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.

A A A

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 22.12.22

/ December 22nd 2022
Industry News

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE AA

This is the last Ad Matters of the year, and what a year it has been! 2022 has been a big, busy year for us here at the AA, and we wanted to reflect on some of the key moments and achievements from the last twelve months.

Our Inclusion initiative, All In launched six more actions of the All In Action Plan – ranging from women to disabled talent. You can check out the updated All In Action Plan here.

In June, we held a special All In Parliamentary Reception where we announced the first wave of All In Champions – more than 60 companies who provided evidence of their implementation of the first six actions of the All In Action Plan.

It was also a key year for our climate initiative, Ad Net Zero.

In June, we took the train and headed to Cannes Lions, where we announced the global roll-out of Ad Net Zero. The launch was supported by global advertising and media leaders and, since then, we have successfully established a US Chapter, directed by John Osborn, former OMD US and BBDO New York CEO. This November, we also held the first Campaign Ad Net Zero Awards – designed to change the way we work and the work we make – and the second Ad Net Zero Global Summit, held in London and online, which included insights from leaders around the world.

Our Public Affairs team have been busy representing our industry’s views through the changes of Government, from HFSS advertising to helping our members navigate the cost-of-living crisis affecting all industries. We also shown how we’re continuing to increase public trust in our industry, and supported a nationwide campaign for our gold-standard regulator the ASA in its 60th anniversary, which you can read all about here.

We’ve been to the party conferences to showcase the brilliant creative talents from our UK Advertising Exports Group, along with its trips to Cannes, DIT’s International Trade Week and SXSW, which we’re glad to return to in 2023.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, we launched a Ukraine hub on our website. The hub serves as a one-stop resource for advertisers to be updated on UK Government sanctions and exports, industry coverage and news, as well as initiatives and ways to support Ukraine.

On September 8, HM Queen Elisabeth II sadly passed away, following 70 years of service. We created a dedicated page on our website to compile our industry’s tribute to Her Majesty.

As 2023 approaches, let’s take a look at what’s coming up:

  • LEAD, the advertising industry’s flagship summit, held together with the IPA and ISBA is back in person. The event will take place on January 25 at ODEON Luxe Leicester Square in London and we expect a stellar line-up of speakers. This is one you don’t want to miss – book your ticket here!
  • Take 15 minutes on March 15 to fill out the second All In Census. This census-style survey helps us shape the All In Action Plan and understand the make-up of our industry. 15 minutes of your time make such a difference. Learn more about the power of the All In Census here.

Keep your eyes peeled in January for our Annual Review to learn about everything we were up to this year!

We wanted to give a massive shout-out to all our members and supporters, as well as to everyone who’s been involved in each of our events and workstreams throughout the year.

A big thank you also goes to every single one of you for subscribing and reading our newsletter every Friday.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year! ✨✨

UN’S UNSTEREOTYPE ALLIANCE CELEBRATES 2ND ANNIVERSAY 

Earlier this month the 2nd anniversary of the UK Chapter of Unstereotype Alliance  was held at the House of Lords.

The event was an opportunity to reflect on the progress made and hear about the fantastic work being done to drive the Unstereotype mandate forward.

Convened by UN Women, the Unstereotype Alliance is a thought and action platform that engages the global advertising industry to eradicate all harmful stereotypes from advertising and media content. Its 237 members and 12 national chapters collectively act to empower people in all their diversity by using advertising as a force for good to drive positive change all over the world.

Keith Weed, Chair of the UK Chapter and for AA President, delivered a keynote address that opened with the ‘Raising the Bar’ film from the Global Summit in New York last month. He also championed the work of the UK Chapter and highlighted where action still needs to be accelerated.

Also highlighted at the event was the Women & Heritage research led by UM for the UK Chapter won the Inclusive Research Award at the prestigious Market Research Society (MRS) Awards.

A huge congratulations to Michael Brown, Managing Partner, UM, who is part of our Front Foot network.

We also heard from Front Foot members Ali Hanan, Founder and CEO of Creative Equals who spoke about the increase in female Creative Directors from 12% in 2018 to 28%. Emma Botton, Group Brand, Proposition and Marketing Communications Director, Tesco, talked about the Food Love Stories campaign which celebrates different cultures and communities across the UK – a clear demonstration of how inclusion can solve a commercial challenge. Finally, adam&eveDDB’s Chief Strategy Officer, Martin Beverley told us more about this year’s John Lewis Christmas campaign featuring a positive male role model people love.

Learn more about the Unstereotype Alliance by following them on LinkedIn @UNWomenUK@UnstereotypeAlliance and Twitter @UN_Women, @un_stereotype

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’.