When it comes to media planning and international advertising campaign, it is very important to take into account the legislation and the peculiarities of advertising in each country. In fact, it can be a barrier to entry to promote and advertise a product or service. The most common is to find a tax applicable only to advertising campaigns in its dissemination in the media but there are more cases.

If we start with the countries closest to Spain, we find the Sapin Law, a French law aimed at controlling transparency and prosecuting corruption in the advertising industry, for which the media is obliged to send a copy of the issuance invoice. from the campaign to the advertiser. In addition, the Law of Equality requires that all texts go in French, so it will not be possible to see a slogan, claim or copy in another language.

In Portugal, a tax is applied to campaigns that are broadcast only through audiovisual media (radio, television, cinema, etc.), but not in the press, for example. Another case is Austria, a country in which a fixed tax rate is applied to any advertising campaign that is disseminated on Austrian soil. In Muslim countries, the media increases their rates by 30% during Ramadan, so a planned campaign in this period always becomes more expensive compared to other periods of the year.

In many Latin American countries it is obliged to pay the local VAT of the country, regardless of whether the billing is done from a foreign country, which in many cases forces most advertisers interested in promoting themselves in Latin America to rethink the campaign.

In Asia we have the singular case of Japan, where you can not use superlative adjectives, you can not say that a product “is the best”, it can be said that it is “good” always accompanied by a study conducted abroad. In addition there is a local tax of 5%. In China all ads must be previously approved by the Chinese government and prepayment is always required. There are many more cases, so it is very important to know the local advertising legislation, all its peculiarities and take into account the impact they can have on a specific campaign.

In OTS Media International we have been coordinating international media campaigns for many agencies and clients from different sectors for over 25 years, which has given us a great experience, knowledge of these legal and regulatory aspects and allows us to provide comprehensive advice on international campaigns.

Joaquín Urquijo – Managing Director