advertising matters 12.10.18

In Front Foot we trust!

This morning we welcomed over 50 of our Front Foot network to an interactive breakfast event at The Guardian’s offices near King’s Cross to discuss one of the key issues of the moment for us all – public trust in our industry.

The event included a warm welcome from new Front Foot Chairman Mark Evans (also Marketing Director, Direct Line), who emphasised how central the issue of trust will be during his chairmanship, and an exclusive insight from IPA Director General Paul Bainsfair and Karen Fraser MBE, Director of advertising’s think tank Credos, on new research undertaken on what the public thinks of our profession.

Guests discussed the findings in groups and the feedback will be shared with the AA’s Trust Working Group to come up with solutions to restore public trust in advertising. We will be sharing further details on the findings at a later date, so keep your eyes peeled for updates. Many thanks must go to our friends at The Guardian for hosting a fabulous event.

Future of Brand Britain

On Tuesday morning, AA Comms Director, Matt Bourn, spoke at Starcom’s ‘Future of Brand Britain’ event. Hosted by Jodie Stranger, Starcom’s CEO UK Group & President Global Clients EMEA, the breakfast briefing saw Heather Dansie, Research Director, share the emerging trends and tensions within Brand Britain. Heather explained that whether you are a British brand that wants to sell to the world or a global brand who wants to truly resonate with a British audience – understanding what ‘Britishness’ means is especially important in these turbulent times.

This was followed by discussions with a panel made up of Meabh Quoirin, CEO and Co Owner, Foresight Factory, Chaka Sobhani, COO, Leo Burnett, and the AA’s Matt Bourn. Points of conversation included the impact of Brexit on Brand Britain, the campaigns that really resonated with British people, the strengths of British advertising on a global stage and what the future holds for Brand Britain.  For more on Starcom’s new research, read Jodie’s article in The Drum here.

Fringe with benefits

On Monday we hosted a fringe meeting at the SNP party conference in Glasgow. Following last week’s announcement of the first businesses to participate in the AAccelerate Scotland pilot, we ran a panel session focusing on the pilot scheme, and the opportunities it offers SMEs for growth. Leah Hutcheon, Founder and Chief Executive of Appointedd – one of the participating SMEs – joined Bobby Hain of STV, and Ivan McKee MSP, Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation. Ivan began the discussion by explaining the need for businesses to motivate themselves to export, noting that advertising is relevant to this because it feeds into how businesses promote themselves and grow. He also highlighted the important role of advertising in promoting Scotland as a brand.

Goldie lookin’ Campaign

Here at the AA we are wishing our friends over at Campaign a Happy Golden Anniversary, reaching 50 years! It was great to see their 50th special edition land on our desks this week, especially as it included an interview with our very own Chief Executive Stephen Woodford and President Keith Weed, who discussed the evolution of advertising over the past 50 years. The pair talked about what about today’s advertising technology would have seemed like science fiction even a few short years ago, plus what they hope we will look back proudly on in another 50 years’ time.

Speaking on the topic of trust, which the AA is focusing on heavily over the next few months, Keith explained:

“If a good friend tells you something, you’re more likely to believe it. If someone you don’t know or, worse, someone you don’t trust, tells you something, you’re not going to believe it. Just translate that back to advertising where we’ve seen decline in trust.

“But 2018 feels like a tipping point. We are more aware of the unintended consequences of some parts of the new digital platforms. That’s why earlier this year, we called on the industry to collectively build consumer trust back into our systems and society, tackling the issues of fake news and fake followers. A brand without trust is just a product.”

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