On June 15, the Advertising Association debuted a new international campaign, ‘UK Advertising. Where creativity works’ on Outernet’s famous immersive screens. The occasion marked the first time a UK business sector has used the venue’s exhibition space in this way.
The campaign was developed by VCCP, its global content creation studio, Girl&Bear and digital experience agency, Bernadette, and was designed to champion the sector’s global exports following its record-breaking £19.4 billion economic performance in 2025.
Before the immersive rebrand was shown off to the crowd, the launch event began with speeches from Chris Bryant, Minister of State at the Department for Business and Trade.
Minister Chris Bryant said, “We hardly ever boast on the international stage about advertising, and yet we’re the second biggest advertising exporter in the world. We have a bounce of trade which every other sector in the British economy would die for.
“It really is time to blow your own trumpets to say British advertising is the best in the world. We are going to grow, and grow, and grow that economy, and if there’s anything that the British government can do to help, we one hundred per cent stand by your side.”
There were also keynotes from Simon Cook, Lions CEO, who highlighted that the UK is among the highest-performing nations at Cannes Lions, and Philip O’Ferrall, Outernet CEO, who described how he is proud to support the launch.
The Advertising Association is the official UK representative, ensuring that the UK not only celebrates creativity, but continues to strengthen the skills and capabilities that allow it to thrive. Simon Cook announced this morning the launch of the first UK Accelerator Programme.
“This year-round programme, developed in partnership with the Advertising Association, is designed to help businesses accelerate the capabilities that make world-class creative marketing, and therefore growth-driving marketing, inevitable…”
The tiles from the campaign represent the diverse blend of talent, innovation, and creative disciplines that form the UK’s modern advertising ecosystem. The identity will make its international debut later this month at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, with the Advertising Association leading a government-backed trade mission to the festival.
Aisling Conlon, AA’s International Trade Director, said: “We start our flagship mission to Cannes Lions next week, and it will help us tell a clearer and more confident story about UK Advertising both in Cannes and wherever we go in the next 12 months.”
The identity is expected to be deployed across future international events and trade missions to provide a unified global presence for the industry after its successful premier at Outernet.
