Self-Regulation or Ad Self-Regulation is a way for the

advertising industry to actively regulates itself to ensure that

advertisements are legal, decent, honest and truthful. Ads must
be prepared with a due sense of responsibility to the consumer
and society, with respect to the principles of fair competition.
The three parts of the industry – the advertisers who pay for
the advertising, the advertising agencies responsible for its
form and content, and the media that carry it – agree on
standards for advertising and set up a system to ensure that
advertisements that fail to meet those standards are quickly
corrected or removed.
This is achieved by means of standards or principles of best
practice, by which the advertising industry voluntarily agrees to
be bound. These rules are enforced by a self-regulatory
organisation (SRO) set up for the purpose and funded by the
industry itself.

Self-Regulation and Legislation

Self-regulation is an alternative to detailed legislation, but not
to all legislation. It is generally accepted that self-regulation
works best within a legislative framework, and it is useful when
the concept of self-regulation is formally recognised in
framework legislation.
The two complement each other, like the frame and strings of a
tennis racquet, to produce a result which neither could achieve
on its own. The law lays down broad principles, e.g. that
advertising should not be misleading, while self-regulatory
codes, because of their greater flexibility and the fact that they
are interpreted in spirit as well as to the letter, can deal quickly
and efficiently with the detail of individual advertisements.
Advertising self-regulation (SR) is an instrument that
complements legislation, through setting and enforcing codes
of practice, and promotes legal, decent, honest and truthful
advertising. It thus fosters consumer trust and a level playing
field among competitors.
Advertising and other forms of marketing communications are
vital means of communicating between marketers and
customers. They help to create efficient markets, both
nationally and internationally, promote economic development
and bring significant benefits for both consumers and
companies, as well as for society in general.
Whatever the model, the goals of advertising and marketing
self-regulation are the same worldwide: to demonstrate and
ensure that the industry, and particularly advertisers, are
compliant, and to produce responsible advertising with sound
ethical standards of marketing and advertising practice to
promote consumer confidence, a level competitive playing field,
and a robust marketplace where consumer choice and trust
thrive1.
In this report, ICC outlines the importance of advertising self-
regulation in promoting consumer confidence, a level
competitive playing field, and a robust marketplace where
consumer choice and trust thrive.
 1 ADVERTISING SELF-REGULATION PROMOTES
CONSUMER TRUST Advertising self-regulation (SR) is an
instrument that complements legislation, through setting and
enforcing codes of practice, and promotes legal, decent, honest and
truthful advertising. It thus fosters consumer trust and a level playing
field among competitors. Consumer trust is the ultimate goal for
advertisers, agencies and the media, as it makes advertising more
effective. Likewise, a system promoting legal, decent, honest and
truthful advertising is also in the interest of the general public, as
responsible advertising can help consumers in their buying decisions
and promotes competition and economic development. Codes of
practice cover specific issues of potential concern, such as marketing
to children and teens, or product-specific marketing considerations.
The ICC Code, for example, is enhanced by additional framework
guidance that addresses specific issues, such as food marketing,
alcohol beverage advertising, or environmental claims, and resources
such as the ICC Toolkit: Marketing and Advertising to Children. A
strong and effective programme of advertising self-regulation
advances the interests of both consumers and the advertising industry
by promoting responsibility in advertising and a level playing field
among competitors and compliance across the industry (advertisers,
agencies, and media) to a shared standard. Industry engagement in
developing rules helps promote industry buyin and financial support.
Enforcement initiatives applying the rules help make sure that
advertising is legal, decent, honest and truthful and, in turn, helps
build consumer trust in advertising. > 30 to 50% of a brand’s market
capitalisation comes from its reputation.2 > In Canada, 96% of
consumers believe that it is ‘somewhat’ to ‘very’ important for
advertisements to have a set of rules and regulations that advertisers
must follow.3 2 COMPREHENSIVE—Covers all industry
participants Actors in the advertising ecosystem are encouraged to
take part in the self-regulatory system. All share a common interest in
upholding high standards as loss of consumer and public trust can
undermine the entire advertising industry. This inclusiveness also
allows for checks and balances. Effective advertising self-regulation
works best when all sectors and market players are involved. Being
part of the system helps put pressure on those that are not yet involved
and helps create a level playing field promoting fair competition and
good business practice. In many countries, the advertising self-
regulation process of challenges and decisions applies to all
advertisers, whether large, medium or small companies, even if they
are not formally “members” of 1 system. Their ads are under the remit
of the relevant self-regulatory organisations (SROs) and may be
subject to consumer or competitor challenges, or to review by the
SRO itself. Self-regulation also raises standards across the ecosystem
of participating companies and their partners.
If your marketing agency has been around for some time, you
likely already know that not all client-agency relationships work
out. But when losing one client can mean the difference
between making payroll for the month or having to let
someone go, retaining a long list of clients that are happy with
your services becomes a vital part of growing (and sustaining)
your agency.
When you have a good relationship with a client, they feel great
about working with you. They are more likely to stay with your
agency longer, invest in it more often, and recommend your
agency to other prospects.
But how do you build healthier relationships with your clients?
And how can you make them feel like they can depend on you
to meet their needs without sacrificing your own?
Here at IMPACT, we take a lot of pride in helping our clients
thrive with our They Ask, You Answer approach to inbound
marketing, but we’ve also had our fair share of difficult
relationships over the years. Now, after a decade of practice —
and lots of failures and lessons learned along the way — we find
ourselves looking down the path toward some of our most
successful years to come.
In this article, we share with you the lessons we’ve learned
when it comes to building a bigger, more profitable client base,
including:
 Tips for how to improve your client-agency relationships.
 Strategies to save a client relationship that is already
strained.
 Common client-agency relationship mistakes to avoid.

