to an end - but he admits that they are AB InBev’s main mechanism for maintaining brand health. The company has a “fans first” approach to marketing, which means that the “first, second and third dollars” it invests in a brand are dedicated to consumers who have chosen to connect with

the company. These connections might have happened through Facebook and other social networks, but fans also include people who have signed up to the company’s own databases directly. He claims that AB InBev brands have amassed a combined 30 million fans in the past 18 months.

These fans do not just go online to praise their favourite beer: Burggraeve encourages them to co-create marketing. The Beck’s Green Box campaign is one example of how AB InBev has been soliciting direct contributions from fans. It has appealed to creative people from around the world to submit ideas that can be turned into augmented reality artworks. Using a smartphone app, these can be viewed at 30 locations in the UK, US and Italy marked by large green cubes branded by Beck’s.

Fans are considered so integral to AB InBev’s fortunes that the company put quotations from social media sites on the cover of its annual report, which was released on 8 March. In his presentation to analysts, chief executive Carlos Brito credited the ‘fans first’ strategy with “helping us to stay relevant to beer lovers around the world and sustainably grow our business”. Worldwide revenues saw organic growth of 4.6% in 2011, reaching $39bn (£23.4bn).

Social media has proved to be a particularly fruitful way of reaching consumers in China - AB InBev’s fastest-growing market and also the world’s biggest beer market. In the course of its rapid economic expansion, Burggraeve says that China has skipped several phases of marketing evolution, with consumers there leapfrogging older media straight to social networks.

The financial value of a fan who has chosen to engage, compared with a consumer who has not, is a figure that Burggraeve claims to have quantified, though he doesn’t reveal it. He knows why he wants fans, and last year devoted 18% of his budget to attracting and connecting with them. Indeed, some of AB InBev’s local brands are now marketed almost exclusively through social media.

“Fans are our brand ambassadors. If you take our 30 million fans, the influence and amplification potential is huge,” Burggraeve says.

But while beer can be a force for uniting friends, it has been known to have the opposite effect, and the alcohol industry has a self-imposed duty to encourage young people in particular to drink in moderation. Although Burggraeve admits “we are a business, and I would like people to learn to drink”, he acknowledges that AB InBev depends on friends to spread messages about responsible drinking between one another (see Q&A, below).

This is because in the UK, for example, the law states that alcohol ads can’t be targeted at anyone under the legal drinking age of 18, while Advertising Standards Authority regulations dictate that people appearing in them must not appear to be below 25.

The hope is that word of mouth marketing, as well as spreading the message of responsibility, will improve the business’ brand health.

His definition of this - and the ongoing measure of marketing performance at AB InBev - is an increasing willingness from consumers to pay more as time goes on.

It is also the company’s main route to growth. Instilling a premium positioning in its brands, so that consumers spend progressively more on them, is especially important in developing markets where volume sales have reached a plateau. So too is the development of new products, such as Stella Artois Cidre, Stella Artois 4 and Beck’s Vier.

One of the ways the business is hoping to push this premium positioning of brands is via live events. Taking advantage of sports properties, such as Budweiser’s sponsorship of football’s World Cup and the FA Cup in England, also demonstrates AB InBev’s strategy of associating its brands with shared experiences.

“You want to see a football game live with your mates. You want to be there, and you ideally want to be together,” says Burggraeve.

The company’s marketing is adapting to changing media consumption habits, taking into account that while watching live football on TV, viewers are also likely to be using their phones, computers and tablet devices to browse the internet and social media. Brand advertising, therefore, aims to surround the consumer with different connection points that reflect their interactions on the different screens.

We need to be careful not to deny happiness to the large majority for the foolishness of a few. We would rather forget the sales volume we get from irresponsible drinkers

Although AB InBev still uses traditional 30-second TV spots to promote its better known brands, Burggraeve says that he no longer thinks about TV as a medium in itself, only as part of a broader video strategy.

