Ad Matters 24.05.24

Wow, Rishi’s fired the starting pistol and suddenly it’s on. The mood here at the AA is one of excitement for what’s sure to be a highly energised few weeks before the big day (July 4). Not long ‘til we find out what shape and form the next government will take.

Our team, and in particular my Policy and Government Affairs colleagues, are all geared up to review manifestos and feed in the asks from our industry to help inform the debates and priorities during this critical period. We shared some early thoughts on that with the Media Leader, which you can read here. If you want to chat more about the election, and what it all means for our UK advertising industry, we’re here to do just that.

On the fundamentals, it’s likely Parliament will dissolve on May 30, and no events will take place from that point until the new Government is in place. This means our annual Parliamentary Reception will be moved from July 8, as well as other activities we had planned.

Strap yourself in, it’s going to be a fascinating and incredibly important political period. The next Government will run potentially through to 2029, pretty much the end of this decade which is a sobering thought.

What will the UK, and the world, look like by then?

In other news, we had a blast at Media360 this week. If you want a bit more info about what we got up to, check out my summary here.

Our must reads:

• Do politicians ever lie – sorry mis-speak the truth? Some food for thought on political advertising from Credos Chair, James Best. (Credos)
• Here’s what marketers are forecasting for the UK’s summer election. (The Drum)
• The ‘Independence Day’ election will ignite some fireworks. (Campaign)
• How the UK’s culture and diversity gives us a unique place in the world’s advertising landscape, according to IPA President Josh Krichefski. (City AM)
• Entries are live for our Talent Trailblazer Award with Marketing Week to spotlight organisations that have opened up our industry to diverse talent. (Marketing Week)
• Earlier this week, the government has launched its ‘Prepare’ campaign, warning people to stock up on supplies in case of a national crisis. (The Times)
• Our climate action teams have united in best practice for re-using hard drives in productions and post. (LBB)

Our pick of the ads:

• Our ad in the A this week is for another countdown in “Welcome to the Paralympics” by adam&eveDDB ahead of the Paris games this summer.
• The summer ads are coming out… Waitrose and Saatchi & Saatchi get the good times rolling in a new campaign ‘Good Right Now’.
• Boots celebrates the unpredictable with “Saving Summer” from VML.
• Kopparberg joins forces with charity Melanoma Fund to raise awareness of skin cancer this summer from Neverland.
• And we loved to see Quorn’s animal puppet trio back with a Mission-Impossible style ad in “Mission: swap” by adam&eveDDB.

Dates for your diary:

• Join us for our ‘Value of Trust’ event on June 4, which will share the latest insights on the current levels of public trust in advertising. If you’re a member, RSVP here.
• Our CEO, Stephen Woodford, will be speaking about trust at the IAB Engage event on June 4! Book your tickets here.
• We can’t wait to return to the riviera! We’re proud to be the UK representative for the world’s biggest festival of creativity, Cannes Lions, taking place from June 17. Find out more here.
• Talking of events, if you missed LEAD North, we’re pleased to share its showreel here.

And finally, after spending a lot of this week talking about sustainable behaviour change, I wanted to share another way you can get involved. We’re encouraging businesses to fill in the Net Zero Business Census from Planet Mark, the largest national research initiative of its kind. It only takes 10 minutes!