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

/ October 22nd 2021 / Matt Bourn
Industry News

WFA global census reveals ‘major challenges’ around age, gender and ethnicity

“Stark” results of ad industry’s first global inclusion census.

TimeTo: tackling sexual harassment should be part of post-Covid back to work strategy

Change around attitudes to sexual harassment in the workplace is not happening quickly enough. Lockdown only pressed pause on the problem.

Facebook ad chief Mendelsohn teases 5-year metaverse plan

Facebook is working towards building “a successor to mobile internet”, the metaverse, in the next five years.

Camelot’s Keith Moor scoops Marketer of the Year award

The Camelot CMO has been awarded the prestigious title of Marketer of the Year at the Marketing Week Masters awards 2021.

The brand purpose debate: Is the pendulum swinging ‘too hard’?

People tend to love or hate brand purpose, but is its real value somewhere in the middle? Top marketers and researchers weigh in.

Leveraging brand Britain in a post-Covid world

In a fast-changing world, it can be tough to know how to apply ‘brand Britain’, says Kev Chesters, strategy partner at Harbour Collective, who writes as part of The Drum’s Globalization Deep Dive.

The life cycle.

Wattbike appeal to would-be cyclists with busy off-bike lives in this kinetic commercial.

The wheel deal.

Daredevils abound in this two-minute Lego caper, as the brand draw attention to their Stuntz range.

Ebay Inspires Sustainable Shopping Behaviour In New Ad

‘When you buy a thing, sell a thing…’ campaign has been created by McCann London

John Lewis shouldn’t be afraid to defend its new ad

When putting out any ad with potentially controversial content, a brand should be prepared to handle the response.

The John Lewis ad isn’t sexist, it’s a mini masterpiece

Just like the white-winged dove in the lyrics, John Lewis has once again got people singing “ooh, ooh, this’ll never do”.

Purpose could be ‘the death of brands’, warns Byron Sharp

Warning of a ‘cultural cringe’ and sense of insecurity within marketing, Professor Byron Sharp is calling on marketers to stop the self-hatred and have more pride in their profession.

Is brand purpose simply too good to be true?

Thomas Kolster, the author of Goodvertising, knows a thing or two about brand purpose. Despite being one of its biggest advocates, however, he has come to the conclusion that purpose is a dying strategy. Here he tells us why.

Nationwide teams up with ITV to help customers decarbonise their homes

Nearly 30 million homes need “green-ifying” to efficiently cut down on carbon emissions.

Mini UK’s Dogs Trust tie-up unveiled as September’s most effective cinema ad

Despite just being a trial to establish the effectiveness of the channel, Mini’s campaign with Dogs Trust has ranked as the most emotionally evocative cinema ad of last month.

Sustainability and supporting local: what drives people’s buying decisions?

Global digital literacy may be making the world a smaller place as we connect with one another across borders, but how much does ‘local’ still factor into our buying decisions? As part of our Globalization Deep Dive, The Drum and strategic insight agency Opinium took the pulse of the British public, asking 2,000 people from across the four nations what factors into their buying decisions.

The ESG Audit: Omnicom

This week Omnicom Group’s chief environmental sustainability officer Karen van Bergen tells us about its ESG commitments.

Ebay Inspires Sustainable Shopping Behaviour In New Ad

‘When you buy a thing, sell a thing…’ campaign has been created by McCann London.

‘More digital’: what global supply chain pressures mean for P&G’s ad spend

In the face of pressure on its global supply chains, P&G is taking drastic measures to offset increased costs, including ramping up the price of products across its portfolio. It will also impact its significant advertising spend. Though it assured its level of investment won’t change, what channels it prioritizes will.

Here We Flo wins £1m in air-time from Sky Zero Footprint Fund

Other finalists, Olio, Ovo Energy, Pura and Path Financial, each received £250,000.

Dentsu’s global sustainability lead: ‘We have to address our role in driving consumption’

The holding group is nearly 80% towards its net zero target.

4 tips for communicating sustainability initiatives with a global audience

In a world of globalization and corporate investing, companies with sustainability-focused initiatives are more attractive than those without, especially in banking and finance.

Rory Sutherland: Digital’s greatest value is in exploration, not efficiency

Warning that marketers are falling into the trap of “obsessing” over efficiency, Sutherland argues businesses should instead be looking towards digital as a tool for experimentation, now more than ever.

Are the new HFSS rulings an opportunity for the industry to self-regulate?

Industry insiders discuss the pros and cons of adapting the Portman Group model.

Brands have seen £268m profit boost from news brand spend since 2017, study shows

Figure follows 2017 study that said brands were missing out on £3bn profit by underinvesting in news brands.

Market research budgets return to growth as marketing spend rises rapidly

Main media advertising budgets saw the biggest boost over the third quarter of the year, as marketers report growing optimism about the prospects of their businesses.

IPA Bellwether: marketers see biggest boost to budgets in 4 years

Marketers have cause for optimism with budgets having increased to their highest level in four years and ad spend expected to grow sharply in 2022, according to the latest Bellwether report.

Bellwether Report: surge in ‘big ticket’ campaign spend

The IPA released its quarterly Bellwether Report today indicating strong recovery from the pandemic with marketing budgets and adspend increasing.

Marketing Room 101: It’s time to ban free pitches, hyper targeting and meaningless content

Sir John Hegarty, Jan Gooding and Reach’s Andrew Tenzer have made their cases for the marketing buzzwords, theories and jargon that must be banished from marketing.

Cop26: why advertising needs to pay attention – and act

Cop26, the 26th United Nations climate change conference, is around the corner. Insiders expect it to have the biggest reverberations of any conference since the Paris Agreement. Peter Bardell, co-founder of activism agency Revolt, looks into what it will mean for advertisers.

Purpose Before Profit? A Distracting Question For Advertisers

Unusually for insight mined from the dusty vaults of the IPA’s Effectiveness Databank, the latest research from the trade body on brand purpose has attracted no small amount of controversy.

Facebook Portal “Grandparents and grandchildren” by AMV BBDO

Facebook Portal has rolled out an integrated campaign by AMV BBDO to promote its two new video-calling devices, Portal Go and Portal+.

Media Week Awards 2021: winners revealed

ITV, PHD and MG OMD were three of the big winners at the prestigious Media Week Awards 2021, which took place during a glittering gala event at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House London on Park Lane this evening (21 October).

Direct Line, KFC and Camelot win big at the Marketing Week Masters awards

Congratulations to all the winners of this year’s Marketing Week Masters awards, including Grand Prix winner Direct Line Group and Brand of the Year KFC.

NHS: The pandemic revealed ‘just how vital’ marketing is

The NHS had to act quickly last year after realising people with life threatening conditions such as heart attack and stroke were not going to hospital because of Covid, and marketing played a key role.

IPG maintains pandemic rebound with 15.7% organic growth in Q3

Organic growth was 10.7% over 2019.

EE’s New Campaign Is An Online Course For Phone Safety

‘PhoneSmart’ by EE is the Nation’s First Phone Licence to help protect kids