The rules of the game for advertising: a small market that still needs to be regulated

"Every market is regulated by laws and needs a judicial system that intervenes when these are violated. In the field of communication, however, it is often difficult to define what is allowed and what is not, which is why there have been attempts in Europe for years to positively support the market through certain groups." Daniel Eischen has been President of the Conseil de la Publicité du Luxembourg (CPL) since 2018. The Council, which has been active since 2009, deals with marketing issues and endeavours to "promote, enhance and defend advertising and its freedom, as well as to implement self-discipline in advertising on the basis of a code of ethics", thus the CPL's mission statement.

It is about self-regulation instead of over-regulation, a network of players who demand compliance with certain ethical and deontological "rules" and pursue a common line across countries – in short: not about regulating legal matters, but rather about providing guidelines for advertisers, agencies and the media to follow. "Particularly when it comes to topics such as youth, sexuality, tobacco consumption, gender roles or stereotypes, legislation would have to be constantly adapted, which is why we rely on a tripartite in this country, i.e. an association of representatives from different areas who jointly monitor the market, " says the president.

Keyword: ethics

The European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA) regularly publishes surveys and studies from the EU member states, which serve as a basis for the Luxembourg industry. The Grand Duchy's advertising market is particularly unique: "For 90 per cent of the topics, we can say: we don't have that here, " says Eischen. The local field of action is limited: Banks, insurance companies, supermarkets, the state, the automotive industry, wine producers and the CFL all run advertising campaigns, but there is little to no advertising in this country for so-called "fast-moving consumer goods", i.e. products or services that sell well.

"The market is extremely sober and reserved, as only a few major brands are based or active in Luxembourg, " explains Eischen. Consumer brands such as Cola, Barilla or Heinz are nowhere to be found in the luxembourgish advertising landscape and Luxlait's campaigns are hardly comparable to those of major international players such as Danone, Müller and Co. Nevertheless, the work of the CPL and the Commission for Ethics in Publicity (CLEP), which deals with complaints regarding ethical issues in advertising, is not only important, but absolutely necessary – "we actually need a proper observatory for communication, " says the president. If an advert is reported, the CPL forwards the matter to the CLEP, which then evaluates it. Both bodies function independently of each other, but pursue the same goals.