It’s felt like a long time coming, but this week was the week we finally had the opportunity to share our new book, Trusted Advertising. The reveal to a host of adland folk took place at a special event, hosted by the ASA. As you probably know, James Best and I spent a few months of 2025 exploring what is happening to trust in the 21st century and the implications for trust in advertising, good and bad, pulling it all together into a practical guide which makes the case for why you should put trust at the heart of your next advertising campaign. The book itself comes out next Tuesday (order a copy here) and we’ll be sharing lots more about it over the coming weeks. You can see a write-up of the event along with photo here.
James and I were determined to do something different at this book launch, so we invented a new game, ‘A Question of Trust’. We asked guests to vote with their feet in answer to the question, “What’s the single most important driver of trust in your next advertising campaign?”. While the debate was lively and showed the various points-of-view across the industry and what matters most to people, the final reveal brought us back together: the “correct” answer is, of course, all of them.
Now, we’re looking forward to the main event when James takes to the stage at LEAD on Thursday, February 5, to deliver a new keynote, ‘Trust Me, I’m In Advertising’. I’ll be hosting a panel discussion about whether advertising generated by AI means the public is going to trust our work more as a result (or not). You won’t be surprised to know we’ve got a few more surprises planned. We hope to see you there (grab a last minute ticket here), and if you’d like to talk more about why trust matters to your advertising, please get in touch.
Our must reads:
- Our latest AA/WARC figures show adspend reached £12.5bn in Q3 2025, with spend expected to cross the £50bn line this year. (Campaign)
- The success of the UK’s creative industries depends on its talent pipeline. Here’s how Out of Home advertising helped support DCMS’s latest creative careers campaign. (Politics Home)
- Trust-building ad campaigns improve business outcomes, IPA research finds (Media Leader)
- AI in advertising: What will ads on LLMs mean for advertisers and consumers? (ExchangeWire)
Our pick of the ads:
- Our Ad in the A is VCCP’s ‘Give Your Skills New Life’ for the Department for Education, to inspire professionals to consider training others.
- Leo UK have launched ‘What they say. What we hear’ to reveal the hidden language of domestic and financial abuse for AXA UK.
- Saatchi & Saatchi have combined Creme Eggs and OREOs in ‘Born of Two Icons’ for Mondelez.
- adam&eveTBWA have created ‘Nature Calls’ featuring bear related beer for Columbia Sportswear.
Dates for your diary:
- It is your final chance to get your ticket for LEAD, the annual industry summit which will celebrate our centenary year. Join us on 5 February here.
- Join Kantar’s webinar on 11 February for insights from the latest Sustainability Sector Index and practical guidance on what good sustainable marketing looks like. Register here.
- Enter our UK Young Lions Competition and win the chance to represent the UK in the Global Young Lions Competition, part of Cannes Lions. Register here by 27 February to take part.
- And, if you are interested in judging the UK Young Lions, sign up here.
And finally, I am pleased to announce that I will be a Judge of the Outdoor Media Awards 2026! Organised by Bauer Media Outdoor and Campaign, the awards return for their 20th year to celebrate timeless OOH campaigns. Find out more and enter here.