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

/ January 14th 2022 / Matt Bourn
Industry News

Starling Bank pulls Facebook advertising until it cracks down on financial fraudsters

The online bank says it wants to prevent its customers from being scammed and protect its “brand integrity”, Marketing Week reports.

M&C Saatchi clashes with Vin Murria as takeover plan ‘does not benefit’ shareholders

Tech entrepreneur’s investment company wants to merge with agency group.

Why the industry needs to wake up to the value created by older women

Advertising continues to equate young predominantly white, middle-class males with dynamism and better, sharper work.

Green Park station becomes Green Planet to launch Attenborough’s latest for BBC

To mark the launch of Sir David Attenborough’s latest series The Green Planet, BBC Creative has transformed London’s Green Park tube station into a vivid experience that celebrates the magical world of plants.

2022 Cheat Sheet: The Metaverse

Industry experts share their takes on whether this is the year everything changes for online realities.

Work Of The Week

The best creative, curated by Creative Salon.

Martin Sorrell: Flexible work “will be more permanent than people think”

Sorrell deep-dives on the state of Media.Monks’ business, looks to Latin America for creative excellence and embraces more flexible, hybrid work.

Edelman sticks with fossil fuel clients for now after climate review

The world’s largest PR firm, Edelman, has completed a 60-day review of its climate strategy, but has made no commitment to end its work with fossil fuel clients including ExxonMobile and Shell.

Price rises, grocery sales, measurement: 5 interesting stats to start your week

We arm you with all the numbers you need to tackle the week ahead, from Marketing Week.

Laughing all the way to the bank: Three ways humour helps brands sell

Received wisdom is that humour doesn’t help brands sell their products, but the evidence says the opposite when brands know how to use it effectively.

Talent, Scandal, Trust: What We’re All Going To Be Talking About This Year

Creative Salon asked industry leaders what they think will dominate the conversation in 2022.

Domino’s Brings Back Unexpected Star In Latest Yodelling Campaign

The work, by VCCP London, is the next iteration of the “Domin-oh-hoo-hoo” campaign.

Shortlists revealed for the Media Leaders Awards 2022

The leaders of Havas Media Group, UM, Omnicom Media Group UK and MediaCom UK are all in contention for the biggest accolade at this year’s second annual Media Leaders Awards.

Govt’s ‘Better health’ push urges parents to improve kids’ diets

The campaign will use a new feature on the NHS Food Scanner app to help out families.

Starling Bank: Facebook boycott has caused ‘no noticeable decline’ in marketing performance

Starling Bank stopped advertising on Facebook and Instagram in December to “protect” its customers, and said last week it would not reverse the decision until Meta cracks down on financial fraudsters using its platforms.

ITV to ‘push the boundaries’ of sponsorship regulation

ITV’s commercial and development executive Sue Walton and controller of creative partnerships Anne Bailey sit down with The Drum to explain how they execute commercial deals without alienating audiences.

Ageism, Social Mobility And Nuance: What We’re All Not Going To Be Talking About This Year

There’re always lots of stories waiting to be told. But will there be some worthy conversations that will be under-reported in 2022? Creative Salon asked industry leaders.

Six win IPA New Year Honours

The IPA has awarded six New Year Honours in recognition of “outstanding service to the industry.”

Omnicom Media Group appoints EMEA CEO

Omnicom names Guy Marks as EMEA media chief as Mike Cooper becomes Europe vice-chairman.

Tim Pearson joins youth publisher LadBible

Pearson reunites with Colin Gottlieb to lead its branded content and client solutions teams.

BBH hires Alex Grieve as global chief creative officer

Chief creative officer at Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO worked at Bartle Bogle Hegarty for 14 years at the start of his career, between 1996 and 2010.

Media and the doomsday narrative: we risk paralysing young people with fear

Cautious optimism, not anxiety, inspires the greatest proportion of people to act, writes Garrett O’Reilly. It’s vital this message takes root in our climate change narrative.

Industry festivals say they’re ready for Omicron, but agencies are wary

As festivals such as Cannes Lions and SXSW work to persuade guests to attend in person, agencies are reconsidering their involvement.

Investor view: Five questions to ask if you’re investing in 2022

Rather than make predictions, Campaign’s investor view columnist asks some pertinent questions about the year ahead in advertising.

UK government invests in blockchain initiative for digital advertising

The UK government innovation agency has awarded a six-figure grant to a blockchain initiative which aims to process billions of advertising impressions in near real-time.

MPC Advertising Becomes Part of The Mill – VFX Giant’s Leadership Set Out Their Vision

As the advertising side of the VFX brands become one, LBB’s Alex Reeves hears about the change from Josh Mandel, previously CEO of The Mill, now president of advertising at Technicolor Creative Studios and Mark Benson, former CEO of MPC Advertising, who becomes executive vice president for VFX.

Addressing the distorted perception of over-50s in adland

Ageism is one of the ad industry’s most common forms of discrimination, according to the WFA’s recent census.

Isba is one step closer to measuring campaigns across TV and digital

The Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (Isba) has completed a proof-of-concept project for a cross-media measurement that will help marketers better understand marketing campaign performance sprawling across TV and digital – an increasing requirement as video spills across social and addressable mediums as well as linear TV.

Spotify sales chief Rak Patel insists he can rise to the 20% challenge

The Spotify enterprise sales chief for Europe, Middle East and Africa has three reasons why he can help the streaming giant significantly grow its ad revenue in 2022 after years of sluggish growth.

Unilever has ‘lost the plot’ over sustainability messaging, says major shareholder

British fund manager Terry Smith said FMCG company should be “focusing on the fundamentals of the business” rather than defining the “purpose of Hellmann’s mayonnaise”.

DCM makes move into branded content with new offering

DCM Studios Presents – an extension of DCM Studios – will produce three- to four-minute films for brands.

Frustrated senior creatives launch anti-sexual harassment campaign

The anonymous group want to call out NDA culture within the industry.

Google unveils ‘future of work’ in its $1bn London property

Google is making a billion-dollar bet on the future of in-office working in London with the acquisition of an office development in the centre of the capital.

Former Lucky Generals CEO joins Wavemaker

Ad agency veteran Katie Lee, who quit the industry at the start of 2021 to run a wellbeing app, is returning.

The road to B Corp: a new year’s resolution with real impact

Navigating the business end of the B Corp journey is not easy but the certification brings massive benefits.

Industry caution as ISBA’s Origin claims proof of concept milestone

Project leaders cite progress in combining TV and digital metrics, but some are sceptical.

Tesco reports ‘strong interest’ from brands in new media platform

As the grocer reports a Christmas sales boost of 3.2%, Tesco is banking on its new media and insights platform, an “unwavering commitment” to value, and “heavy” investment into convenience to drive further growth this year.

Immortal Awards 2021 Winners Honoured in the Heart of London’s Creative Community

Brilliant work on a big screen, an enthusiastic audience and a sense of reunion made this event a night to remember, writes LBB’s Laura Swinton.

The RAF Showcases Thrills Of Air And Space Operations In New Film

Engine Creative has put together an exciting thriller of a spot to raise awareness of the roles available within the RAF.