Ad Matters 28.03.25

This week marks the launch of the fourth year of the Campaign Ad Net Zero Awards.  

Each year, the awards gather inspiring examples of how our industry’s Ad Net Zero action plan is being implemented, with the aim of showcasing more sustainable campaigns and better business outcomes. The awards recognise innovation from advertisers, agencies, media owners and production companies – from the UK and across the world. 

Judging this year will be led by two brilliant co-chairs: Ad Net Zero’s Global Chair, Seb Munden, and our former President, Alessandra Bellini, who is now UK Chair of Ad Net Zero.  

What do they want to see? In their words: “What matters more than anything is that your entry leverages the power of creativity and big ideas, aiming to help citizens, clients, and customers change their behaviour for the better.”  

To find out more head here and submit your entries before the early bird deadline of 29 May.   

Talking of awards, this week we’ve also announced the results of our UK Young Lions Competition, where twelve lucky winners will be heading to Cannes in June to compete against their global peers. You can see the fantastic work which caught the judges’ eyes here. 

Our must-reads: 

• Marking the one-year anniversary of their publication, Sustainable Advertising, Matt Bourn and Seb Munden highlight the business case for sustainability. (Media Leader) 

• The latest winner The Works has been announced! ‘Moving Day’ by Pearl & Dean and adam&eveDDB for Amazon skilfully uses emotion to engage cinema audiences. (Marketing Week) 

• Outsmart is calling on the government to support growth in the OOH sector with their new report, Vision for Growth. (Media Leader) 

• The Ad Accessibility Taskforce led by EACA has a released a new guide, building on ISBA’s accessibility hub, to offer practical steps and tools for agencies. (LBB) 

• The latest global adspend forecasts have been downgraded almost one percentage point due to growing tariff concerns. (WARC) 

Our pick of the ads: 

• Our Ad in the A is Media Smart and TikTok’s ‘Teens, Social Media & You’, which was featured at The Outernet in London this week. This campaign aims to support parents and young people aged over 13 to have conversations about their online environment. 

• Leith’s ‘Hell or High’  for local brewery Pilot is inspired by Scottish artist James Heron, with profits from the sale of the lime-flavoured carbonated water helping clean up the UK’s waterways. 

• Twix’s ‘Two Is More Than One’ by adam&eveDDB features a high speed 70s-style car chase to showcase the signature twin bars. 

• Spot the dog! adam&eveDDB’s giant pup soil installation took over Somerset House for Mars petcare brand James Wellbeloved. 

Dates for your diary: 

• It’s your last chance to book tickets for Advertising Week Europe in London, taking place next week from 1-3 April.  

• You have until 11 April to enter the Marketing Week Awards 2025. This includes our Talent Trailblazer Award which celebrates organisations and individuals opening the industry up to new talent. 

• Our industry summit, LEAD North, will be returning to Manchester on 14 May. Full agenda announced here! 

And finally, it was great to see the Production Industry out in force at the APA’s Future of Advertising event this week. A wide-ranging programme of speakers and panels covered a huge array of topics and definitely got the grey matter whirring!