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Marketing

The various aspects of product marketing, including advertising, labeling, consumer promotion, packaging and merchandising, are an integral part of promoting different brands of virtually every consumer good imaginable. An important part of public policy is how to ensure the integrity and standards around product marketing. In particular, when a product has the potential to be misused and may confer harm as well as benefit, marketing standards need to be upheld consistently.

At the same time, marketing is a commercial right in most countries, provides consumer information and choice, and is helpful to businesses in selling their products. Therefore, at the heart of the issue is the need to balance commercial freedoms against safety and wellbeing among consumers. More broadly, how marketing is regulated reflects the respective roles, rights, and responsibilities of the state and the private sector within a given culture.

· Key Facts and Issues

· Blue Book Annex 3: Industry Codes of Practice on Self-Regulation of Beverage Alcohol Advertising (76 KB .pdf)

· Self-Regulation Workshops

o Sharing Best Practice in Self-Regulation: An International Workshop

o Asia-Pacific Workshop: Report & Tokyo Declaration

o Africa Workshop: Report & Cape Town Declaration

· Responsible Drinks Marketing: Shared Rights and Responsibilities - Report of an ICAP Expert Committee (254 KB .pdf)

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ICAP Blue Book
Practical Guides for Alcohol Policy
and Prevention Approaches

The ICAP Blue Book offers a comprehensive guide to the key issues in alcohol policy development, and an integrated approach to prevention. It draws upon the best available research and experience from around the world.

As a policy guide, the ICAP Blue Book is based on three principles:

drinking patterns and their outcomes as a sound scientific basis for policy development;

targeted interventions that address specific "at-risk" populations, potentially harmful contexts and drinking patterns;

partnerships that allow the inclusion of the public and private sectors, the community and civil society all working towards a common goal.

It is intended as a tool to assist those seeking guidance in developing policy and prevention approaches, be they governments, intergovernmental organizations, public health officials and specialists, researchers, non-governmental organizations, the beverage alcohol industry and its related bodies, or civil society organizations interested in alcohol policy development.

To assist stakeholders in using the Blue Book to develop approaches to individual issues or comprehensive alcohol policies at the local or national level, a simple protocol, the Alcohol Policy Seminar (APS), has been developed. Information about the APS, its implementation, and ICAP’s partners in its development is available at www.alcoholseminar.org.

Click here for the ICAP Blue Book Annex 3: Industry Codes of Practice on Self-Regulation of Beverage Alcohol Advertising. (76 KB .pdf)

Click here for the entire ICAP Blue Book.