Ad Matters 16.08.2024

Sometimes the best way to recharge is through the power of storytelling. The theme of today’s Ad Matters is summer reads, so we started the week by surveying our team about their holiday bookshelves.

Firstly, by popular vote, our AA directors praised ‘Lessons’ by Ian McEwan as a real sweeping epic. By the end, our AdGreen Director Jo was reading it in every spare second she had.

For those looking for some shorter reads, Tessa in our finance team recommends Kelechi Okafor’s debut story collection which centres on race and gender in ‘Edge of Here’.

On to the theme of sustainability and no surprise our CEO Stephen has focused on history and the environment. His recommendation is ‘The Green Ages’ by Annette Kehnel about medieval innovations in sustainability. Equally, we couldn’t go without a shout-out to ‘Sustainable Advertising’ written by our very own Matt Bourn and Ad Net Zero’s Seb Munden.

For those interested in spiritualism and ancient philosophy, Krisha in our comms team couldn’t put down ‘The Forty Rules of Love’ by Elif Shafak.

A couple from the parents in AA Towers, with ‘The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs’ by Steve Brusatte, from our Credos Director Dan, who turned to this ‘mind-blowing’ book to answer his 5-year-old’s stream of questions about the origins of dinosaurs. He’s now a fountain of pre-historic knowledge.

Equally, our Events Director Suzanne shared her pick and that of Jay (aged 14 and a half) who opted for ‘The Shining’ by Stephen King. Suzanne’s was for ‘You Are Here’ by David Nicholls, author of ‘One Day’. It’s his best book to date, she said.

Now for our must-read articles:

• Starting the list off with how the UK is set to become Europe’s biggest Media and Entertainment market next year. (The Media Leader)
• Why don’t more men attend events focusing on gender equality? With commentary from our very own CEO Stephen Woodford. (Campaign)
• Out-of-home advertising revenue in the UK grew by double digits in H1, making it the strongest H1 yet. (The Media Leader)
• Is adland striking the right balance with hybrid-working rules? (Campaign)

Our pick of ads:

• In the build up to the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, Orange and Publicis Conseil believe that ‘When you love sport, you love sport’.
• Marks & Spencer has launched its new back-to-school campaign, ‘School happens’, by Mother.
• Leith has teamed up with Campaign for Better Transport to create a new ‘The Black Boot’ Premier League trophy, awarded for ‘outstanding contributions to football’s carbon footprint’.
• SheSays has partnered with JCDecaux to launch ‘Rework the future’, a campaign aimed at promoting gender equality in the creativity industry.
• EE has launched ‘Curfew’ with the help of Saatchi & Saatchi, to promote its broadband and mobile services.

Dates for your diary:

• The SXSW Austin PanelPicker is now open, and we’re rallying the UK advertising community to take to the main stage. Our International Trade Director, Aisling Conlon, along with members of the UK Advertising Export Group (UKAEG), have put forward some exciting proposals that need your support. Voting takes just 5 minutes here – get your votes in before 20 August.
• Our Head of Policy and Government Affairs, Chris Walker, will be sharing exclusive insights into the Labour party conference at Adwanted Events’ The Future of Media Manchester on 26 September! Register here.
• We are delighted to bring LEAD Scotland to Glasgow on 10 October. Book your tickets here.

And finally, with the Olympics coming to an end and the Paralympics beginning, we look at the ‘commercialisation’ of the Olympics and how brands have been more closely involved for longer than most people might think. Written by Jim Ring, the article falls under our ongoing ‘Now and Then series’. You can read it here!