To establish an agreement governing Internet and New Media (INM) that addressed the practical and economic realities of INM.<\/p>\n
The ACA acts on behalf of Canadian marketers in negotiating the UDA (Union des Artistes) and ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) commercial agreements. In October, 2009, ACA, together with Association des agences de communication cr\u00e9ative called UDA to the bargaining table to establish a first agreement governing Internet and New Media.<\/p>\n
Following years of negotiations and arbitrations, the final arbitration ruling was issued in late 2015 and came into effect April 1, 2016, for a period of two years.<\/p>\n
Key highlights of this decision include:<\/p>\n
Importantly, this decision complemented the 2013 decision that confirmed the scope of the agreement was not limited to the exclusive hiring of UDA members<\/u> (referred to as a \u201cclosed shop\u201d). Specifically, it allows for the use of non-union performers and real people.<\/p>\n
View or download a copy of the agreement<\/a>.<\/p>\n For more information on this issue, contact Paul H\u00e9tu, Vice President at (514) 842-6422 \/ 1-800-883-0422 \/phetu@ACAweb.ca<\/a><\/p>\n To get Telecaster to change its unpredictable ad-clearance process for \u201cfinal closed captioned\u201d ads.<\/p>\n In September, 2014 Telecaster<\/a> (part of ThinkTV), the self-governing clearance committee for TV commercials, began requiring marketers provide a \u201cfinal closed captioned\u201d version of all English and French language TV spots before it would grant an ad final approval.<\/p>\n Most, if not all ACA members were already producing closed captioned spots, and those were being checked by the broadcasters at the TV station level. The new layer of approval was creating a logjam for many commercials, including time-sensitive spots related to promotions.<\/p>\n ACA organized a gathering of more than 40 people \u2013 including TVB\u2019s board of directors and agency traffic managers \u2013 to address Telecaster\u2019s new process and to push for a change.<\/p>\n The ad-clearance committee\u2019s new policy was reversed just nine months after it went into effect, with Telecaster declaring<\/a> it would require only the non-closed caption spots as part of the clearance process, returning the approval of closed captioning to the station level.<\/p>\n For more information on this issue, contact Judy Davey, Vice President, Media Policy and Marketing Capabilities at (416) 964-2791 \/ 1-800-565-0109 \/\u00a0jdavey@ACAweb.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n To renew the ACTRA National Television and Radio Commercial Agreement for 2014-2017. The ACA sought to achieve reasonable residual rates for made for new media commercials, which have significantly limited audiences; and to establish improved conditions to more easily allow large-cast commercials for broadcast commercials.<\/p>\n ACA acts on behalf of Canadian marketers in negotiating the ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) and UDA (Union des Artistes) commercial agreements. ACA wanted to ensure favourable conditions were established so marketers could produce and distribute their advertising spots more cost-effectively.<\/p>\n The ACA, along with the Institute of Communication Agencies (ICA), began negotiations with ACTRA in the spring of 2014.<\/p>\n A new Agreement was signed, effective August 25, 2015 to June 30, 2017. Key Highlights included:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n View or download a copy of the agreement<\/a>.<\/p>\n For more information, contact Judy Davey, Vice President, Media Policy and Marketing Capabilities at (416) 964-2791 \/ 1-800-565-0109 \/\u00a0jdavey@ACAweb.ca<\/a>\u00a0or Winnie Alford, ICA\/ACA Talent Advisor at (416) 573-8793 \/Winnie@secondunit.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n To ensure a self-regulatory advertising standards system for automobile marketers was protected.<\/p>\n In 2007 a Quebec-government formed road safety task force recommended a review of automobile advertising. The government consequently gave direction to Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de l\u2019assurance automobile du Qu\u00e9bec (SAAQ) to \u201cestablish guidelines aimed at prohibiting any advertisement that portrays a road vehicle and conveys a careless attitude with respect to road safety…\u201d<\/p>\n A national self-regulatory system was already established and overseen by Advertising Standards Canada<\/a>\u00a0(ASC).<\/p>\n Quebec\u2019s legislative approach would force marketers to operate under two systems in Canada. In addition, the move might trigger other provinces or territories to follow suit, thereby creating a patchwork of regulations across the country. Clearly, a single self-regulatory program was desirable.<\/p>\n ACA contacted the Quebec government, proposing a national approach drawing direction from ASC\u2019s Canadian Code of Advertising Standards. Following our intervention, a national working group on automobile advertising – comprised of government, automakers and ad representatives was formed.<\/p>\n After numerous industry meetings, including a presentation to the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, which endorsed our endeavour, guidelines and a Memorandum of Understanding were developed. Automotive manufacturers committed to a national voluntary<\/strong> set of ad standards built on the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards model.