SARAJEVO, 21.06.2018. – On the conference “Regulation of the advertising market” held on June 21, 2018 in Sarajevo, a report on advertising policies and practices in BiH was presented, and problems and possible solutions for the unregulated advertising market in BiH were discussed.
The existing legislation and regulations in BiH include certain aspects of advertising, especially in the electronic media sector, but many areas remain unsettled, such as discounts for advertising services, advertising games of chance and advertising through influencers, said the representor of the report Sanela Hodžić, researcher of Media Centre Sarajevo, who presented the main findings.
In the report the authors Selma Kadić-Maglajlić i Barbara Krajnc the problem of poor availability of advertising information and ineffective control over advertising practices was emphasized. Thus, there are inadequately regulated public sector advertising criteria and procedures, and advertising information for public companies is treated as a business secret, which allows misuse of public funds for political promotion and rewarding of loyal media. The public procurement system has partially improved the transparency of public sector advertising, but the availability of information is still limited by the unjustified use of less transparent procedures, irregular publication and incomplete procurement plans.
Stressing the need for market regulation, Senad Zaimovic, director of marketing agency Fabrika and consultant on the report, said that there is no sufficient production, knowledge and interest in advertising in BiH, and that the industry did not use the potential of the Associations of Media Industry. “The complete domestic advertising sector is in an unfavorable position,” concluded Zaimovic.
Adnan Bilal, marceting director of FTV BiH, added that among the biggest problems in this area in BiH is also the lack of laws on the transparency of media ownership, as well as the arbitrary and non-transparent determination of the price of advertising space in the media.
Marceting expert Ekrem Dupanović stressed that it is primarily necessary to unite the media industry, which has so far shown disinterestedness to address these issues.
Advertisment expert Samra Luckin from the organization JaBiHEU has said it is very important to distinguish editorial from advertising content.
The report presentation emphasized the lack of a comprehensive framework that would regulate advertising in BiH, as well as the lack of initiatives to ensure the legitimacy of the system of measuring TV ratings and promoting ethical standards in the advertising sector. Recommendations that are a part of the report, among other things, aimed at increasing transparency, in particular with regard to public sector advertising, defining how to determine prices and conditions for achieving discounts, introducing external audits in public media procurement procedures, and the involvement of media auditors in the preparation and selection of media services , redefining business secrets in public companies, establishing a court of honor at the level of the advertising industry to adopt and promote ethical standards of advertising, promoting the reliability of audience research.
This report is part of the project „Media and public reputation“ financed by the EU, and implemented by BH Journalists Association, Media Centre Sarajevo, Press Council and BH novinari, Mediacentar Sarajevo and JaBiHEU.