Ad Matters 10.05.2024

This week’s Ad Matters was written from LEAD North in Manchester where the weather on the terrace at our venue, Home, shone down on us like we were working from the French Riviera. Forget Manchester, hello Canneschester…

LEAD in the North, I hear you say? Oooh, that’s new. Yup, we decided it was high time we found a way to bring adland’s northern cohort together, to discuss the big opportunities and the big challenges we all face, how we can work together, how we can learn from each other, how we compete and innovate and, by doing so, help to build the industry and make it even stronger.

It was a fantastic afternoon full of thought-provoking insights and views from political figures, analysts, and advertising practitioners. Too many stand-out moments for here, but watch this space for more opps to watch/listen to the content from the event.

I can’t resist, though, recounting the words of Jonathan Warburton, the UK’s best-selling baker’s charismatic Chair, who, when asked why he chose to seek outside help with his company’s advertising a few decades back, replied, ‘would an ad agency bake its own bread?’

No, Jonathan, no. They’d bake you a great ad. And they did, a whole batch of them.

Our must reads:

• All In reveals updated actions! The UK advertising industry’s inclusion initiative has announced three updates to actions on black, disabled and working class talent. (LBB)
• Nationwide’s doing it the right way! According to ‘The Works’, our media partnership with Kantar and Marketing Week, the bank’s new ad uses humour to cut through a ‘serious’ category, which lands it in the top 8% of all UK ads. (Marketing Week)
• Social media has made it to the top, with WARC’s ‘Social Media Reaches New Peaks’ report revealing that it is now the largest channel in the world in terms of ad spend (Campaign)
• SXSW is coming to London! SXSW London will emphasise on creative talent from Europe. (Campaign)

Our must listens: 

• It’s all about tackling the climate emergency. Our very own ANZ Global Project Manager, Alex d’Albertanson, discussed our ANZ programme in New Digital Age’s ‘Digital Leaders of Tomorrow’ podcast. (New Digital Age)
• We’re looking back at the highlights from LEAD 2024! We’ve recently released Responsible Growth, a three part podcast series from LEAD 2024, which includes recordings from sessions at the annual summit. You can tune in here.
• Listen to Seb Munden speaking to Toby from Strand Review of Books about actionable behaviour.

Our pick of recent ads:

• ‘No distractions’ for Currys employees! This new ad by AMV BBDO marks the start of summer football tournaments.
• ‘You’ve got a friend in Philly’ says Philadelphia, with the help of Ogilvy UK.
• Confused.com and new creative partners, Leo Burnett UK have launched their first creative campaign together that brings to life the joyous sense of relief when tackling insurance having ‘Just Used Confused.com‘.
• PG Tips’ first major ad campaign in eight years, ‘Rock Solid’, by Calling, positions tea as a moment to recharge and bring a fresh perspective on life’s worries.

Events:

• We’re launching ‘The Value of Trust’ on June 4! Join us for this special event to launch the report which will share the latest insight on current levels of public trust. If you’re a member, RSVP here.
• Cannes Lions is back from June 17! The Advertising Association is proud to be the UK representative for the world’s biggest festival of creativity, Cannes Lions. Find out more here.

And finally, ad production company, Moremilk, is looking for a brand partner to help young people gain access to our industry. Its new XP1 scheme for commercials production will give up to 20 young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds a real world, end to end production experience, working alongside a full senior crew on a genuine advert for TV or online. It’s designed to work with any upcoming project and they’re looking for a brand partner to supply the advert we shoot, through a genuine opportunity to break down barriers that hinder social mobility. Find out more here.

PS: for fans of the Manchester music scene who enjoyed this week’s Ad Matters title, go here.