Member content
Already a member? Sign in below
We released our Christmas adspend figures on Wednesday with advertisers expected to spend close to £6.5bn on seasonal advertising this year. That’s a 5% increase on the record amount in 2017. The competition to be the top Christmas advertiser is hotting up!
Our research also found that Coca Cola’s ‘Holidays are Coming’ is the nation’s favourite Christmas ad jingle with The Snowman theme tune and Lily Allen’s cover of ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ coming in close behind.
Our Chief Executive, Stephen Woodford, commented: “Our Christmas advertising season is the envy of the world, thanks to the brilliant, creative talent working in our industry. The joy of this advertising period, seeing what brands bring out each year, is an integral part of a great British Christmas..”
You can read the full release here. It has been covered by the BBC, Wall Street Journal, City AM, Campaign, and more. Our own stars (of Bethlehem) Comms Director, Matt Bourn, and Director of Credos, Karen Fraser MBE, have also been doing the media rounds with 15 radio interviews.
In other Christmas advertising news, Stephen appeared on LBC Radio last Friday on the Andrew Pierce show. He discussed Clearcast’s decision on the Iceland/Greenpeace palm oil advert that has been in the spotlight this week, and the reasons behind the ruling. You can listen to his interview here, 96 minutes in.
Another week of high drama in Brexit-land. After months of intense negotiations the UK and EU agreed a draft Withdrawal Agreement. But deep divisions in the Cabinet led to the Brexit Secretary resigning. It’s no joking matter, but let’s see what we can do!
Dominic claimed that the UK was being Raabed of its sovereignty and is clearly hoping for the “Brexit of Champions”. Shortly after Esther McVey tendered her resignation. The now ex-Work & Pensions Secretary received Universal Credit on her principled stand. The PM refused to dance on this occasion, and vowed to keep calm and carry on.
In other news, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling’s decision on whether resign or not has been delayed. Comedian David Baddiel tweeted that he is applying for the vacant position of Brexit Secretary. He said he wanted to prove that a no deal was better than a Baddiel.
Our serious view on Brexit was covered in The Drum and Little Black Book.
Away from the depressingly Byzantine politics of Brexit, we welcomed 120 of the stars and leaders of tomorrow to the Sussex coast for the 54th Media Business Course in Brighton last week. Karen Fraser kicked things off, followed by three and a half days with some of the industry’s best speakers. Highlights included; Rory Sutherland, Karen Blackett OBE, Richard Eyre CBE, Nils Leonard and Tracey De Groose.
Dom Dwight, Marketing Director at Taylors of Harrogate, delivered the brief for Yorkshire Tea – to encourage 1.2m new households to embrace the uplifting and comforting refreshment of a proper brew by 2021. Simple, right? After a few late nights working on their pitches and blood, sweat and tears, the final four syndicates were put through to the final on the Saturday and the winners were announced. Congratulations Syndicate 12!
Thank you to our managing committee, tutors and judges for all your work this year. A special thanks to Rosemary Michael MBE, and also our co-chairs, Matt Teeman of Primesight and Rachel Bristow of Sky Media, who brought their successful two-year chairmanship to a close.
Watch the highlights here and read more about it here.
You’ve made it this far – why not treat yourself to watching our ad of the week?
Already a member? Sign in below
If your company is already a member, register your email address now to be able to access our exclusive member-only content.
If your company would like to become a member, please visit our Front Foot page for more details.
Enter your email address to receive a link to reset your password
Your password needs to be at least seven characters. Mixing upper and lower case, numbers and symbols like ! " ? $ % ^ & ) will make it stronger.
If your company is already a member, register your account now to be able to access our exclusive member-only content.