advertising matters 30.11.18

Advertising proves a star in latest DCMS growth figures

Advertising was one of the sectors name-checked by DCMS in its latest Sector Economic Estimates this week, which showed the UK creative industries broke the £100bn barrier as a contribution to the economy in 2017.

The figures also show that between 2010 and last year, the creative industries’ GVA increased by 53%. This was the fastest growth among the different sectors, and an increase nearly twice as fast as the UK economy. Moreover, the report showed the advertising and marketing sub-sector accounted for 13.1% of creative industries GVA – this value having increased by 5.8% since 2016. These positive figures are reflective of our own recent AA/WARC Expenditure Report for Q2 2018, which recorded the 20th straight quarter of growth – up 6.4% year-on-year.

DCMS mentioned our industry in its press release and on social as a star performer among the sub sectors, highlighting advertising’s “bumper growth” in recent years. It is a timely reminder of the contribution that everyone working in our industry makes to the creative industries and to the wider economy. The full DCMS press release can be accessed here and the full report here. Read a blog post on the figures by Stephen Woodford here.

AAccelerating into 2019

The AAccelerate Executive team met for the second time this week, focusing on learnings so far and the product market fit. The team agreed a good direction of travel for 2019, which will help the scheme to scale in the original pilot areas of Scotland and the West Midlands. This includes a lead generation campaign, greater clarity on the type of business that would benefit most from the AAccelerate scheme and reiterating the importance of the multi-channel nature of the scheme.

The AAccelerate programme has been well-received by parliamentarians and policymakers alike and is a good example of the positive impact of UK advertising. Read the latest Aaccelerate blog post here.

I’m a celebrit-EU, get me out of here!

So, it’s confirmed! Sunday 9 December we could be witnessing the biggest piece of live theatre this year, with the potential to divide the public and turn friend to foe. That’s right, it is the “I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!” final. Oh, and there may also be some TV debate about Brexit that night too. However, Jeremy Corbyn said “One should always have respect for the viewers and also we want to get the widest possible audience.” And he added of the I’m A Celebrity final: “Maybe I want to watch it myself as well.”

But the best performance so far might have been Michael Gove’s attempt to reply in faltering French to a question about Brexit at the Commons on Thursday. Speaker of the House John Bercow said it was “stunning. Absolutely stunning. The articulacy, the accent. What a dramatic performance by the right honourable gentleman.” Plus ca change, pl-EU c’est la meme chose…

A data with destiny

Our data and e-privacy group met with officials from DCMS, BEIS and DIT this week to discuss the Government’s ambitions for enhanced regulatory alignment on data (what we used to call ‘adequacy plus’) following Brexit.

We also talked about the progress of the e-Privacy Regulation negotiations in Brussels. There was a flurry of excitement recently as the Austrian presidency tried to move negotiations out of the Council working group and into higher level political discussions in a bid to get talks moving more quickly. However, after Member States and industry raised concerns, the decision was reversed and we’re back to where we were two weeks ago…but better to get the final Regulation right than rush it!

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