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

/ July 30th 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!

Future of Media: Big tech enjoys ad spend boom, ITV’s metaverse, publishing the Olympics

Have you hear? Ad spend is back? As per AA/Warc this morning, we’ve seen the fastest UK ad spend growth ever recorded (tracking started in 1982). This trend even includes the 2008 recession.

Dark Horses releases open source menopause policy to help break taboos

Dark Horses CEO Melissa Robertson writes policy after huge response to her recent article in Campaign.

Interview: William Eccleshare quits as Clear Channel CEO after ‘fantastic run’

Departing chief talks to Campaign.

The madness of arts education cuts: how can you learn what can’t be taught?

Government plans to halve higher-education funding for arts subjects will cause incalculable harm to the creative industries, one of the UK’s most important growth sectors. It’s time to mobilise and fight back, the co-founder of Uncommon Creative Studio says.

Capital gains.

Following the launch of a Phoebe Waller-Bridge/Fleabag edition, Edinburgh Gin deliver a more traditional pour in this 20″ ad.

UK advertising rebound set to outstrip Europe

British ad spend forecast to rise by a record 18pc this year to £2.7bn.

UK ad spend forecasts lifted as lockdown easing drives recovery

Official forecasts for UK advertising spend in 2021 have been lifted after the easing of lockdown restrictions helped drive a better-than-expected recovery for the battered sector.

All media set for double-digit growth in record-breaking year for UK ad market

AA/Warc Expenditure Report paints a highly positive picture of the future for UK ad sector.

AA/Warc: UK ad spend to grow at fastest-ever recorded rate in 2021

Shaking off the effects of the pandemic and countless lockdowns, the UK is set to see ad spend grow 18.2% to £27.7bn in 2021, according to the latest report from the Advertising Association and Warc. Never before has such a dramatic surge been recorded by the organization. The Drum explores the findings.

ITV: advertisers are realising ‘huge benefits of TV’ after record 115% ad surge in June

The rebound is ‘across the board’ in every category except travel.

Ad revenues surge at Alphabet, Apple and Microsoft

Silicon Valley is reaping the benefits of a resurgent advertising market with revenues up across the board as brands clamor for a slice of the digital pie.

Pingdemic plunges adland into most ‘difficult period’

Steve Davies of the Advertising Producers Association says the production industry is ‘probably in the most difficult period’ in terms of pandemic-relation disruption.

Adland needs to reinvent, rebrand and reimagine when it comes to inclusion

Advertising is an industry that runs on talent, but it leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to inclusion and belonging.

BURBERRY HERO – THE NEW FRAGRANCE FOR MEN

Burberry introduces Hero, Riccardo Tisci’s first scent for Burberry starring Adam Driver. A new masculine spirit exploring the house codes of duality and the power of the animal kingdom.

Ad of the Day: Nike’s Disney-esque ode to fairy skateboarding legend Rayssa Leal

Knocking all stereotypes out of the skatepark, Rayssa Leal was only seven when she went viral when a video surfaced of the young Brazilian dressed as a fairy princess, landing what Tony Hawk coined the ‘fairytale heelflip’.

Passion, Courage And A Steely Competitive Edge: How Annette King Is Building Publicis Groupe UK

Three years in and the chief of Publicis Groupe UK is as hungry as ever.

Revealed: Marketing Week Masters 2021 Brand of the Year shortlist

Five brands have been shortlisted for the 2021 Marketing Week Masters Brand of the Year, with the winner to be announced in October.

PPA appoints new CEO Sajeeda Merali

Merali will take up her new post in September.

Print and broadcast media more trusted than social

Only a third of Britons believe social media is trustworthy for news, as the public turn to broadcasters and newspapers for the latest on Covid.

The Guardian sees huge 61% increase in digital reader revenue

The Guardian Media Group (GMG) has announced statutory results for the 12 months to March 28 2021, a year where its revenue model was put under severe strain during a historic push to profit. Nonetheless, the growth in subscriptions and support proved to see it through the tumultuous period.

Mirror publisher Reach buoyant as digital advertising rises

Reach, the publisher of the Daily Mirror, Daily Express and InYourArea websites, has reported strong increases in digital advertising sales, sending its shares up to levels not seen since before the financial crisis over a decade ago.

Advertising spells success for Alphabet

A surge in advertising spending helped Google’s parent company Alphabet to deliver another record quarter.

Did somebody say advertising is now a proven driver of growth? Why adspend has bucked Covid

The rapid bounceback of adspend following last year’s recession shows how advertising has become an indispensable tool for businesses, not just an economic bellwether. So say the heads of two of IPG’s biggest creative and media agency brands in this joint article.

Out of this world

A passing alien picks up a signal from planet Earth, and it turns out to be Netflix… and we witness him going through a full gamut of emotions as he watches some of the programmes on offer.

Durex Marks End Of Covid Restrictions With ‘Freedom’ Billboards

The campaign from Havas London celebrates the fact that for the first time in 16 months, people in the UK can have sex with no restrictions.

Are the walls closing in on cryptocurrency ads?

As celeb-fronted campaigns bring cryptocurrency into the mainstream, is it time for clearer regulation of ads?

Has Times Radio fulfilled its promise of a commercial Radio 4?

Despite the lack of Rajar figures available for the station, brands have responded well to it, but the return of definitive audience measurement may cause a rethink of its sponsorship-based ad model.

Adland’s anger at ‘unacceptable’ tabloid reporting of JWT discrimination case

Several adland organisations are set to complain to IPSO about MailOnline’s coverage.

Can marketers restore trust and transparency in agency relationships?

Marketers are becoming increasingly disenfranchised by the lack of transparency in agency relationships, but there are steps that can be taken to help restore trust.

London’s open for business (and viruses)

The message contained in this film for Transport for London is one of a return to normality after the pandemic.

Eco marketing has a problem

Phil Rowley, head of futures at Omnicom Media Group UK, urges a deeper, more profound understanding of human behaviours, values and beliefs when promoting sustainability.

Apple, Mattel, McDonald’s: Everything that matters this morning

Good morning and welcome to Marketing Week’s round-up of the news that matters in the marketing world today.

JWT sex discrimination case: why two ousted male creatives won

Senior creatives Chas Bayfield and Dave Jenner claimed they were ousted from J Walter Thompson as part of a diversity drive and took the firm to an employment tribunal.

BT’s Hope United Creates Digital Home For Marcus Rashford Mural Tribute

The campaign, from Saatchi & Saatchi, has collaborated with Withington Walls to keep the Marcus Rashford tribute messages alive.

Twitter ad revenue crosses $1bn in Q2

Social-media platform sees overall topline grow by 74% as pandemic rebound and spike in user metrics drive growth.