Ad Matters 27.09.2024

What a week for politics. Our PGA and comms teams have had a non-stop week in Liverpool at the Labour Party Conference, their first in power for 14 years.

While the Government made their pitch to businesses, the AA team supported the Creative UK Pavilion and two receptions – one with the CBI and another with Total Politics – to ensure advertising’s voice was heard on behalf of our members, many of whom were also on the ground.

So, what did we learn? We heard how culture and the creative industries, including advertising, will play a key role in the Government’s vision for economic and social growth across the UK. They confirmed an Industrial Strategy will be launched next month, which Minister Sir Chris Bryant told delegates that DCMS will “100% be part of”.

Though it’s clear there’s no shying away from the news that budgets are tight, ‘soft power’ was a key theme of emerging from the fringe discussions we attended. This includes the importance of shows such as ITV’s ‘Mr Bates vs the Post Office’, the UK’s presence at the Olympics and Paralympics, as well as growing the profile of our service exports. We’ve always been proud that the ad industry is second in the world for its exports so we will continue to make the case for government partnerships and trade missions that help put our SME success stories on the map.

Three down, one to go… Final stop for the team is the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.

To wrap up the week as some light relief from politics, we partnered with Leith for our ‘Humour in Advertising’ event to unpick the secrets of funny ads and the ways in which humour can help us confront the difficult things in life. Psst… if you missed this, there’s more in our recent Social Contribution report.

Our must-reads:

• First things first, the Campaign Ad Net Zero Awards 2024 shortlist has been revealed! (Campaign)
• Sharing the mood from the party conferences, our Head of Policy and Government Affairs, Chris, spoke at the Future of Media Manchester yesterday. (The Media Leader)
• The London Standard relaunches as a weekly publication, supported by creative street activations at the Outernet. (Newsworks)
• ISBA’s cross-media measurement initiative Origin has launched with real-world data for the first time. (The Media Leader)
• ITV unveils Gen AI-powered ad production service for first-time TV advertisers. (Campaign)

Our pick of ads:

• Our ad in the A celebrates the return of the Great British Bake Off! Waitrose has launched a series of idents, with the help of Saatchi & Saatchi, to mark its continued sponsorship.
• V&CO has launched ‘Dead-Flat Matt paint’ by Dentsu Creative, targeting design-conscious decorators.
• An impactful campaign by 20(Something) for Woolmark encourages people to ‘Wear wool, not waste’ by depicting a zombie invasion of synthetic clothing.
• Funky Pigeon, with VCCP, has come out with a new-look campaign introducing a green and purple pigeon frontwoman and her backing band, the Funkettes.

Dates for your diary:

• Our President Alessandra Bellini will give a keynote speech “Value of Trust: Why everyone working in advertising needs to know this” on 2 October at Campaign Live. Tickets here.
• We’re heading to Glasgow on 10 October for LEAD Scotland! Grab your tickets here.
• The Creative Shootout is back for 2025. It’s the UK’s leading creative-for-good awards, that test the mettle of the UK’s best creative talent, all in support of one different charity each year. Entries are now open until 29 November!

And finally, congratulations to our former Public Affairs Director, Sue Eustace, who received her MBE at Windsor Castle yesterday. Sue received her accolade for services to the advertising industry, and was in august company with Sir Alan Bates, receiving his knighthood!