“The pressure of social media forces the so-called traditional media like TV to reinvent itself,” he says. As an example of this, he points to Budweiser’s own TV series, The Big Time. In the reality show broadcast on US network ABC, contestants play for a chance to realise their dreams in sport and fashion, for example. Footage that didn’t make the final cut for each hour-long show has been extensively exploited online and among Budweiser’s fans (see Marketer2Marketer, below).

Burggraeve argues that changes in how consumers use media require marketers to retrain, in order to understand the relationships they have with brands. It also means re-examining how marketers think about their budgets.

According to AB InBev’s annual report, sales and marketing costs across the company were more than $5bn (£3.2bn) in 2011, a 9% increase on 2010. It represents virtually the same proportion of annual revenues, though, at 13%. Despite the rise in spending, Burggraeve claims that the company applies zero-based budgeting “as a way of life”.

That means any spending has to be justified, so the priority is to be as efficient as possible with as little money as possible, rather than securing greater budgets from the organisation. Once again, the only measure that matters is creating sustainable brand health - in other words, the willingness of consumers to pay progressively more.

“If you can do that with less funds, why wouldn’t you? If digital was to be a way to do that more efficiently, why wouldn’t you shift?” says Burggraeve. He acknowledges that the shift he refers to at AB InBev will involve less spending on TV and other traditional media in exchange for more focus on funding the fans first strategy.

He uses a simple analogy of a restaurant owner to explain his spending philosophy. The restaurateur’s ideal marketing investment is zero because if the food, service and location are consistently excellent, diners will come back and will tell their friends. It is a message that Burggraeve evangelises about, not only inside AB InBev but also to the marketing profession as a whole in his role as president of the World Federation of Advertisers.

This does not necessarily mean that the world needs fewer marketers. Burggraeve says that he would hire a marketer before setting a marketing budget, but he has no time for marketers who complain about being restricted by their budgets. “Those marketers can go somewhere else.”

He says the latest generation of marketers accept that in today’s technological world “you can move a mountain with very limited funds”. The only additional requirement is an understanding of human nature.

“They make lemonade out of very few lemons,” says Burggraeve. “That kind of frugality is what we need in marketers. Analysts ask me ‘Have you increased your marketing budget?’, but they should be asking ‘What has happened to your brand health?’”

Despite his willingness to move away from traditional approaches to marketing, Burggraeve claims that nothing has really changed over time in the marketer’s core areas of responsibility. Brand health is only his expression of what marketers have long sought to create for their brands. And the marketer’s job is still to move forward whatever behavioural and attitudinal measures lie at the heart of brand health for the company.

“Marketers need to have curiosity, they need to have empathy and they need to be good anthropologists to understand and uncover insights that will drive behaviour, attitudes or perception.

“That is what matters. How do you move those people? Do it as cleverly as possible, but move them. If you don’t move them, you’re not in marketing.”

Ver Pantalla Completa

To: Responsible Advertising and Children Programme 

Re: EU Commissioner praises EU Pledge and industry food marketing pledge

Today’s half day seminar hosted by the European Advertising Standards Alliance in Brussels, looking into the critical role of responsible advertising in empowering consumer choice as well as its effect on economic growth, hosted the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, John Dalli.

In his keynote speech (see attached), the Commissioner talked about initiatives in the field of alcohol, food and cosmetics advertising as well as ‘green claims’ and online data protection.

In particular, the Commissioner picked out for praise the EU pledge and advertising self-regulation (industry-wide standards monitored and enforced through self-regulatory organisations- SROs- at national level). This was not the first time the Commissioner has commended the EU pledge (see alert below from November 2011).

Highlights:

On the EU Pledge:

“The Commission steers a EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, whose members are European level stakeholders from the food industry, the restaurant sector, advertisers and consumer NGOs. The platform members have delivered 300 commitments for action. One of the most significant of these commitments is the EU Pledge whereby major food and drink companies have committed themselves not to target TV, print, or internet advertising at children under 12, and not to advertise in primary schools. 19 major companies, representing approximately 75% of food and beverage advertising spent [sic] in the EU, implement this pledge. Monitoring carried out in 2010 shows that these self-regulation commitments do have an impact. I am pleased that the companies involved have scaled up this pledge, with a stricter audience definition, an increase in the market coverage and the extension to digital media.

