Newly elected ISBA president spells out five-point agenda

- Reaffirming the importance of the marketing industry to the UK economy was top of a five-point agenda spelled out by Peter Blackburn, the chairman and chief executive of Nestle UK, following his election to the presidency of the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers.

"Government and its advisers need to be constantly reminded that the British economy depends heavily on the commercial success of the major companies that advertise; future investments, jobs and tax revenues rely on their economic performance," he said.

Defence of the freedom to advertise, promoting the effectiveness of self regulation, television airtime and the development of new-media technology were the four other strategic issues that advertisers needed to tackle, Blackburn said.

On the issue of the defence of the freedom to advertise he called for the industry to work with the Advertising Association and other bodies to resist curbs.

"In particular, attempts unnecessarily to constrain advertising to children or to limit the freedom of those who advertise food, toys, alcoholic drinks, cars and financial services must be strongly resisted," he said.

On the subject of TV airtime, he called for a constructive and sensible debate to modify the competitive imbalance between supply and demand in the UK market for television advertising airtime. This, said Blackburn, has been one of the "key causes of unacceptably high rates of media cost inflation".

This article was first published on Campaign