Ad Matters 28.01.22

RENEW-ING OUR AMBITIONS FOR THE DECADE AHEAD 

Yesterday, together with ISBA and the IPA, we held our annual event, RENEW 2022, to set the agenda for the year ahead and explore what advertising needs to do to meet the challenges of this decade. 

The conference was broadcast live from our special studio from ISBA HQ in London where our host Nina Hossain delivered a packed morning of brilliant content. 

Our stellar line-up of speakers discussed the power of advertising to drive positive social change; what the industry can do to fight against the climate emergency; All In – the industry initiative to build a workplace where everyone belongs; and how to make the pitching process more positive.  

To kick off RENEW 2022, Alessandra Bellini made her first public speaking appearance as our new President. During her speech, she announced the launch of a new Talent Taskforce, aimed at tackling the “creativity crisis” that our industry faces, by attracting and retaining talent. Aligned with the work of All In, this new taskforce will work to understand how our workforce can better represent the diversity of our audience. You can read more about the Talent Taskforce here. 

Attendees also heard a political keynote by John Pienaar, Times Radio Presenter, who shared the latest news from inside Westminster and his views on UK politics and our reputation around the world.  Each of the association’s Presidents spoke at RENEW 2022, with Julian Douglas (IPA) speaking on the Pitch Positive Pledge and Peter Duffy (ISBA) talking about the latest developments with Project Origin. ISBA DG, Phil Smith, delivered the closing remarks to end the event. 

There were a number of exciting announcements over the course of the morning. Along with the launch of the Talent Taskforce, the next three actions which form the All In Action Plan were revealed. These address Gender, Asian Talent and Ageism. You can find out more about each of the actions over on the All In Hub here. During the Climate session, Seb Munden, Ad Net Zero Chair, revealed that the initiative would introduce certification in the third quarter of 2022. You can read more from his speech here.  

Last but not least, we also published the latest AA/WARC Expenditure Report, which shows that 2021 is forecast to be the strongest year ever for the UK’s ad market. On top of this record growth ahead of key international markets, the good news is set to continue into 2022 with total investment rising to an estimated £32bn. You can find out more about the latest figures here.  

You can read a round-up of coverage from RENEW 2022 here. All sessions will be available to watch on demand via our YouTube channel next week. As always, a huge thanks goes to everyone that attended, our wonderful speakers, partners, and production company, Brandfuel. We hope to see you again soon! 

THIS WEEK: UK ADVERTISING IN THE MEDIA

In our weekly series we are pulling together, in one place, a selection of must-reads from across our industry media. Check it out here.