<\/p>\n The strategy received formal support from the Council of Deputy Ministers and the Memorandum of Understanding was signed in May 2009. The ASC agreed to administer these commitments.<\/p>\n For more information on the automobile advertising issue, contact Paul H\u00e9tu, Vice President at (514) 842-6422 \/ 1-800-883-0422 \/phetu@ACAweb.ca<\/a><\/p>\n To offer the Quebec task force on body image a self-regulatory model as a viable solution to government regulation.<\/p>\n In Quebec, young people concerned about the negative impact of images of extreme thinness on girls and women signed petitions in 2007 and 2008 asking the provincial government to take action. Of importance, regulation on this issue had already been effected in France.<\/p>\n In 2009, Quebec established a task force to determine ways to promote a healthy and diversified body image, engage public and private stakeholders in actions that would combat weight-related conditions (such as anorexia and bulimia) and encourage a more realistic representation of diverse body types.<\/p>\n ACA participated on the task force, along with marketers, healthcare practitioners, government representatives, and fashion and production industry partners. As an option to regulation, ACA supported the creation of a voluntary \u201cCharter,\u201d which was accepted as the way forward.<\/p>\n ACA helped to create a Charter that was acceptable and actionable for Canadian marketers and industry stakeholders, as well as fulfilling the government\u2019s mandate. The resulting\u00a0Qu\u00e9bec Charter for a Healthy and Diverse Body Image<\/a>, to which the ACA is a signatory, outlined seven pledges to promote healthy and diverse body types.<\/p>\n Importantly, ACA was instrumental in stopping a proposal that would have imposed written disclaimers on ads to indicate when retouching had been used in the production of an ad and imposed impractical quotas for depicting various body types in commercials.<\/p>\n For more information on this issue, contact Paul H\u00e9tu, Vice President at (514) 842-6422 \/ 1-800-883-0422 \/\u00a0phetu@ACAweb.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n ACA lobbied against a proposed advertising sales arrangement between Google and Yahoo! because it would have created a virtual monopoly, thereby increasing marketer search costs.<\/p>\n In 2008, Google Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. announced a proposed agreement that would have allowed Yahoo! to show a Google ad any time the Google ad would sell for more than a Yahoo! ad – in the same slot on the Yahoo! results page. The new arrangement would have been in effect for 10 years in Canada and the U.S.<\/p>\n Under the proposed deal, the reserve prices set by Google on its platform would be charged to marketers on Yahoo!, establishing the much higher Google prices as the floor price. It was estimated at the time that Google cost-per-click prices were already about 35% higher than Yahoo! prices. The proposed arrangement would have also pushed the combined market share of Google and Yahoo! to over 90%, leaving even less alternatives for the marketer to choose from.<\/p>\n The ACA urged the federal Competition Bureau to\u00a0disallow this Google-Yahoo! agreement<\/a>, noting the deal would:<\/p>\n Following opposition by ACA, the Competition Bureau concluded the proposed agreement had \u201cprovisions that were potentially harmful to Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice had threatened Google and Yahoo! with a lawsuit to block the deal if they pursued it.<\/p>\n As a result,\u00a0Google Inc. abandoned<\/a>\u00a0its proposed advertising agreement with Yahoo! Inc.<\/p>\n For more information on this issue, contact Judy Davey, Vice President, Media Policy and Marketing Capabilities at (416) 964-2791 \/ 1-800-565-0109 \/\u00a0jdavey@ACAweb.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n To oppose the acquisition of CHUM Ltd. by Bell GlobeMedia; at minimum necessitating the divestiture of five CHUM City-TV stations in order to preserve healthy competition.<\/p>\n In 2006, Bell GlobeMedia undertook to purchase CHUM Ltd., which owned 33 radio stations, 21 specialty stations and 12 television stations.<\/p>\n The purchase offer, which required approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and the Competition Bureau, was a concern for marketers because it would lessen competition and lead to increased costs for TV time. The inclusion of the City-TV properties would mean Bell GlobeMedia would control two major local TV stations in the important Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver markets.<\/p>\n ACA vigorously opposed the sale with the Competition Bureau, yet the Bureau approved the sale. At the CRTC, however, it was a different story.<\/p>\nTelecaster<\/h2>\n
Goal<\/h3>\n
The Issue<\/h3>\n
Actions<\/h3>\n
Outcome<\/h3>\n
ACTRA 2014-2017 Agreement<\/h2>\n
Goal<\/h3>\n
The Issue<\/h3>\n
Actions<\/h3>\n
Outcome<\/h3>\n
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Automobile Advertising<\/h2>\n
Goal<\/h3>\n
The Issue<\/h3>\n
Actions<\/h3>\n
Outcome<\/h3>\n
Quebec Charter On Body Image<\/h2>\n
Goal<\/h3>\n
The Issue<\/h3>\n
Actions<\/h3>\n
Outcome<\/h3>\n
Google\/Yahoo! Search Advertising Marketing Agreement<\/h2>\n
Goal<\/h3>\n
The Issue<\/h3>\n
Actions<\/h3>\n
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Outcome<\/h3>\n
Bell GlobeMedia Purchase Of The Chum City-TV Stations<\/h2>\n
Goal<\/h3>\n
The Issue<\/h3>\n
Actions<\/h3>\n