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

/ December 10th 2021
Industry News

Review of 2021: the same, only different

The pandemic’s presence was strongly felt once more despite ‘Freedom Day’ in the UK marking a lifting of many restrictions and the return of major sporting events around the world.

Yorkshire cricket racism scandal should be a warning for UK media industry

Adland has not done enough to create a sense of belonging, the founder of Media For All says.

Cannes Lions hires The Unmistakables as DE&I consultancy

The Unmistakables will conduct a “full and independent review” of Cannes Lions’ diversity practices and processes.

British business can recover from Covid if we focus on exports

The responsibility for supporting firms to go global, to compete, build our economy and increase resilience, doesn’t just sit with government. It’s also up to businesses to step up and seek growth, says Lord Bilmoria.

How Marcus Rashford and Co-op created a powerful advocacy campaign

It started with a tweet and went on to raise over £20m to tackle food poverty.

‘Keeping a close eye’: how ad agencies are responding to Omicron concerns

The rise in the number of Covid-19 cases linked to the Omicron variant has sparked government action. Many agencies have been operating a hybrid working system since previous restrictions lifted in the summer, but with Christmas party season on the horizon are policies set to change again?

Once more into the sewer and ‘premature effectiveness’

Dominic Mills looks at the ANA’s imminent study into industry waste and Kantar’s latest effectiveness findings, which puts Aldi’s Christmas ad at the top of the tree.

‘Great Resignation’ of 2021 shows adland needs to invest more in talent

The advertising industry is not alone in suffering from high employee churn during the economic recovery but it does have a particular reason to worry, says Campaign’s Editor in Chief.

UK leads the world in ad market growth, according to Group M forecast

The industry is predicted to grow by 35.7% this year.

Digital advertising pushes global ad spend to new heights

Digital advertising will account for over 60% of global ad spend in 2022, according to the latest advertising expenditure forecast compiled by Zenith.

The 2022 Agenda: Doubling down on digital

As we look ahead to 2022, Marketing Week identifies the key opportunities and challenges that will shape marketers’ roles.

DMA rallies for youth employment support from creative industries

Research from the trade association, which asked 220 senior marketers what they believed were the biggest challenges impacting the data and marketing industry, shows retaining talent (53%) and attracting talent (49%) are two of the three most significant issues.

Work Of The Week

The best creative, curated work by Creative Salon.

It’s not all about Covid: leadership lessons that shouldn’t be forgotten

Stability matters in these tumultuous times, and it’s up to leaders to help keep their people afloat, writes UM London’s CEO.

Reset 2021: behind the scenes of Brandfuel’s virtual conference for the Advertising Agency

Brandfuel won ‘Conference/Exhibition of the Year’ at The Drum Awards for Experience with its project for the Advertising Association. The team behind this winning entry explains the strategy behind it.

Agencies can’t ignore their climate-harming clients

How long will agency arguments about helping high-carbon brands make a change hold water not only with consumers but also their own talent?

Former MediaCom director succeeds Rowlinson at GroupM

Katie Grosvenor joins as engagement and growth chief in 2022.

Ad execs’ reputation improves but profession is still least-trusted by British public

The profession is trusted by just 16% of people in the UK, a similar level to politicians.

The 2022 Agenda: Embracing the possibilities of apprenticeships

Some 28% of 16- to 25-year-olds say Covid has ruined their career dreams, according to a survey of 5,000 young people conducted by the Co-op.

Deep Dive: Marketing & the marginalised

The Drum is running a Deep Dive on diversity from 6-12 December

Reducing the wastefulness of our gifts

Now more than ever, the thoughtfulness of our presents will be about whether the planet has paid too high a price in its production.

FVTA Global: ‘Marketers want to spend more on TV’ but face growing challenge

Marketers want to spend more money on TV but are finding it increasingly more difficult to justify it within their companies, the Future of TV Advertising Global conference heard today.

Pinterest marks out lounge lingerie and DIY car curtains as top trends for 2022

“Lounge lingerie”, “DIY car curtains” and “creative retail display” are some of the top items and ideas people are expected to hunt for next year, according to social media platform Pinterest.

Meta’s Nicola Mendelsohn promises change: ‘We’re not satisfied with where we are’

Mendelsohn has acceded to the role of ad chief at a tricky time for the owner of Facebook, as it faces both reputational questions and growing competition. So how will she approach her two main priorities: supporting clients and agencies on ad plans and working on trust and safety issues?

Sue Frogley: Publicis Media UK Is “More Than A Supertanker”

Following a recent flurry of new wins by Publicis Media, its UK CEO talks creativity and entrepreneurship.

Marketers react to Tesco’s big media move: a ‘strong start’ in the data arms race

Tesco unveiled a major new media offering at the end of November that it promised had the equivalent reach of Sky, Channel 4 and Facebook.

71% Of Consumers Believe Advertising Can Play Significant Role in Combating Climate Change

Data from the IPA shows that 59% of people like seeing what companies are doing to help tackle climate change in their ads and that 87% agree that all companies have a responsibility to help reduce the impact of climate change.

Ad Association rethinks Media Business Course to tackle a lack of diversity

The Advertising Association (AA) has reshaped its Media Business Course (MBC) in response to results from the All In Census and the industry’s talent crisis.

The AA Relaunches Media Business Course To Help Drive Talent

The course has been reshaped to reflect the findings of the All In Census survey.

UK and US look to shape a new ‘global data ecosystem’

The UK and US have set out their ambition to shape a new ‘global data ecosystem’ based on cross-border data sharing.

Jaguar’s LGBTQ+ focused magazine ad named most effective of October

‘Live Loud’ ranked among the top UK ads of all time for distinctiveness, branding and emotional response, according to the latest ‘The Works’ study by Kantar.

IPA president Julian Douglas: my end of year report card on advertising’s progress

After a crucial 12 months for the advertising and marketing industry, IPA president and vice-chairman of VCCP Julian Douglas looks back and considers the year’s wins and losses.

British Asian representation in ads: ‘You can’t just show a woman in a hijab and call it a day’

Despite being the second-largest ethnic group in the UK, British Asians are notably absent from the advertising landscape.

FTVA Global: Project Origin like ‘asking Johnson and Starmer to be joint prime ministers’

Getting the broadcasters and Big Tech companies to adopt common standards for cross-media audience measurement is like asking Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer to be joint prime ministers, the Future of TV Advertising Global conference heard.

How do you solve a problem like adland’s trust issue? Here are some answers

With new Ipsos research revealing that advertising executives’ reputation remains below that of politicians, it’s time for action.

Campaign AI M&A Watch: Deals grow in October after two-month dip

October was the busiest month this year for the UK.