Earlier this month, Free TV Australia unveiled its new brand to help clients and agencies navigate the complex area of advertising classification. ClearAds – the culmination of a two-year transformation project – provides an easier online interface and a faster turnaround time for reviews and approvals, while still retaining the trusted and reliable advice of the Commercials Advice division (CAD).
The Comms Council caught up with the Director of Commercial Operations at ClearAds, Alison Lee, for a closer look at the new features, and to learn how advertisers can make the most of the updated service.
TCC: Free TV has introduced a series of ‘Fast Track’ services including Red Hot, Rush Hour and Express. Can you tell us a bit more about this?
AL: The ClearAds Fast Track service provides agencies, advertisers and production houses faster turnaround for review and classification to help them meet tight deadlines or last minute changes to their ads. The Fast Track services are:
- Priority – 24 hour turnaround
- Red Hot – 3 hour turnaround
- Express – 1 hour turnaround
ClearAds also provides services for applications submitted after the Fast Track service cut off times:
- Rush Hour – for applications submitted between 2pm and 4pm, turnaround by 5.30pm
- Final Call – for applications submitted between 4pm and 5.30pm, turnaround by 7pm
TCC: How should advertisers submit ads for review?
AL: The ClearAds online application system, Oasis, provides agencies with an easy to use portal to submit ads for our review and classification, apply for pre-checks, track the progress of the review, upload substantiation documents and communicate with us in real time by posting comments.
TCC: Will you be running ClearAds training courses in 2019? How can people sign up?
AL: Following the success of our 2018 live webinar, “Tips and Tricks to get your Ads to air quicker – An overview of the Australian Consumer Law”, we are developing training sessions on Classification and Placement of Ads, Gambling Advertising and Therapeutic Goods and Devices Advertising.
These training sessions will be available from August 2019 and registration will be via our website, www.clearads.com.au
More information on our training sessions will be available in the next ClearAds newsletter. Agencies can sign up for our newsletter at www.clearads.com.au/information-hub
ClearAds can also provide bespoke training sessions to suit an agency’s needs. For these sessions, we prepare customised training material specific to agency’s requirements. Agencies can get in touch with us to arrange a bespoke training session.
TCC: What are some of the most common mistakes that clients make when submitting an ad for review and approval?
AL: ClearAds aims to guide agencies through the application and review process to make getting ads to air as simple as possible. A key to doing this is for agencies to have substantiation documents ready to submit as part of the application or when requested by us.
We encourage agencies to use the ClearAds Pre-check service where we can review a script or offline and let agencies know the likely classification of their ad and any substantiation required.
Some of the most common mistakes agencies make include:
- Not indicating in the TVC application if the script has been pre-checked by ClearAds;
- Including disclaimers in TVCs that are not clear or on screen for a duration of at least 0.2 seconds per word;
- Not ensuring key numbers for TVCs are unique.
TCC: Is there a checklist available for agencies?
AL: The ClearAds Handbook provides a comprehensive guide to advertising rules and codes, and the ClearAds review and classification process. It includes over 15 helpful Information sheets covering topics including advertising using component pricing, alcohol, therapeutic goods, advertising to children, motor vehicles and financial products and services.
An easy to follow A-Z checklist of what agencies need to consider when producing an ad can also be found in the Handbook.
The Handbook is available to download at www.clearads.com.au/information-hub
