Ad Matters 03.05.2024

It’s been quite the week in politics. A change of First Minister in Scotland after the collapse of an agreement between parties. Then elections up and down the country yesterday to find local MP and mayors for some of our largest cities. The battle for power is always a fiercely contested one with advertising campaigns often deployed. The rules though for political parties and their advertising during election periods are different to those followed by brands and the government of the day. Back in January, at our first Industry Reputation Group meeting of the year, we asked the 40 or so leaders in the room what they believed to be the reputational risks for our industry this year. One of the top three concerns cited was political advertising, or more precisely, the misuse of the tools of our trade with all the damage this could cause to the public’s perceptions of advertising.

So to help voters, in particular young people who may be voting for the first time, it was great to be able to partner with Media Smart and produce a guide to political advertising and the rules of how it works. It launched on Tuesday and the response has been very positive. Take a look and please do all you can to share this guide with young and old. It’s vital we continue to raise awareness of the differences, and underline the importance of everyone advertising responsibly if our work is to be trusted by the public.

In other news, it was brilliant to see the launch of the Hybrid Working Report by UK advertising thinktank, Credos, and to spend time with a couple of hundred Irish colleagues at the Ad Net Zero Ireland event in Dublin.

Our must reads:

• The industry’s got a big question to answer: Is it realistic to expect adland’s gender pay gap to close sooner? (Campaign)
• Is AI under fire? AI developers are facing a growing number of legal challenges and enforcement complaints over alleged violations of consumer privacy rights. (The Drum)
• We have the power to improve advertising by delivering better results, all while making the world a finer place. (The Media Leader)
• Retail media is on the rise! How supermarket shoppers became part of a £2bn goldrush. (The Telegraph)
• Global warming is no longer a future concern. Revolt explains why they are pushing for more interesting ads to help tackle the issue. (Creative Salon)

Our pick of recent ads:

• ‘Let’s do this’! Checkatrade’s first work by St Luke’s encourages people to make home improvements with the help of the trade directory.
• With the help of Lola MullenLowe, Lynx uses black comedy in ‘The funeral’ and ‘The robbery’ to illustrate the effect of its fragrance.
• Voom Nutrition’s new work by McCann Bristol for its plant-based bar follows professional climber Louis Parkinson on ‘The climb’.
• It’s ‘Good to know’ what Sainsbury’s, with the help of New Commercial Arts, does for the planet, animal welfare and the community.

Events:

• One week to go for LEAD North! Speakers include Councillor Bev Craig, Ian Whittaker. Sarah Jenkins, and Jonathan Warburton, amongst others. Join us on May 9 in Manchester and book your tickets here.

And finally, it’s LEAD North next week. Next Thursday, Manchester. So, perfect timing for us to reflect back on LEAD 2024. This link will take you to a 3-part podcast series where we’ve put together speeches from the event so you can hear leaders from the political, business and advertising spheres talking about responsible growth and the role our industry has to play.