• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, January 14, 2019

The WFA (FKA World Federation of Advertisers) has appointed a Global Media Board of advisors and named P&G global media director Gerry D’Angelo to the post of co-chair of the organization's Media Forum, working alongside Ben Jankowski, senior vice president/global media at MasterCard.

The changes follow the group’s issuance last year of a “Global Media Charter” designed to improve the relationship between media agencies and advertisers and addresses issues like ad fraud, brand safety and user experience.

The WFA believes the addition of the new board and the appointment of D’Angelo will encourage adoption of the charter and its principles more broadly throughout the industry.

Members of the new Global Media Board represent companies spending more than $45 billion combined on communications each year and “collectively and have the power to drive change through the media ecosystem,” per the WFA. The board will also help shape the WFA’s global media policy.

“Advertisers can no longer relinquish control of media, data and algorithms,” said D’Angelo, asserting that groups like the WFA and its media charter will help set the course for doing so.

“The charter is not a magic solution to the challenges of the digital media space,” added Matt Green, global media lead, WFA. “It asks for change, but it’s just a starting point. It lists the needs of the media investors who fund this ecosystem and makes clear that things cannot go on as they are.”

Other members of new media board include:

Bea Lindvall, Global Head of Media, Danone

Belinda Smith, Global Head of Media, Electronic Arts

Ben Jankowski, SVP Global Media, mastercard

Gerhard Louw, Head of International Media Management, Deutsche Telekom

Gerry D’Angelo, Global Media Director, P&G

Luis Di-Como, SVP Global Media, Unilever

Oliver Maletz, Head of International Communication and Media Planning, Volkswagen

Rob Rakowitz, Head of Global Media, Mars

Sarah Armitage, Group International Media Director, LVMH

Simon Peel, Global Media Director, Adidas

Sital Banerjee, Global Head of Media, Philips