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 09.05.25

/ May 9th 2025
Industry News

We released the latest All In Census results yesterday, or at least revealed ‘the tip of the databerg’, as described by my Credos colleague, Dan. Honestly, we’re swimming in data about our industry’s workforce right now, thanks to another 14,000 people taking part in the latest survey. We have a sample base of nearing 50,000 people from the three surveys that have been run, first in 2021, then in 2023, and now this year. Quite simply, it’s the biggest data set any industry has about its workforce and there are many interesting findings emerging, all of which will help to set the action plan for talent attraction and retention over the coming months and years.

All In Chair and Pearl & Dean CEO, Kathryn Jacob, beautifully congratulated my colleague, Sharon, for her drive in leading this workstream with our partners at ISBA and the IPA, referring to her as ‘the wind beneath All In’s wings’. Kathryn also named Dan as DataMan, a Marvel-style superhero moniker which will probably stick. Good job Dan LOVES data.

You can start to fill your boots with All In data here. If you, or a member of your team, wants to roll their sleeves up and get even more involved building a workplace where all talent is welcome, please drop me a line.

Our must-reads:

  • Bauer Media Outdoor and Curiosity Un(Ltd) have launched ‘Designs4Change’, a national art competition to mark Race Relations Act 60th anniversary. (Campaign)
  • WPP is embracing AI to aid creativity by asking it to invent new slogans. (The Times)
  • Quaker used self-deprecating humour in its magazine ads to become latest winner of our Trust Working Group and Kantar’s ‘The Works’ study (Marketing Week)
  • Subtitles should be the next advantage in advertising, Melike Amin explains. (The Media Leader)
  • Studio AKA brings back the animated birds to encourage early Cancer detection for the Scottish Government. (LBB)

Our pick of the ads:

  • Our Ad in the A is by Pinterest’s House of Creative, a fun, fashion-focused campaign which shares the many ways Pinterest’s visual search feature helps users find what they’re looking for, no matter how niche.
  • AMV BBDO’s powerful ‘Faces of Cancer’ campaign for Macmillan highlights the diversity of people affected by cancer, and that no cancer experience is the same.
  • Dentsu Creative celebrates the dedicated workers who continue to grow potatoes by hand in its “Roll On Jersey Royal Season” campaign for Albert Bartlett – the UK’s largest potato grower.
  • Havas UK’s interactive ‘Magic at Sea’ campaign for Disney Cruise Line features everyone’s favourite Disney characters, encouraging people to join them onboard from Southampton.

Dates for your diary:

  • Don’t forget to enter the Marketing Week Awards before the standard deadline of 9 May. The awards include our Talent Trailblazer Award, which celebrates organisations and individuals opening the industry up to new talent.
  • LEAD North is back! Next week on 14 May, we are returning to HOME Theatre, Manchester, bringing together leaders from brands, agencies, media owners and tech companies across the North of England with the theme Driving Growth and Value. Book your tickets here.
  • Join a stellar line up of marketers at Creative Equals’ RISE 2025 – a one-day summit delivering skills, insights and tools for marketers to build inclusive, sustainable brands. The event will take place on 15 May at the Royal Horticultural Halls. Tickets are available here.
  • Tickets are available for SXSW London, taking place 2-7 June in Shoreditch. Front Foot members can use the discount code here to get 25% off Platinum Passes and Conference Passes.

And finally… look out next Wednesday for our big new report, Advertising Pays 2025. It launches at LEAD North and brings together everything we know about the UK advertising industry and its economic contribution. Essential reading for anyone interested in how our industry helps create jobs, supports competition and innovation and sells services to all kinds of advertisers, here in the UK and around the world.