Two new industry members join the ASA Council

22 May 2007

James Best, Chief People and Strategic Officer, DDB Worldwide and Sally Cartwright OBE, Director at Large, Hello Ltd, have joined the ASA Council.  Five industry professionals in total sit on the 15-strong independent ASA Council, bringing their experience and knowledge of the ad industry to the Council’s work.  James and Sally replace Dan O’Donoghue and Mike Ironside, who have served on Council for six years.

The role of ASA Council members

As Council members, James and Sally will assess complaints weekly online, deciding if they warrant investigation and adjudicating on complaints that have been formally investigated by the ASA Executive.  Also, they will attend the monthly meetings of the ASA Council in London and they could be involved in periodic committee or panel meetings.

Biographies

Sally Cartwright joined Hello! Magazine in 1990 as Publishing Director and was appointed Director at Large in 2006. Her publishing career has included senior positions at IPC Magazines and in 1987 she was appointed Managing Director of Harmsworth Publications (part of Associated Newspapers).  She is a past President of the Women’s Advertising Club of London and a former Chairman of the Periodical Publishers Association.   Sally was appointed to the ASA Council April 2007.

James Best was Chairman of BMP DDB from 1989 to 2000, after starting at BMP in 1975 as a graduate trainee in Account Planning.  In 1991, he became a member of the DDB Worldwide Board; he has served as President of Northern Europe and is Chief People and Strategic Officer of DDB Worldwide, Chairman of DDB University (which he helped create in 2000) and President of DDB’s Middle East, Africa and India regions.   James served as President of the European Association of Communications Agencies from 2003 to 2005, was Chairman of the UK Advertising Association from 1997 to 2002 and is a Fellow and Council Member of the IPA.  James was appointed to the ASA Council in April 2007.

5 Key facts about the ASA Council:

• ASA Council members, who are Directors of ASA Ltd adjudicate on complaints and executive challenges that advertisements breach the CAP or BCAP Codes.  The ASA Chairman appoints the fifteen members of the Council.
• Ten of the fifteen are independent of the advertising industry and are appointed after public advertisement.  The five other members of the Council are from the advertising industry.
• Council members serve for three-year terms, up to a maximum of six years.
• Industry Council members act as individuals and not representatives of companies, sectors or media.
• The ASA acts in the public interest, independently of both the Government and the advertising industry.

You can find the names and biographies of all ASA Council members at http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/about/council.