I spent last week in Milan, taking part in the ICAS Global Think Tank conference, where I was asked to share thoughts from our book, Trusted Advertising. ICAS is the international Council for Advertising Self-Regulation and it’s made up of the many national self-regulatory organisations like the UK’s ASA. It was a fascinating couple of days, hearing about the shared opportunities and challenges our colleagues face running a system where people can trust the ads they see and hear wherever they are. What also struck me was the need for the system to reflect the different social and cultural values in markets as diverse as Australia, India, Italy, Brazil and South Africa. I’ve written about what I think this all means in today’s Media Leader.This fascinating conversation will continue next month in Cannes where ICAS is hosting a full day of discussions called Cannes Rules! – more details on that here. Closer to home, if you want to talk trust with peers in the advertising industry, there’s still time to join our Clearcast roundtable which takes place next Wednesday in central London. All the details here.
Our must reads:
- In case you missed Media 360, here’s a handy recap of the top takeaways from the Brighton conference (Campaign).
- The IPA has published a new report urging marketers to ‘Go big or go home’ in the pursuit of effectiveness (IPA).
- Football fever is building and so are the adverts – check out the World Cup roundup (Campaign).
- Thinkbox’s Lindsay Clay has taken on this week’s probing and quickfire Leading Questions (Media Leader).
Our pick of the ads:
- Our Ad in the A is “Pastry Toastie” for Ginsters by adam&eveTBWA with their 3D installation based in Waterloo Station, showing commuters how just how perfectly their Pastry Toasties can be cooked in a toaster.
- The&Partnership London has worked with Lexus on their “GWRM” (Get Ready with Me) social first advert that speaks to a younger audience.
- Pinterest’s “The best thing you can find online is a reason to go offline” campaign by their in-house House of Creative, encourages users to use the internet as a tool to discover inspiration, then live those experiences in the real world.
Dates for your diary:
- From 15 June until 5pm on 15 September, AA members can book the ASA’s live virtual advice sessions at an enhanced discounted group rate. Use code AAgroup35 for groups of 4–24 delegates to get 35% off, or AAgroup60 for 25+ delegates for 60% off. T&Cs apply
- Only a few spots remain for our Media Business Course, taking place from 7-10 July in Eastbourne. Contact Phoebe.Sallit@adassoc.org.uk for more information.
- CreatorFest 2026 on 14-15 July has a packed two-day agenda of networking and panels. Get 20% off your tickets using the code AA20OFF here.
And finally, we’ve lots of exciting plans to celebrate UK advertising on the world stage over the next month, in the run-up to Cannes. We will be revealing our latest export figures at SXSW London next Wednesday, then unveiling our new brand identity and campaign at Outernet, London on Monday 15th June, all before we take our UK advertising trade mission to Cannes Lions the following week. We’ll keep you posted but if you want to know more about any of this in the meantime, please get in touch!
