Not going to lie, folks, I sometimes find the sheer scale of the sustainability challenge overwhelming. But if there’s one thing this industry excels at, it’s taking a massive brief and responding. We’ve done this many times; in most recent memory, the response to Covid was a powerful communications campaign to help save thousands of lives while a vaccine was developed. The National Emergency Briefing screening at Channel 4 earlier this week was a powerful reminder to me of where we stand on climate change – it was less of a wake-up call for me, more of a rallying cry for what comes next.
It’s the ultimate creative pitch for the planet and everyone in advertising is on the pitch, whether they realise it or not. We have an extraordinary opportunity to use our influence, storytelling, and strategic excellence to drive real, lasting change. Arranging a screening of this film for your own team is a brilliant way to get everyone aligned, inspired, and asking the most important question: What action do we take next? It’s easy to set up a screening – find out more here.
As individuals and teams across brands, agencies, media owners and tech companies, we have all the skills to reshape behaviours and write the story for the 21st century. After the summer we’ve experienced, it’s time to bring that famous UK advertising energy to the table, push the work forward, and show just how much momentum this world-class creative community can build.
Our pick of the ads:
- Our Ad in the A is BBH London’s ‘Centena’ for The School Food Project. The fake pop-up tasting experience served school food to diners, showing parents the real quality of the food, and how they can help change it.
- Columbia Sportswear has teamed up with adam&eve/TBWA to offer hikers cash rewards for feet pics as part of their new ‘F££T FUND’ campaign.
- Cadbury Twirl will turn Hatton Garden into ‘Hatton Golden’ for one day later this month. The activation by Ogilvy will promote the new limited-edition Twirl Golden Dipped bar.
- adam&eve/TBWA and McVitie’s have created ‘There’s only one that brings us all together’, reinforcing the role the biscuit brand plays in everyday moments of connection.
Our must-reads:
- Newsworks has conducted a new study in partnership with Trajectory which reveals that cultural relevance drives 15% of UK sales and is worth around £147bn in UK consumer spending. (Media Leader)
- A report by Oxford Economics found that an expanded ad ban on ‘less healthy’ foods could hit £1bn in UK media spending and £80mn to £100mn would be permanently lost as multinational brands redirected budgets out of the UK. (Financial Times)
- Ofcom has found that one-fifth of Brits use AI chatbots for news, but trust aligns with traditional media. (Media Leader)
- Daniel Hulme, Global Chief AI Officer at WPP, spoke to the BBC about AI risk and how make a system safe using guardrails, value systems and continuous verification. (LinkedIn)
- Kathryn Jacob OBE, CEO of Pearl&Dean, discussed mental wellness, complex business challenges and leadership with NABS. (LBB)
Dates for your diary:
- The renowned IPA Effectiveness Conference returns on 7 October in Shoreditch and online, bringing together diverse opinions and top strategists and industry leaders. Discounts are applied for bookings of 5 or more in-person tickets.
- The Marketing Society is hosting The Global Changemakers Conference on 11 November at the QEII Conference Centre in London, bringing together 500+ senior marketers to discuss this year’s theme: Ambition. Find out more here.
- Our flagship summit, LEAD, will return to the QEII Centre in Westminster on the morning of 28 January 2027. Help shape the agenda by taking 2 minutes to fill in our survey here.
And finally…a huge thanks to Pinterest for letting us hold a special AA offsite at their fabulous new office yesterday, to discuss how we are all using AI within our teams. It’s all a bit ‘end of the world’ with AI at the moment, so we found it really helpful to take a step back and put it into perspective – using our Best Practice AI Guide to steer our conversation. This was also discussed at the latest Clearcast roundtable where we covered AI, Trust and Advertising – I’ll share the report from that event once it’s published. We’re always keen to hear from our members about how you’re using AI, so please do get in touch if you’d like to share or brainstorm.