You will walk away from this article knowing exactly how to get
your relationships started on the right foot and have a
smoother time leading clients faster and more easily toward
success.
Tips for how to improve your client-
agency relationships
If you want to build a strong relationship with your clients, the
bottom line is it all comes down to trust. Your clients need to
trust that you’ll deliver on your promises consistently and
support their business goals.
There are a few ways to approach this that might vary,
depending on how you run your agency and what your clients
need from you. But in general, building a successful agency by
fostering good relationships happens in three main ways:
1. Be clear with your client about
expectations upfront
One of the most frustrating experiences for clients is when they
think they are getting one thing, but then after they start working
with you, they actually get another.
This “bait and switch” breakdown in communication
often happens during the sales process when expectations
are set about deliverables and results, and this can make your
client feel like you’ve lured them under false pretenses.
To avoid this communication blunder, be diligent about spelling
out exactly what your team will deliver and how. This way, you
and your clients can be aligned from the start.
For example, if the client isn’t happy with your agency’s
deliverables, will you refund the client? Will you redo the work?
On one hand, your client expects high-quality work. On the other
hand, if you spend a lot of time redoing work, you can be in a
situation where you’re basically working for free, which is far
from ideal.
You also don’t want your client to question the value of your
work, which means they’re questioning whether or not they
need you.
For this reason, make sure what you provide to your client is
what they need and that you both agree to the plan ahead of
time.
Again, it all boils down to trust. As long as you keep delivering
what both parties agree to, your clients will continue to trust in
your ability to help them.

2. Be strategic with your staffing

When it comes to building a good rapport with clients, you want
to make sure you have the right people in the right seats at the
right time.
If you consistently employ entry- or mid-level talent that can’t go
toe to toe with your client’s senior staff, they might not be able
to hold an authoritative stance in the relationship. And if
they’re servicing an account with someone who doesn’t respect
them, that relationship will automatically be at a disadvantage.
The director of IMPACT’s Certified Coaching Program, Dia
Vavruska, weighs in:
“I ran into this issue early in my career. If you don’t have the
experience or authority to lean on, clients can sniff that out
immediately. That’s a really quick and easy way to deteriorate
trust in the relationship.”
So make sure the client-facing staff you do hire has the skills
and know-how to navigate the client-agency relationship
confidently and with purpose. Your client wants to feel like
they’re in capable hands. Make sure they are!

3. Be mindful about instituting too much

change
There are times when your agency will need to increase prices,
change your service offerings, or adjust your business model.
You might also find yourself having to manage staff shortages
and lots of turnover.
These things happen often for businesses that are adapting and
growing, especially if those changes are happening fast. The
trick here is making sure you minimize these changes or
communicate them as early as possible. Your goal should be
to set your clients’ minds at ease so that if changes happen,
you’ve got them covered and it won’t affect the quality of the
work or relationship in a negative way.
You never want to catch your clients off-guard — and you
should never let them find out on their own, especially after a
change has been made.
A little courtesy for your clients here can go a long way in
helping them feel good about doing business with you and
preventing any possible misunderstandings.
Strategies to save a client
relationship that is already strained
There’s nothing more frustrating than learning your agency
dropped the ball or might have taken on a bad-fit client. And
when that translates into a client having a bad experience
working with you (trust us, it happens), there are steps you can
take to try to salvage the relationship:
1. Complete a thorough assessment of the situation to
properly diagnose the issue(s). Is it the talent on your staff?
Is it the expectations you’re setting? Is it the types of clients
that you’re bringing on? For instance, when clients rely on
your agency’s work to keep their doors open, they can
become desperate and angry, regardless of how great your
deliverables are. Taking a good, hard look at the entire
picture will help you be sure you’re diagnosing the right
problem.
2. Do your best to assess whether or not there is a level of
trust that remains that you can lean back on. If there was
little trust in the relationship to begin with, then you know
you’re starting from the ground floor.
3. Send in a skilled communicator who can engage in
dialogue with your client. This is where lots of
communication training comes into play (such as the skills
we teach in our They Ask, You Answer Certified Coaching
Program). Again, you want to know your team can hop on
a call with a C-level executive and have a direct
conversation with them that drills down to the root of the
main issue, comes up with the proper solution, and builds
more trust.
If your employees don’t have these skills, it’s much more difficult
for your clients to feel enough vulnerability with your staff to
engage in an open and honest conversation.
However, if your client is not receptive to or willing to have an
open dialogue with your staff, it’s a good indication the client
isn’t a great fit for your agency in the first place.