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 31.03.2023

/ March 31st 2023
Industry News

ADGREEN PUBLISHES ITS FIRST ANNUAL REVIEW

This week, AdGreen published its first Annual Review, highlighting the huge opportunity for carbon reduction in ad production around the world. Curbing emissions from advertising production is the second pillar of the Ad Net Zero Action Plan and AdGreen offers fantastic resources to help with this.

Over 130 people joined a webinar hosted by their Global Director, Jo Fenn, to hear the latest analysis of data gathered from 515 projects from 87 companies.

The findings showed that travel and transport activities across all projects accounted for the highest percentage of emissions (62.4%), followed by energy and fuels (24.6%), and materials (12.4%).

Commenting on the review, our Ad Net Zero Chair, Seb Munden, said: “We urge all companies, including the growing number of supporters in the Ad Net Zero community, to review these findings and take practical action on all the productions they are planning this year.”

The review also offers some brilliant case studies and stresses the need to meet net zero targets. Download the full Annual Review here and catch up on the webinar.

IPA WELCOMES ITS NEW PRESIDENT

Josh Krichefski gave his inaugural speech as the IPA’s new President on Wednesday, where he delivered a deep dive into his ‘People First’ agenda.

Josh, who is also CEO of GroupM for UK/EMEA, explained his three-pronged approach which aims at:

  1. Opening eyes to focus on advertising’s cultural and societal relevance in modern Britain to attract the best talent from across the country
  2. Opening hearts to help retain and nurture advertising talent by being more inclusive across our ecosystem
  3. Opening minds to look after the wellbeing of everyone working in the ad industry by introducing a new framework that promotes positive mental health

He also spoke about collaborating with the AA to attract talent and work on a mental health agenda. We wish him luck in his new role and look forward to working with him!

You can read more about his agenda and watch his speech here!

CHANNEL 4’S DIVERSITY IN ADVERTISING WINNER

Vanish, the winner of Channel 4’s Diversity in Advertising Award, is unveiling its new campaign “Me, My Autism and I” tonight on Gogglebox.

Our Commercial Director and Inclusion Leader, Sharon Lloyd Barnes, was delighted to be a judge for the awards which donated £1m worth of airtime to the Vanish campaign across the C4 network.

The winning ad created by Havas London aims to nurture a conversation to broaden the public understanding of autism, particularly in girls, while also highlighting the importance of making clothing live longer.

Find out more here and be sure to check it out on Gogglebox tonight.

DRIVING CREATIVITY AND COLLABORATION AT SXSW

At this year’s SXSW, UK Advertising, represented by UKAEG and our friends at the American Advertising Federation, hosted roundtable discussions to explore how marketers can drive creativity, growth and collaboration. If you want to get a exclusive peek into the discussions, you can now watch the highlights video hereBig thanks on behalf of UKAEG to supporters AA, IPA, APA and BPMA!

And if you’re following our podcast in partnership with UKAEG, the Department for Business and Trade, and Advertising Week, don’t miss episode 4 of Great Thinking, where UK advertising and creative leaders discuss how they are leading the charge on some of the most important challenges currently facing brands around the world. Hosted by Dino Myers-Lamptey, the latest episode features Jonny Shaw from VCCP+ and Mackenzie Jackson from Alliance Studios. Listen here and catch up on the full series so far!

Don’t forget, we are starting to make plans for Cannes Lions! For those interested in joining UKAEG’s trade mission, please drop a line to our International Trade Director Aisling.Conlon@adassoc.org.uk

WELCOMING SCOTLAND’S NEXT FIRST MINISTER

On Monday, we welcomed the appointment of Humza Yousaf as Scotland’s next First Minister. According to research from our thinktank, Credos, every £1 spent on advertising generates £5 for the Scottish economy – supporting jobs, businesses and the creative and media industries.

Read the statement from our CEO, Stephen Woodford, on the appointment of the SNP’s new leader and how the advertising industry and its Scottish members can work with the new administration.

TAKE 5 MINUTES TO COMPLETE GRACE BLUE’S NEW SURVEY!

Our Front Foot member, Grace Blue, has launched its new survey in collaboration with Boardroom Ready.

Targeting senior leaders wanting to obtain their first Non-Executive Director role or continue building a NED portfolio, the survey aims to help them understand the skills they can offer to a Board and the barriers preventing them from securing a NED/Trustee position.

The survey responses will be used to support candidates in landing these roles and will also help Grace Blue’s clients understand how they can find the right talent for their Boards.

Complete the survey here!

THE HOUSE IS OPEN FOR DEBATES

On Tuesday, we headed to the House of Commons with the Debating Group to hear our industry put their debating skills to the test and discuss the motion “Promotional merchandise is the medium which forges the most effective and long-term emotional relationship with its audience”. 

Chaired by Baroness Amanda Sater, JP, speaking for the motion were the BPMA’s Carey Trevill and VCCP’s Ollie Gilmore; speaking against were AAR’s Tony Spong and VCCP’s Alana Ballantyne.

The motion was carried and the debate was a very interesting one, exploring how the branded merchandise industry can help marketers achieve effective, long-term emotional engagement with customers in a sustainable way. Discussions continued for a few hours in The Red Lion just down the road from the Palace of Westminster, as all good debates should. We look forward to seeing everyone at the next debate in May.

SUPER BOWL (AA-STYLE)

Finally, this is a bumper edition of Ad Matters as next Friday we’ll shut shop for Easter. As we close, we’ll leave you with this photo of the AA team from our work social this week. Big shout-out to our Events Manager Phoebe Sallitt who bowled us all away and was crowned super bowler for the night! See you down the lanes next time?

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’.