The Advertising Association promotes the role and rights of responsible advertising and its value to people, society, businesses and the economy. We represent UK advertisers, agencies, media owners and tech companies on behalf of the entire industry, acting as the connection between industry professionals and the politicians and policy-makers.

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The Advertising Association focuses on major industry and policy areas that have huge ramifications on UK advertising. This section contains our work around public health, gambling advertising, data and e-privacy, trust, the digital economy and more.

Credos is the advertising industry’s independent think tank. It produces research, evidence and reports into the impact and effectiveness of and public and political response to advertising on behalf of UK advertisers in order to enable the industry to make informed decisions.

Front Foot is our industry’s member network of over 90 businesses across UK advertising. It aims to promote the role of responsible advertising and its value to people, society and the economy through a coalition of senior leaders from advertisers, agencies and media owners.

We run a number of events throughout the year, from our annual LEAD summit to the Media Business Course and regular breakfast briefings for our members. We are also the official UK representative for the world’s biggest festival of creativity – Cannes Lions.

Ad Matters 15.12.2023

/ December 15th 2023
Industry News

CAROL SINGING WITH COMMS COLLEAGUES

We started the week off in true Christmas spirit!

This year’s Communications Industry Carols took take place at St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street on Monday.

The Christmas Message was given by Dawn Alford, Executive Director, Society of Editors and the programme included readings by supporter groups, including our very own Communications Director, Matt Bourn, and spectacular carol service by the St Bride’s Choir.

On Tuesday, our comms team extended the festive spirit with a gathering of industry colleagues, alongside IPA and ISBA. It’s been a wonderful opportunity for the industry to come together, reflect, and share the joy of the season as we wrap up a busy and eventful 2023.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS ADS UNWRAPPED

Throughout the year, we’ve enjoyed hosting online insight sessions for our Front Foot and AA members, which focus on key topics and trends happening at the time.

As we bid farewell to 2023, our final Front Foot Insight session on Tuesday wrapped up the year with a festive flourish as Kantar revealed the top performers from this year’s Christmas ads. Lynne Deason, Head of Creative Excellence at Kantar shared the secrets of success with 6 gifts of inspiration.

Want to know which ads won Kantar’s seal of festive approval? Members can catch up on all our latest insight sessions via our dedicated Front Foot hub here.

INFLUENCERS HELP RAISE AWARENESS OF THE ASA

Our industry’s regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has partnered with Instagram and five content creators to publish a series of new videos, aimed at sharing key aspects of the rules that all UK advertisers must follow.

Each video in this series focuses on one theme, such as clearly disclosing ads, avoiding misleading messaging, or being upfront about the price of good or services.

Our trust research tells us that awareness of the ASA drives trust in advertising and an important part of this is ensuring that everyone who advertises online know what the rules are, and how to follow them.

See if you can spot any of your favourite stars via the videos here!

HARRINGTON REVIEW LAUNCH AT BLOOMBERG HQ

Our CEO, Stephen Woodford, attended the Harrington Review of Foreign Direct Investment launch event at Bloomberg HQ on Tuesday, a comprehensive set of recommendations designed to keep the UK at the forefront of FDI.

We were delighted that the AA could contribute via a creative industries roundtable.

You can read the report here!

GET READY FOR 2024 AND JOIN US AT LEAD

We will be starting the new year with a bang!

Alongside the IPA and ISBA, we’re delighted to announce a roster of outstanding political and advertising speakers for our annual summit LEAD, to be held on 8 February at the QEII in London.

If you want to hear from former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, catch the Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer or understand the latest on the UK economy with CBI CEO Rain Newton-Smith, the LEAD programme is not one to miss.

Check out all the speakers and book your tickets here.

THIS WEEK: UK ADVERTISING IN THE MEDIA

It’s our specially-curated selection of must-reads from across our industry media.

Check it out here!

AD OF THE WEEK

You made it this far – why not check our ad of the week? 

Want the full edition to land in your inbox every Friday? Drop us an email on aa@adassoc.org.uk and quote ‘Ad Matters’.