Advertising association : How to communicate when you are an association ?

10/27/2022 The Media Buying Academy : Basics to get started

The particular status of associations leads to a particular regulation of their use of advertising. But is this use so far from a commercial use of advertising? Can you promote an association? Discover the particularities of associative communication as well as the preferential rates from which the associations benefit for their advertising campaigns.

Summary of the article: Advertising association: How to communicate when you are an association?

Associative promotion: can all associations launch an advertising campaign?
Associative advertising: which media to choose to launch your communication campaign?
Do associations benefit from preferential rates to launch their ads?
Example of an association that communicated in the Paris metro

Associative promotion: can all associations launch an advertising campaign?

Associations under the loi 1901 (1901 law) are allowed to advertise as long as they are not misleading. An association's advertising campaigns can help it communicate on its services or appeal to public donations. Nevertheless, the association's advertising must not be similar to commercial advertising.

>>> Find out what advertising is

Associative advertising: which media to choose to launch your communication campaign?

In theory, an association can choose any media to launch its advertising campaign. In fact, just like any company launching its communication action, it must take into consideration several factors to choose its advertising medium:

its target ;
its geolocation ;
its message ;
its communication period;
its budget (even if this point can be secondary for associations as we will see later).

Since the purpose of any advertising campaign is to convey a message to a given audience, the association must also choose the media that will most effectively deliver its message to its target. Thus, associations must prioritize their target audience in their choice of advertising medium.

Do associations benefit from preferential rates to launch their ads?

Preferential rates can be applied for the launch of an association's promotion ad campaign.

It is also possible to obtain rates for the creation of their campaign visuals. However, this pricing is subject to the goodwill of advertising agencies.

In general, associations can launch their advertising campaigns free of charge, since the creative agencies and advertising companies act pro bono for them.

If some advertising agencies do not offer their services free of charge, they can offer them advantageous rates, but only on last-minute advertising offers.

>>> Discover all our last minute advertising offers

Example of an association that communicated in the Paris metro

In September 2022, COP1 launched its first campaign to raise awareness about student poverty. As a Parisian student association whose mission is to help all young people in need, COP1's target group was the whole 15 years old and more, especially students.

Here is an example of advertisements in the subway made to promote the actions of the association Cop1.

Campagne affichage metro association COP1