Advertising and media literacy has been front of mind this week, because of events at home, in the UK and internationally. First up, my daughter is wrestling with her EPQ, reviewing whether educational policies or major news events (like the TV show Adolescence) are most effective in driving action to keep teens safe online. Meanwhile, Australia’s ban on social media platforms for under-16s is soon to come into force.
The ASA’s summit ‘Protecting Children Online: The Advertising Challenge’, led by the ASA’s Chair, Baroness Morgan, is well worth a watch if you didn’t get a chance to attend earlier this week (watch back here). The ASA has been using child avatar systems to understand how children are targeted by adverts and monitored personal devices to collect the data for their 100 Children Report which provides a child’s eye view of ads seen online.
Media Smart’s Rachel Barber-Mack made a compelling case for education to help protect young people online by building their critical literacy skills and applying it to ads they see. Their recent campaign with TikTok, ‘Teens, Social Media & You’ has some excellent resources for parents – engaging films and practical guides to talking to your teen about online safety.
On the drive to educate, late last week, Media Smart went to visit Tonyrefail school in the Rhondda where Rachel ran an ‘Advertising and Careers’ pilot workshop with Omnicom to inspire Year 12 Students to learn more about advertising and our creative industry. Today, I’m visiting Birmingham University to talk about advertising in a time of climate change with BA students studying advertising and marketing.
The work to help young people safely navigate our online world continues…
Our must reads:
- How are the LHF restrictions affecting Christmas ads and beyond? Our Public Affairs Director Chris Walker joins this week’s Campaign podcast. (Campaign)
- AI in advertising, personalisation and ethics are discussed by Cheil UK and Spotlight’s senior team. (BBC)
- While Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai speaks about the risks and rewards of AI technology. (BBC)
- ISBA expects advertisers’ media budgets are set to shift toward brand building in 2026. (The Media Leader)
- Edelman’s Longevity Lab is combating ageism by launching a curated list of older creators. (Creative Salon)
Our pick of the ads:
- Our Ad in the A Waitrose’s ‘The Perfect Pie’, by Wonderhood Studios and MG OMD, taking the supermarket’s recent Christmas ad out of home by transforming the BFI IMAX into a giant home-made pie.
- Disney+ UK has looked back at their movie classics in ‘A Lifetime of Great Stories’ by VCCP.
- Xbox, Sky Sports and Football Manager have teamed up to close the gender coaching gap in ‘Missing Managers’ by McCann London.
- Diageo has countered trend fatigue with their humorous global campaign ‘Why Change A Good Thing?’ for Smirnoff 21 by McCann NY.
Dates for your diary:
- The Marketing Society’s Annual Dinner is taking place on 25 November, an evening of connection, conversation and celebration. Contact bookings@marketingsociety.com to secure one of the last tables.
- ISBA and the Ad Accessibility Network are hosting the Ad Accessibility Town Hall on 3 December 12-1pm, a session designed to inform, inspire, and equip you with the latest in accessible advertising. Sign up here.
- Early bird tickets are selling fast for our Media Business Course, taking place from 7-10 July. Learn about the art and craft of media planning from the best in the business. Book your place here.
And finally, congrats to our colleagues at the IAB UK. Their Gold Standard certification has been adopted by the UK Government Communications Service (GCS). The Gold Standard is the industry’s benchmark for best practice in digital advertising, and the move by GCS is positive support from the government in this industry-led framework to tackle key challenges including ad fraud, brand safety, and supply chain transparency.
