This week’s Ad Matters is a Centenary Special as we celebrate 100 years of the Advertising Association. It’s not easy to sum up the first century of our trade body, but we’re giving it a good go and marking the occasion in different ways, to both reflect on the lessons from the first 100 years and look forwards to the next.
250 of our industry’s leaders gathered on Wednesday evening to mark the moment – you can see in our CEO’s speech here where he called on our industry to double down on efforts to build trust in our work. Better still, take a look at his Thunderer column in The Times which sets out the continued ambitions to make the strongest case for advertising’s valuable economic contribution. Or tune in to his chat with Ed Vaizey on Times Radio where he reflects on the latest developments in our industry, including the impact of influencers and the advent of AI.
We’ve been sharing thoughts with our industry trades too to mark our centenary. Our President, Andria Vidler, shares her views about how we need to tell better stories about our industry with The Media Leader, while Stephen has been writing for Campaign, making the case once more for the importance of trust in our work.
We also marked this moment by doing something for the first time – awarding two Mackintosh Medals to two fantastic people who have been central to much of the work and progress we have been making in recent years across areas such as talent and inclusion, climate action and sustainability, economic contribution and understanding public trust in advertising. Big AA congratulations to Kathryn Jacob OBE and James Best CBE.
And, if you’re interested in our history, check out this article – the first in a short series – which features some of the artefacts found by our former colleague, Sue Eustace MBE, as she put together a special record of the AA’s first 100 years called ‘Speaking Up For Advertising’.
Our pick of the ads:
- Our Ad in the A is VCCP’s ‘A Lifetime of Great Stories’, which reimagines the monster under the bed for Disney+.
- The Guardian’s ‘The Whole Picture’ comes 40 years after the original Points of View advert aired, with comedian Kathy Burke.
- Havas UK gets ‘Absolutely Buttered’ for Anchor to promote their use of British cream from UK farms.
- Tesco’s Pet Insurance puts animals at the centre of a ‘Research Group’ by Execute.
Our must reads:
- ISBA has announced Mark Given as their new President. (Campaign)
- Cannes Lions have announced the Shortlisting Jury line-up for the festival in June. (Cannes Lions)
- Our President, Andria Vidler, spoke at the Future of Brands about bombardment being the biggest challenge for advertising. (Media Leader)
- Ad tester, System1, has rated Coca Cola’s ‘Uncanned Emotions’ as exceptional. (System1)
Dates for your diary:
- Tickets are selling fast for our Media Business Course, taking place from 7-10 July. Book your place here.
- CreatorFest 2026 on 14-15 July has a packed two-day agenda of networking and panels. Get 20% off your tickets using the code AA20OFF here.
And finally, we are pleased to announce Teads as our newest member to Front Foot! Find out more about how to join here.