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.

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AA comment on the appointment of Nadine Dorries MP as Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport

/ September 16th 2021
Advertising and the UK Economy

Following the appointment of Nadine Dorries MP as Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Advertising Association Chief Executive, Stephen Woodford, commented:

“We welcome the appointment of Nadine Dorries MP as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and look forward to working closely with her and the team at DCMS to advance the position of advertising as a pillar of the UK’s £110bn creative economy. We would also like to thank Oliver Dowden and his team for their dedicated service on behalf of our country’s cultural and creative sector.

“Advertising is a hugely successful engine of our economy. Every £1 spent on advertising contributes £6 to GDP, and it is predicted that UK adspend will grow by 18.2% this year to reach a total of £27.7bn – the fastest recovery of any major international market. The pandemic has shown how vital advertising is to our national life; however, these impressive figures, and our status as a global hub for exports of advertising, are dependent on a number of factors. This includes ensuring that any further regulation on advertising in areas such as HFSS and gambling is proportionate and must enable the UK’s diverse advertising market to continue to flourish. As the Department progresses with its Online Advertising Programme, we hope it will take into full account the value of the ASA self-regulatory system in setting responsible and well-enforced advertising standards that are so important to public trust in advertising.”