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.

THIS WEEK: UK ADVERTISING IN THE MEDIA

/ February 26th 2021
Industry News

In this weekly series we pull together, in one place, a selection of must-reads from across our industry media. Hope you find it a useful edit of another week in advertising!

Publicis Groupe apprenticeship aims to reach 10,000 people from disadvantaged backgrounds

The programme will offer training, mentorships and job opportunities to young people from ethnic-minority and low social mobility backgrounds.

Stand up and be counted: adland needs to go all in on census

Support is growing for the “All In” survey, but there are still some surprising absences.

Ad Net Zero climate initiative unveils supporters and working groups

Ad Net Zero provided further details of how it will enact its action plan, which was published last year.

Ad Net Zero reveals 38 supporting companies

Ad Net Zero, UK advertising’s initiative to help the industry respond to the climate crisis, has announced the 38 companies that make up its supporter base.

Not a trade body type of gal

ISBA’s head of media Bobi Carley explains why she decided to join the trade body despite its “grey” reputation.

Ad Council latest seeks to educate on importance of Covid-19 vaccination

Today, the Ad Council and Covid Collaborative say ‘It’s Up To You’ to US citizens, in the hope of educating and informing the public on the importance of the Covid-19 vaccination.

Ad agencies need sexual harassment training to make a hybrid workplace safe for all

Lorraine Jennings, director of culture change and wellbeing services at Nabs and timeTo steering committee member, explains why this training is so crucial and calls on the industry to educate itself.

Jaffa Cakes reignites an ancient dispute in return to TV

McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes is once again throwing open its biscuit versus cake conundrum in the brand’s first standalone TV campaign in 15 years. (But it’s a cake.)

Facebook campaign pushes benefits of targeted ads for small businesses

The activation features small business owners who have stayed connected to customers on Facebook during the pandemic, as well as new product updates for SMBs.

TV advertising’s 2021 choice: use or lose the genie

The pandemic is encouraging brands and broadcasters to be more experimental and collaborative, Campaign’s TV Advertising Summit heard yesterday. But will this continue post-Covid?

Can Out of Home ads really create PR fame – or will high expectations hurt the industry?

Social media’s provided somewhere for impactful out of home ads to further resonate but is the congratulatory feedback loop blinding marketers to the true value of the medium – reaching real people?

Tommee Tippee “The boob life” by Manifest

Parenting brand Tommee Tippee has launched a global campaign to demystify the realities of infant feeding to new and prospective mums.

Chris Hemsworth’s Mysterious Head Teaches Us How to Eat and Live Like Thor in Bonkers Centr Campaign

Directed by Photoplay’s Scott Otto Anderson, the new film shows us that the God of Thunder is just like us after all.

Headline news: behind the TV takeover that urged minorities to get the jab

Created for the communities, by the communities, on Thursday #TaketheVaccine took over TV channels, urging those from BAME backgrounds to get the jab. The Drum finds out the story behind this stunt and how it pushed the marginalized message into the headlines.

How Virgin Media plans to be seen as a ‘brand with purpose beyond profit’

Virgin Media’s Jeff Dodds outlines the brand’s strategy to boost diversity, support carers by facilitating better connections and reducing its environmental impact by 2025.

D&AD partners Google to expand Shift night school globally

Shift is a free educational programme for aspiring creatives from non-traditional backgrounds.

Spotify’s Rak Patel to lead EMEA sales

Patel takes up lead EMEA role as Spotify founder pledges to invest more resources in developing its advertising business.

US ad giants Omnicom and Interpublic cut 10,000 roles in 2020

Annual reports show extent of jobs cull.

UK to ‘defend free speech’ in dealings with Facebook

Downing Street has vowed to be “robust in defending free speech and journalism” when the culture secretary meets Facebook executives to discuss the social media network’s news ban in Australia.

Redundancy, restructure, brand values: 5 interesting stats from Salary Survey 2021

From the level of redundancy and furlough, to changes in teams structures and corporate values being put to the test, the 2021 Marketing Week Career and Salary Survey reveals the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

Mark Read’s WPP growth plan includes greater focus on Asia and agency integration

In a wide-ranging interview at Spikes Asia X Campaign, the WPP boss discussed the future structure of the network, the challenge of losing talent to tech platforms, and, of course, was quizzed about Sir Martin Sorrell.

Brands have rediscovered emotion and right-brain thinking during Covid

Margaret Jobling, chief marketing officer at NatWest Group, on what we can learn from the pandemic to change the way we approach advertising going forward.

Combating neurodiverse under-representation

Matt Davis, Executive Creative Director at Red Brick Road on how analysing neurodiversity, with autism as its centre of gravity, can adapt actions in creative ways that are meaningful for both the business and its culture.

Coca-Cola Goes Beyond Words to Express the Indescribable Experience of Drinking a Coke

Campaign from Caviar directors Los Perez and Wieden+Kennedy London, explores universal, non-verbal reactions to drinking a refreshing Coca-Cola with new track crafted by Tyler, The Creator.

Oliver Dowden expresses alarm over Facebook ban on news in Australia

Culture Secretary expresses concern after social media giant blocked publishers from Australian platform.

Revealed: The cost of Covid on marketing careers

The 2021 Marketing Week Career and Salary Survey reveals the toll the pandemic has taken on marketers’ careers, exposing the impact of the crisis on team structures and wider business culture.

Dentsu’s Wendy Clark: ‘If I don’t use my position to change the face of the industry, shame on me’

New Dentsu International CEO talks to Campaign.

Bima’s Holly Hall to become head of The Drum Network

Holly Hall, currently managing director of Bima, has been named as the new head of The Drum Network.

‘You’ll never be bored again’: agency enlists kids to design the office of the future

The Drum finds out what happened when the folk at digital transformation agency Jellyfish asked the children of its employees to use their imaginations to design a dream office.

The Immortal Awards Kicks Off 2021 with Global Online Showcase

Join for free at 17:00GMT on March 3rd for a celebration of 2020’s winners and a Q&A with their creators.

Unilever’s Knorr celebrates ‘eativists’ in global campaign by IPG agencies

MullenLowe-created ad campaign is supported by work from R/GA, MullenLowe Salt, Golin and ITB.