ABG Annual Event – November 26 2019

Dear ABG Members,
Thank you to those who attended the 2019 ABG Annual Event. The strong turnout indicated the breadth of interest in the need for
developing a wide-ranging, self-regulatory agenda for the region’s advertising industry.
The ABG is here to advocate for responsible advertising standards, providing local insight via research and co-operation. It can only
deliver impact via collective industry interaction and participation.
2019 Updates:
This year has seen good progress across several areas. Firstly, strong collaboration from within ABG members saw the formation of two
sets of working committees that developed guidelines on Gender Portrayal in Advertising and Marketing Communication and Influencer
Marketing in the UAE. You can access both guidelines here. We encourage you to review and provide feedback prior to the guidelines
being finalised in Q1 2020. The feedback forms can be accessed here. You can also see independent research in both of these areas
here and here.
I’d like to thank Ganga Dhanesh, Claire Sherman and Ali Khalil of Zayed University for sharing their ABG commissioned research findings
on the analysis of Gender Stereotyping in Gulf-focused Advertising at our annual event. Taghreed Oraibi of BPG Orange presented on
the importance of transparency in influencer marketing and the need to address paid disclosure in building consumer confidence. You
can view the presentation here.
Thirdly, the ABG has also initiated training of university students in the UAE on ‘Responsible Marketing to Children’, by sharing the online
training developed by ABG in collaboration with the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA). If you’d like us to reach out to a specific
university, please do let us know.

Read More: Sanjiv’s End of Year Message