On data privacy:

“A recent Eurobarometer survey showed that 72% of internet users are concerned about disclosing too much personal data online. Consumers are often unsure about how their data is accessed and processed and do not always realise that it could be used by online advertisers. This risks undermining consumer trust in the online environment as a whole. It is vital, therefore, to ensure that consumers have control over their data online and to provide them with information that is easily accessible and easy to understand.”

On advertising self-regulation:

“A final word on self-regulation. I believe this can be a useful tool, amongst others, and one that can usefully complement the work of public enforcers. I also recognise that self-regulation has a number of advantages over formal regulation, especially in terms of flexibility. I believe that self-regulation can serve as a best practice, but only if two core pre-conditions can be met. These are crucial to ensuring the credibility and effectiveness of self-regulatory systems. First, self-regulation needs to be trusted in order to be effective, and in order to be trusted it needs to be participative and involve civil society; Second, self-regulation needs to be based on adequate monitoring and control of its performance and outcomes. Self-Regulatory Bodies need to set up user-friendly and effective complaint handling and provide transparency on sanctions for non-compliance. Self-regulation in advertising can only fulfil its potential within a clear legislative framework that reinforces the effectiveness of codes of conducts.”

From: Will Gilroy 
Sent: 29 November 2011 12:52
Cc: Info
Subject: EU Commissioner praises industry food marketing pledge

To: Responsible Advertising and Children Programme (www.responsible-advertising.org)

Re: EU Commissioner praises industry food marketing pledge

The European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, John Dalli, today praised the EU pledge as “an important step in the right direction” at a joint meeting of the EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health and the High Level Group of EU member state health representatives in Brussels. The Commissioner was speaking a day after the WFA had presented the latest EU pledge monitoring results, as well as a raft of enhanced commitments to the pledge.

The Commissioner identified the “stronger audience definition” [for commitments to cover more TV programming when children are watching] and the “increased coverage” [to company-owned websites, as well as the addition of McDonald’s to the pledge participants] as positive developments in terms of how the EU Pledge was “scaling up and changing the way [companies] advertise to children” in Europe.

Coming just two months after the UN General Assembly on Non-Communicable Diseases in New York, he considered it a “timely” occasion to review progress in light of the “ambitious goals” set by the Platform. Since 2005, the Platform has generated 312 voluntary commitments by participants, of which 133 are still ongoing. The EU pledge is one of the most high profile of these commitments.

Asked about the future of the Platform, the Commissioner intimated that a firm decision would be taken in 2012. The EU Director General for Health, Paola Testori-Coggi, claimed that the Platform was a “fundamental instrument” within the European Commission’s broader public health strategy, the evaluation of which is scheduled to finish at the end of 2013. “The Platform is clearly delivering results. The EU pledge is a clear example,” she concluded.

ASUNTOS LEGALES

Sábado, Marzo 24, 2012

Bogotá

La Constitución Política (art. 73) estipula con carácter prioritario dentro del sistema de protección de los derechos, la libertad e independencia profesional de los periodistas, y ello por cuanto esos valores resultan esenciales en una auténtica democracia.

El artículo 20 de la Carta consagra la libertad de expresión y el derecho a la información, que son derechos fundamentales, mientras, en lo relativo a los medios de comunicación, no solo manifiesta que son libres sino que prohíbe de manera absoluta toda modalidad de censura.

Es reiterada la jurisprudencia de la Corte Constitucional en el sentido de garantizar que esos principios sean efectivos, pues una prensa amordazada, sometida a la inspección oficial sobre contenidos, sujeta a instrucciones o presiones de gobernantes o funcionarios, o expuesta a la extorsión o a la retaliación por aquello que expresa o informa, refleja un sistema antidemocrático y contrario a los intereses de la sociedad.

Pero, claro está, la libertad de medios y periodistas tiene que ser ejercida de manera responsable.

