Global Alliance for Responsible Media Celebrates Third Anniversary at Cannes Lions

The Global Alliance for Responsible Media marked its third anniversary at Cannes Lions—where it debuted with 16 founding partner companies in 2019—by releasing new guidelines and standards and turning its attention toward the metaverse. The organization has grown to 122 members in its three years: 61 advertisers, 35 industry associations, 11 media platforms, nine ad-tech companies and six agency holding companies. Meta vice president, global business group Nicola Mendelsohn said in a statement, "Since its founding in 2019, GARM has demonstrated that industry can come together to meaningfully address the challenge of harmful content online. Meta’s commitment to safety and partnering across the industry is unwavering—from our significant investments in safety, platform controls and third-party verification. We look forward to continuing this progress in the years to come.” The World Federation of Advertisers-led coalition said Tuesday that it will release the following: guidelines on misinformation, new standards on ad placements and an outline of initial steps that should be taken to make the metaverse a safe place for advertisers. GARM is also working with the WFA’s National Associations Councils to ensure that the whole framework, including the new misinformation guidelines, is applied at a local level through national advertiser associations. The new misinformation guidelines were spurred by events including Covid and the war in Ukraine, and they were designed to provide a structure for demonetizing misinformation. They were developed in coordination with European Commission and in consultation with non-governmental organization such as the Anti-Defamation League, Consumers International, the NAACP and Reporters Without Borders. Procter & Gamble chief brand officer Marc Pritchard said in a statement, “GARM has achieved much in short space of time—more aligned definitions of harmful content, enhanced measures and the introduction of adjacency controls. But more still needs to be done. Broadening definitions to include misinformation, introducing adjacency standards and a proactive approach to monetizing the metaverse are important next steps in ensuring that our brands can safely reach the diverse consumers we serve.” GARM’s new adjacency standards framework was designed to help ensure that media placement in safe bug sensitive content is handled in a more controlled way by advertisers, agencies and platforms, defining minimum standards and approaches for surfaces including display overlays, in-stream audio, in-stream video, news feeds and stories. The group cited death, injury and military conflict as examples, saying that ad buyers and sellers need a common framework and adding that it will work further when it comes to livestream formats “with the initial priority being to define a minimum safety standard for monetization, given abuse of the format in a recent mass shooting event.” Mars Wrigley global chief brand and content officer Rankin Carroll said in a statement, “Building on the success of the GARM brand safety floor and suitability framework, the adjacency standards framework will provide advertisers and platforms with much-needed transparency, together with a common language to better manage the proximity of advertising to sensitive content. This is a meaningful step for the industry, moving from a lack of visibility, control and significant brand risk to a world where brands feel confident to invest in platforms that actively strive to provide a safe, transparent and effectively managed environment.” Finally, GARM said it began work to help industry stakeholders better understand brand safety principles and requirements within the metaverse, with a goal of identifying appropriate opportunities in these new environments. GARM co-founder and initiative lead Rob Rakowitz said in a statement, “GARM has been set up to ensure that the business model for advertising doesn’t fund harm, and we did this in a reactive way—after business practices took shape in digital social media. We must help the industry understand safety requirements before commercialization begins in the metaverse. We’re being asked by our members to start on this journey as new spaces emerge. We must ensure that advertising is aligned with sustainable and responsible growth models.” Twitter chief customer officer Sarah Personette added, "Keeping people and brands safe online continues to be of critical importance. We are proud to be working with the GARM community to help the ad industry make meaningful contributions toward those ends. This latest step to combat the monetization of misinformation and create common standards and definitions related to brand suitability will be critical in creating a safe environment for everyone." And WFA CEO Stephan Loerke said, “While digital media owners tend to be global players, it’s vital that we also take these vital controls down to a local market level. Brand safety standards also need to be applied by all digital media owners so that advertisers can be sure that their messages aren’t funding bad actors or appearing against content that damages their standing in the eyes of their customers.”