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 18.02.22

/ February 18th 2022
Industry News

CALLING ALL FUTURE YOUNG LIONS SUPERSTARS!

Big news for all the young creatives out there! Registrations are now open for the UK Young Lions Competition. Winners will have the chance to represent the UK in the Global Young Lions Competition, which is part of Cannes Lions.

As the UK Representative for Cannes Lions, we are running 6 competitions – Design, Digital, Film, Marketers, Media, and Print. These competitions are free of charge to enter and teams will work on the brief remotely before uploading their work to our competition portal ready to be judged. Plus, the winners will also get a discounted full festival pass – this for sure is an opportunity you won’t want to miss!

Head here for full details on the competition and how to enter.

We are also on the lookout for judges for the UK competition. If you have 5 or more years’ experience in the advertising/marketing/communications industries and believe you have what it takes to be part of the jury for this competition, head here and register your interest before before 11 March.

RESPONSE TO JUNK FOOD AD BAN RESEARCH

Yesterday, we responded to claims in a new study about the effect of the HFSS advertising ban on the Transport for London network. Our CEO, Stephen Woodford, commented that the study appeared “optimistic” compared to others:

“The UK’s obesity challenge is a complex and multi-faceted one and needs solutions that are targeted and effective. Blanket bans on advertising even by the Government’s own estimates have marginal impacts on food preferences and calorie reduction, so there will be many reasons for the changes in purchasing habits seen in the London area.”

Head here for AA’s full comment on the new research.

EAT THEM TO DEFEAT THEM!

ITV and Veg Power’s Eat Them To Defeat Them campaign has returned. This fourth edition is marked by a TV ad bursting with zombie references and diverse vegetables attacking grown-ups.

The campaign aims to provide 1 million children with activity packs. So far, it has led to the sale of almost one billion additional kids’ portions of vegetables – that’s £92m according to ITV Media.

This cross-industry effort is part of STV, Channel 4 and Sky’s £10m commitment to promoting healthier lifestyles among kids. Other retailers and brands such as Tesco, Waitrose, Lidl, Aldi and Asda are part of the initiative too.

Many of the companies involved are AA members, including ITV and the agency behind the creative: Adam & Eve/DDB, who work on a pro-bono basis on the campaign.

Head here to read more about the campaign and watch the full ad!

NEW ADVERTISING POLICY FORUM

Next Tuesday, 22 February, from 9-10am, we will be holding a new member-only meeting to discuss advertising policy developments. This will be called  Advertising Policy Forum and it is a re-launch of the PA breakfast updates we used to hold at Artillery House.

Please get in touch with Bobbie for more information on the event.

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’ve made it this far – why not treat yourself and watch 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’.