Ad Matters 27.01.2023

WE’RE LEADING THE WAY

This Wednesday, we headed to Odeon Luxe Leicester Square for the return of our flagship industry summit, LEAD 2023, held together with IPA and ISBA – and what a comeback that was!

It was a delightful morning, packed with insightful and inspiring talks on a wide range of themes. There were political keynote speeches by Michelle Donelan, Secretary of State for DCMS (you can read more about her first address to our industry via Campaign) and Lucy Powell, Shadow Secretary for DCMS.

There were panel discussions – on navigating the economic headwinds in the UK media market, with Zaid Al-Qassab, Channel 4; Nick Baughan, Meta; Imogen Fox, The Guardian; & Michaela Jefferson, Marketing Week – and a call-out to becoming an All In Champion and accelerate inclusivity in your workplace, with Dan Wilks, Credos; Dan Clays, Omnicom Media Group; Natalie Trye, Meta & BRiM Lead; and Mimi Okorie, Hearts & Science.

Other sessions included tackling the role of advertising in the net zero economy, with Ad Net Zero Chair Seb Munden;Sarah Jones, Sky Media and Chris Baker & Martin McAllister, from Serious Tissues, winning campaign of the Sky Zero Footprint Fund in 2022.  

One of the biggest takeaways from the event was the release of our Talent Report: Investing in Our Talent’s Future, announced by our President, Alessandra Bellini. The report is part of the AA’s new 3-year strategy, which highlights the need to address our industry’s talent shortages.

The report has been developed with data from Credos and a special Talent Task Force.

Preliminary actions include:

• Plans for a campaign to promote advertising as a career choice to young people
• A central industry hub for professional skills training
• Increased successful uptake of the apprenticeship scheme
• Support on best practice around hybrid working.

You can read more on the launch of the Talent Report here and members can download the complete report here.

All the LEAD sessions will be available to watch on-demand soon but in the meantime, why not read this piece in LBB to learn more about the event? You can also check out pictures from the day here!

ADSPEND WEATHERS THE STORM

Yesterday, we released the latest AA/WARC figures, covering Q3 of 2022.  The report shows that UK advertising spend rose by 4.3% to a total of £8.5bn between July-September 2022, the ninth consecutive quarter of growth and demonstrative of an ongoing, resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The AA/WARC Expenditure Report is the only one to collect advertising revenue data directly from media owners across the entire landscape and this latest report shows that the UK’s ad market is expected to grow by a further 3.8% this year, totalling £36.1bn. However, this equates to a 3.0% real terms decline once inflation is accounted for.

You can read more about the latest figures here. You can also learn more about the AA/WARC Report via Campaign,  LBB, Newsworks and The Media Leader.  

LAUNCHING OUR ANNUAL REVIEW

It’s been a big week for us, and we wanted to wrap it all up by sharing our 2022 Annual Review. With thought-leadership pieces from our President Alessandra Bellini, Chair Annette King, and pieces from all our leadership team to cover activities from Cannes to Climate – there is something for everyone.

Of course, we couldn’t do any of our work without the fantastic support of our members to help realise our mission to make the advertising industry more trusted, inclusive and sustainable in the years ahead.

Many of our readers receive a mention, so be sure to download your copy 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’.