Así lo indica el texto constitucional cuando, a la vez que garantiza a toda persona la libertad de expresar y difundir su pensamiento y opiniones, la de informar y recibir información, exige que ésta sea veraz e imparcial; y también cuando, tras proclamar que los medios de comunicación son libres, señala que 'tienen responsabilidad social'.

Este principio se reitera, con carácter general para todos los derechos, en el artículo 95 de la Constitución:

'El ejercicio de los derechos y libertades reconocidos en esta Constitución implica responsabilidades'.

El mismo precepto enuncia como el primer deber de la persona y del ciudadano el de 'respetar los derechos ajenos y no abusar de los propios'.

Así que un periodista, o un medio, no pueden, so pretexto de ejercer sus libertades de expresión o información, lesionar derechos ajenos, mediante el suministro de datos falsos, manipulados o presentados a medias, o incompletos, de manera que con ellos -difundidos irresponsablemente- lesionen la honra, el buen nombre, el prestigio, el honor o la intimidad de las personas, sean ellas naturales o jurídicas.

El medio o periodista que distorsiona los hechos; el que malintencionadamente los acomoda con el propósito de transmitir al público un concepto erróneo, o de sembrar dudas relativas a la honestidad de los actos de alguien; el que titula falsa o engañosamente; el que redacta maliciosamente la información con un interés político o económico inconfesable, es un medio que abusa de su derecho, y debe responder judicialmente.

En todas las ocasiones en que ello ocurra, los afectados gozan del derecho de acudir a la solicitud de rectificación, a la acción de tutela, a la acción penal por calumnia o injuria, y a las acciones civiles para pedir indemnización por los perjuicios materiales y morales que les hayan sido causados.

JOSÉ GREGORIO HERNÁNDEZ

En 18 días empezará a regir en Colombia un nuevo Estatuto del Consumidor consagrado en la Ley 1480 de 2011, que busca Armonizar y actualizar las relaciones, derechos obligaciones y prerrogativas de los consumidores ante los productores, proveedores y quienes de alguna manera intervienen en la cadena de distribución del producto hasta que llega al consumidor final.

En su exposición de motivos plantea que es una norma fundamental para el desarrollo del país que protege a los consumidores frente a los riesgos para su salud y seguridad, y les garantiza el acceso pleno a una información adecuada, que les permita hacer elecciones de consumo libremente y bien fundamentadas. Es decir, toda una revolución en lo que concierne a los derechos que tiene cualquier ciudadano que compre un bien o un servicio en el mercado colombiano.

El tema llega como `anillo al dedo`, luego de que se conociera que más del 70% del crecimiento del Producto Interno Bruto del año pasado llegó de la mano de los consumidores. En hechos concretos, una gran parte del 5,9% se le debe a la actividad de consumo que gana terreno frente a otros sectores económicos y que explica el repunte en el ingreso per cápita de los colombianos en los últimos años.

El promedio de crecimiento de la última década es muy positivo, pero solo el año pasado se sintió verdaderamente que el consumo es vital para los logros económicos del país. Y en muy buena hora, el Congreso de la República y el Gobierno Nacional ponen a disposición de todos los colombianos un marco que proteja sus derechos frente a los intereses de los productores o prestadores de un servicio.

La nueva ley establece mecanismos eficientes de protección frente a la publicidad engañosa, asegura el derecho a reclamar y ser indemnizado cuando el caso así lo amerite. Lo más importante es que se asegura al consumidor el acceso a los medios de comunicación para recibir información y educación sobre la manera eficiente y legítima de proteger sus derechos.

Es clave entender que la nueva ley, además de darle un marco a la tradicional protección sobre la calidad de los productos adquiridos, información completa y adecuada que permita la elección adecuada y libre, actualiza las necesidades del consumidor moderno.

Arranca de esta manera una nueva era para el consumidor colombiano quien atraviesa por su mejor momento en su rol económico, y que de aquí en adelante, contará con un marco más estructurado y bien pensado que velará para que cuando compre un bien o pague por un servicio, no esté solo y la ley lo acompañe. Los comerciantes deben esmerarse más por cuidar a sus clientes consumidores con acompañamientos que vayan más allá de una simple venta.