Lefebvre Hanneman Consultancy

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The Lefebvre Hanneman Consultancy (LHC) is a Brussels-based public affairs consultancy specialised in European consumer protection policy. LHC is recognised both for its in-depth knowledge of national and European legislation and for its understanding of the policy drivers which influence the regulation of the marketing, advertising and media sectors.

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Data protection and privacy on the internet

Yesterday 21 January, the European Parliament Legal Affairs Committee held a hearing to discuss data protection on the internet and the planned merger between Google and Double Click.

The issues discussed covered the use of personal data by search engines or media websites, in behavioural marketing or advertising. The hearing outcomes will feed into the European Commission decision on the planned merger between Google and DoubleClick. Both US and EU legislators, data protection bodies, consumer associations and ...

Consultation on state aid for public TV channels

The Commission has published a consultation on a possible update of the Broadcasting Communication of 2001 on state aid given to public broadcasters.

- This consultation, launched on 10 January 2008, will close on 10 March 2008 and invites Member States and stakeholders to comment on whether changes in the legal environment, developments in the Commission decision-making practice, market developments and future challenges of the audiovisual media sector call for changes to the ...

Towards a more consumer-friendly Single Market for online music, films and games

The European Commission has published its European strategy for Creative Content Online on 3 January. The strategy comes in the form of a Communication and launches further actions to support the development of innovative business models and the deployment of cross-border delivery of diverse online creative content services.

In the Annex, the Commission also launches a public consultation to feed into a future Recommendation on Creative Content Online. Answers are requested by 29 February 2008.

Furthermore, the Commission is setting up the "Content Online Platform", to allow stakeholders to discuss and work together on the forthcoming challenges. Consumer associations in particular will be invited to participate actively in the Platform.

The aim of the strategy is to boost Europe's online content sector and to give consumers easier and faster access to music, TV programmes, films or games via the internet, mobile phones or other devices. According to a Commission study on the EU-25, retail revenues from online content could ...

Audiovisual Media Services Directive published in OJ

The Audiovisual Media Services (AMS) Directive updates the Television Without Frontiers Directive and has been given its final formal approval by the European Parliament on 28 November. It has been published in the Official Journal on 18 December and covers all audiovisual media services on classical television and the internet and other digital platforms. Member States have until 19 December 2009 to transpose the text into national law.

The directive recognizes self- or co-regulation as a possibility for Member States to implement the directive and maintains the country of origin principle which has allowed broadcasts and TV advertisements to circulate freely within the EU, albeit with a new possibility given to Member States to question and eventually block ...

Media literacy in a digital environment

On 20 December, the Commission has published a Communication outlining a European approach to media literacy in the digital environment.

Media literacy is increasingly becoming an important component of European and national policy agendas. The Commission Communication aims at highlighting and promoting good practices in European media literacy and to propose actions. It suggests that a European definition for media literacy could be “the ability to access the media, ...

Unfair Commercial Practices Directive enters into force

On 12 December, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive has become applicable in all 27 European Member States, even if 13 countries have not finished transposing the directive into national law.

The directive updates the Misleading Advertising Directive in its provisions concerning advertising to consumers, and further bans all misleading or aggressive commercial practices. A black list with all the practices that will be considered unfair in all circumstances and are therefore banned is contained in the Annex. This list ...

Good news for ad lovers: Culture Pub revived on the internet

In June 2005, the French TV channel M6 decided to stop Culture Pub, the cult TV programme and weekly gathering of advertising fans. TV host Christian Blachas used to comment sharply on a large panorama of advertising spots from around the world and had managed to gain the loyalty of a very large audience. He comes back with the same concept revived on the internet via the website Culturepub.fr

The new weekly videos will last 10 to 15 minutes and will be dedicated to Blachas’s witty decoding of advertising. An archive section already features 2500 TV spots classified by themes including work life, family life, absurd spots, general interest campaigns… and should include some 25.000 spots in a year’s ...

Is mass collaboration the future of the web economy?

Don Tapscott is the author of eleven books on the application of technology to business. On 6 November, he presented his new book ‘Wikonimics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything’ to Brussels’ audiences.

‘We are at the early days to understand the web’ and it has never been better times to be entrepreneurs, says Don Tapscott in his book. Indeed many small companies started in a garage 5 years ago, are now global successes. Just to realise the magnitude: the city of Toronto ...

5th edition of Blue Book

The Blue Book, released on a tri-annual basis, is a comprehensive guide to best practice self-regulation in Europe, issues facing the advertising industry, the legislative environment, as well as an in-depth look at the rules and systems in place across the Single Market.

It is an essential publication for all responsible advertisers, agencies and media and a useful guide for academics, policy makers, lawyers and anyone with an interest in how advertising regulation works and the challenges it faces. In light of the current pressure from legislators on the marketing communications ...

Facebook unveils advertising strategy

After years of all-Google-all-the-time, it seems to be Facebook's turn in the spotlight. Last week Facebook usurped Google’s usual share of media attention, when it unveiled an ambitious plan to harness word-of-mouth advertising and turn users into spokespeople for brands. That being said, no one knows if Facebook's audacious bid to compete with search engines for a major share of online advertising dollars will click with consumers and marketers.

Facebook, second among social networking sites behind MySpace, has in little more than a year exploded from an elite student-only club into a global social networking phenomenon with more than 54 million users. Last month, Microsoft Corp. took a small stake in Facebook that valued the company at $15 billion ...

