Ebiquity Regulatory News (EBQ)

Ebiquity Plc

("Ebiquity" or "the Company")

19 July 2016

Ebiquity, FirmDecisions and ANA issue guidelines for achieving media transparency

Ebiquity and FirmDecisions, in partnership with The Association of National Advertisers ("ANA"), announces the release of a wide-ranging set of recommendations aimed at helping global marketers and advertisers improve internal governance and achieve greater oversight and control over how their advertising budgets are spent.

The guidelines form part of the "Media Transparency: Prescriptions, Principles, and Processes for Marketers" report which followed the June release of an ANA-commissioned assessment by K2 Intelligence which found non-transparent business practices, including cash rebates to media agencies, were pervasive in a sample of the U.S. media ad-buying ecosystem.

In conjunction with the recommendations, the ANA has released a contract template to be used by marketers as a foundation for their master service agreements with agencies. The template was first created by the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers ("ISBA") and was adapted for the U.S. marketplace by ANA general counsel ReedSmith.

Michael Karg, Group CEO, Ebiquity commented: "Advertisers are now experiencing a unique environment where demands for financial accountability and ROI are increasingly high, while transparency into media spending is difficult to achieve."

"We're at a turning point in the U.S. advertising industry. With these recommendations, advertisers have the opportunity to pave the way towards greater transparency while laying a strong foundation to manage future complexity."

Bob Liodice, ANA president and CEO commented: "The purpose of these guidelines is to provide marketers with prescriptions for addressing transparency issues specific to the K2 Intelligence study."

"We outlined actions marketers should consider to diminish or eliminate non-transparent and non-disclosed agency activities and to ensure that their media management processes are optimized."

The complete recommendations, K2 Intelligence assessment and contract template are available for download at http://www.ebiquity.com/en/resources/ana-media-transparency-study.

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About the ANA

The ANA (Association of National Advertisers) makes a difference for individuals, brands, and the industry by advancing the interests of marketers and promoting and protecting the well-being of the marketing community. Founded in 1910, the ANA provides leadership that advances marketing excellence and shapes the future of the industry. The ANA's membership includes nearly 1,000 companies with 15,000 brands that collectively spend or support more than $300 billion in marketing and advertising annually. The membership is comprised of more than 700 client-side marketers and nearly 250 Associate Members, which include leading agencies, law firms, suppliers, consultants, and vendors. Further enriching the ecosystem is the work of the nonprofit Advertising Educational Foundation (AEF), an ANA subsidiary. The AEF's mission is to enhance the understanding of advertising and marketing within the academic and marketing communities.

About Ebiquity

Ebiquity is a leading independent marketing analytics specialist. Ebiquity employs over 900 people in 19 offices in 14 countries worldwide. Ebiquity works with over 1,100 clients, including over 80 percent of the world's biggest advertisers. Ebiquity provides marketing analytics and technology services via three practice areas: marketing performance optimization, media value measurement, and market intelligence. Ebiquity was founded in 1997 and is widely recognized as one of the world's largest media benchmarking and auditing providers.

About FirmDecisions

FirmDecisions is a subsidiary of Ebiquity. FirmDecisions is the largest independent global contract compliance specialist. It has nine offices and works with some of the world's biggest brands, and has completed over 4,500 audits in 70 countries during the last 15 years.