advertising matters 13.07.18

Brexit White Paper published

On Thursday, the government published a White Paper on its Brexit proposals and future trade arrangements with the EU.

Our Chief Executive, Stephen Woodford, commented: “UK advertising and marketing communications is a key professional service, which generates £120bn per year for national GDP and we are asking to Government to protect this and our position as a world-class advertising hub. There are some positive signals in this white paper but also some areas for concern where more detail is urgently required.

“Time is of the essence – advertising and marketing communications businesses need clarity to plan effectively for the future and we ask Government to provide detail on the supplementary provisions as a matter of urgency.”

To read Stephen’s full statement please head over to our website.

It was covered by the Guardian here, and you can read the full White Paper here

Chequers, mate!

On Monday, we got a new Secretary of State! The move followed the resignations of both DExEU Secretary of State David Davis and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, on the back of the Brexit agreement made by the Cabinet last week at the Prime Minister’s country house Chequers.

Both Davis and Johnson stated their opposition to the agreement and that it yielded too much ground to the EU. This resulted in a game of political musical chairs, with Health & Social Care Secretary Jeremy Hunt becoming the new Foreign Secretary, Matt Hancock leaving DCMS to fill Hunt’s original role, and Jeremy Wright, the Attorney General, becoming the UK’s Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. We very much hope he’ll turn out to be the ‘Wright’ candidate for the role.

Our Chief Executive, Stephen Woodford, commented: “We welcome Jeremy Wright QC as the new Culture Secretary and look forward to working with him. Our best wishes also go to Matt Hancock in his new role as the Health Secretary; he has been a real champion for our industry during his time at DCMS.

Noting that Mr. Wright takes up the role at a crucial time for our industry, Stephen said: “We also look forward to working with his Department to help tackle childhood obesity with a regulatory framework for HFSS advertising that is evidence-based, proportionate and effects real change.

“Our industry is also actively playing a lead role in supporting the Government’s Industrial Strategy, by working to boost SME growth here in the UK and promoting the strengths of UK advertising around the world.

“All of this is possible because advertising is an engine room of the economy. When businesses invest in advertising, this spend provides a significant return on GDP, creating jobs and building the rich resources of cultural creative content enjoyed by so many people.”

Read the full comment here and more on our new Secretary of State here.

Update on TfL advertising 

On Thursday morning, AA Comms Director Matt Bourn gave evidence to the London Assembly’s Budget & Performance Committee at the invitation of its Chair Gareth Bacon AM, on a panel that also included LSE Local Government Professor Tony Travers, and Richard Anderson Director of the Railway Strategy Centre, Imperial College. The session focused on the finances of Transport for London (TfL) and Matt was asked to discuss TfL’s advertising portfolio and how this might develop over time.

Matt highlighted the importance of advertising, and the Out of Home advertising market in particular, to London and the opportunities it gives Londoners to purchase the products they wish to buy in a number of innovative ways.

He also highlighted that the London transport network, and the tube’s roundel symbol, are iconic assets that could generate further opportunities for TfL to increase revenue. This would then enable them to reinvest further in the system and ensure users continue to have a world-leading metro service at an affordable cost.

However, Matt also highlighted that the Mayor of London’s current proposals to ban the advertising of HFSS food & drink on the TfL estate represent a danger to the organisation’s potential future revenue streams.

He noted that substitution for different product types isn’t always feasible and that nutritional reformulation of products isn’t always practical. He mentioned that changes to the Nutrient Profile Model may cause further food & drink products to fall into the category of HFSS. Matt also said that any subsequent further increase in spare capacity and inventory due to less food & drink advertising could further drive down income streams for TfL.

The agenda for the meeting can be read here, the session was broadcast here and we will circulate the transcript and further updates when available.