Should cars carry environmental warnings?

The European Parliament approved legislation that would require car manufacturers to devote 20 percent of broadcast, print and internet advertising to warnings about the fuel consumption and carbon footprint of the car. The proposals still needs to go through further approval stages before they become law but the advertising, media and auto industries are clearly worried.

During last plenary session, MEPs backed UK Liberal Chris Davies’s proposal which encourages cuts in CO2 emissions from new vehicles by introducing ‘tobacco-style’ environmental warnings in car advertisements. Chris Davies said that the measures would be good for the consumer, good for the environment and good for the ...

Good time ahead for word-of-mouth advertising according to Nielsen survey

According to a global Nielsen survey of 26,486 internet users in 47 markets, consumers around the world still place the highest level of trust in other people’s opinions. What about the digital big bang? Hasn’t it reshaped all previous consumer behaviour models? Or is it just a matter of time?

Nielsen surveyed consumers on their attitudes toward 13 types of advertising – from conventional newspaper and television ads to branded websites and consumer-generated content. Recommendations from consumers remain “the most trusted sources of information when consumers decide which products and services to buy”, said David McCallum, the global managing director ...

Broadband's broad EU divide

According to the Commission, the Broadband gap is growing. Although access to high-speed broadband internet in the EU has increased greatly over the past year, there is a growing gap between the best and worst performers.

A report published by the Commission yesterday states that the number of broadband lines in the EU 25 (excluding Bulgaria and Romania) increased by 28.7% between July 2006 and July 2007, bringing the average number of subscribers to 18.2% of the total EU population. Whilst this sounds promising, a closer ...

Norway prevents automakers from jumping on the green bandwagon

In an attempt to prevent greenwash, Norway’s Consumer Ombudsman has targeted car manufacturers who claim their cars are ‘green’ with some of the world’s strictest advertising guidelines. The new rules will come into effect from October 15th with the threat of fines for automakers that continue to make excessive environmental claims for their cars.

“Cars cannot do anything good for the environment except less damage than others” said Bente Oeverli from the Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman. Car manufacturers who claim their cars are greener or more environmentally friendly than others will have to be able to prove it in every aspect from production, to emissions, ...

AdVantage launch: a debating platform on the role of adverting in our society

On the 3rd of October 2007, three Members of the European Parliament hosted the launch of the AdVantage Platform, aimed at encouraging discussions on advertising in the European Parliament. The platform will bring together political decision-makers and experts from the advertising and media industries.

"The driving force behind AdVantage is our desire to have a good debate on the role and responsibilities of advertising, especially in the context of Brussels legislation", says Holger Krahmer, (Ger., ALDE) coordinator of the project and co-hosting the launch with Piia Noora-Kauppi (Fin., ALDE), and Othmar Karas (At., EPP-ED). ...

'No' to copyright proposal

The Commission has been urged by a coalition of large media companies in the broadband and online TV market to reject a proposal, which would allow collecting societies to share benefits of online music. According to the industry, this would certainly lead to stifled competition and could harm cultural diversity.

Last March, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) set out a set of draft commitments. The commitments allow copyright holders to move freely between different collecting societies that have agreed to group up and grant cross-border licenses for music on the internet, over satellite and cable. ...

Culture Ministers approve Audiovisual Media Services directive

On 24 May, after eighteen months of negotiations, EU Culture Ministers approved a common position negotiated with the Parliament and the Commission in first reading, on the draft directive on Audiovisual Media Services. This text updates the current 1997 Television Without Frontiers directive, and includes online and digital television-like services and advertisements.

The country of origin principle, that ensures free circulation of broadcasts across the EU by allowing broadcasters to transmit programmes and advertsements to any other EU Member State provided they comply with the laws of the country in which they are established, has been maintained as the cornerstone of the ...

Parliament Culture Committee backs compromise on AVMS Directive

The Parliament’s culture committee has given its backing to a compromise text, reached with the German Presidency, to allow more flexibility in commercial breaks and product placement in television and online audiovisual broadcasts.

MEPs in Parliament's Culture Committee backed a compromise deal between its rapporteur, Ruth Hieronymi MEP (EP-ED spokesperson on media affairs) and the German Presidency yesterday, which will allow greater flexibilty in advertising on television and establish rules for currently unregulated audiovisual media services and advertisements. Following a first reading ...

First European Conference on the Future of Commercial Communications Education

The European Foundation for Commercial Communications Education, recently launched by the European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA), will be holding its first conference on 27 & 28 April 2007 in Brussels, at the Haute Ecole EPHEC.

The Foundation strives to promote excellence in commercial communications education and research and to promote exchanges between the European commercial communications sector and academic partners. This first event will be dedicated to the future of commercial communications education. As traditional and new media advertising are changing at an increasingly ...

MEDIA boosts credited film industry

It was announced yesterday that more than 750 million euro will be made available to European film-makers over the next seven years. This should provide the European Film industry with a nice boost to further continue promoting and sponsoring European films, many of which are high contenders for this year’s awards ceremonies.

The MEDIA 2007 programme was launched by Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding at the Berlinale film festival yesterday, which provide Europe's film industry with €755 million euro over the next seven years. The programme's priorities include improving production facilities in the European audiovisual sector, supporting countries ...