ADVERTISING SERVICES

June 8, 2001

I.

Summary

The following proposal on advertising services is submitted by the United States for the purpose

of consideration by Southern Africa.  Advertising services touches upon numerous industries and

services and is a significant economic force both locally and globally.  This proposal is intended

to initiate a dialogue on the importance of liberalization of the advertising services sector and

offers a framework for negotiation of the FTA.

II.

Advertising Sectoral Coverage

Within the division of the W/120's  Other Business Services ,  Advertising Services  can be

defined as those services provided in the creation, planning and placement (including buying and

selling) and distribution of advertisements via various communication platforms.  In its simplest

form, advertising may be defined as a commercial communication from an identified sponsor

utilizing various distribution platforms to connect with an audience.  Advertising can assume

many different forms, be it brand advertising, public service advertising, corporate advertising,

or business to business advertising.  Advertisements are distributed across a wide spectrum of

communication platforms: newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, cable, satellite, the Internet,

billboards, transportation displays and circulars.

The creation of every single advertisement incorporates the time and talent of many different

entities.  These entities may include advertising agencies, marketing experts, consumer research

analysts, copywriters, film producers, directors, computer animators, printers, typesetters,

graphic designers, website designers and programmers, art directors, actors, carpenters, hair

stylists, prop managers, wardrobe stylists, lawyers, talent negotiators, musicians, models, scanner

operators, editors, and even caterers.  Advertising touches numerous industries and services.

Once an advertisement is created, the placement of the ad within a communications platform

incorporates the talents of additional professionals, which include media research analysts, media

specialists, planners and buyers, lawyers, self regulatory bodies, broadcast/clearance standards

professionals, broadcast coordinators, talent managers and traffic analysts.

The sales of advertising space or time are the vehicle through which virtually all businesses seek

to provide information to their customers and potential customers.  Without the ability to

distribute across a broad range of communication platforms, all advertisements produced could

not reach their intended audience.  Such sales, therefore, are an integral part of all advertising

services.

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