This week: UK advertising in the media

In this weekly series we pull together, in one place, a selection of must-reads from across our industry media. Hope you find it a useful edit of another week in advertising!

UK’s 2020 ad slump not as bad as rest of Europe, AA/Warc study finds

Quarterly Expenditure Report upgrades 2020 adspend estimate by significant margin.

Why advertising is pivotal to building back the economy

The government will be here to support the ad industry and help it thrive in the coming months and years.

The long and the short of it is shareholders will be focused on revenue

“Shareholders will want to understand the results of the pandemic on businesses. What does the two, three-year revenue plan look like?”

UKHospitality CEO urges Government to reconsider HFSS advertising ban

UKHospitality CEO Kate Nicholls OBE has accused the Government of not ‘hearing and understanding’ the sector’s concerns over the proposed ban on advertising high fat, salt and sugary (HFSS) food products.

GSK undergoes Advertising Experience MOT

Pharmaceutical giant, GSK is the latest advertiser to undergo the Advertising Experience MOT, launched last year by the ISBA, in partnership with consultants Derek Morris and Nick Manning.

Still struggling to work from home with kids? Don’t give up

With many parents back to juggling work with home schooling, Creativebrief’s Nicola Kemp offers some tips on how we can best support each other through the days ahead.

Seven trends to drive UK ad industry forwards in 2021

Focus must be on positive change after virus disruption.

Marketers overly worried about brand safety on news sites, says study

Research from news publisher Reach claims that the risk of brand safety issues on trusted news sites has been overstated.

Confidence in marketing jobs edges up

Although still negative overall, expectations around marketing jobs has improved thanks in part to the government’s extension of the furlough scheme.

Richard Brim and Vicki Maguire among Cannes Lions jury presidents

Event set to take place in June.

‘Imagine how often things changed!’: Reach on working on UK gov’s huge Covid brief

Reach Solutions‘ Emma Callaghan talks to us about how her team collaborated with brands during a turbulent year.

Barclays takes the transcendent route with ‘Moneyverse’ campaign

Campaign created by BBH.

SOS: How can brands help save our summer?

Entertainment will be in demand from audiences deprived of the traditional festival circuit.

Prostate Cancer UK teams up with Sky Media for sport-inspired campaign

The campaign urges people to join the charity in its efforts against the disease.

Making a splash: how Ocean Spray and Chess.com surfed cultural waves to marketing success

Chess.com and Ocean Spray have had cultural waves break right in their back yards in the last year, in the form of a hit Netflix show and a viral TikTok. Their success in activating around these moments contains lessons for marketers looking to repeat the trick.

TBWA’s Backslash Introduces 40 Global Cultural Shifts Shaping Our World

The intelligence unit releases 2021 ‘Edges’, discovering shifts in discussion from body debates to platform politics to roots revival.

Dentsu forecasts revival in adspend in 2021, digital to account for 50% for first time

India, the UK and and France expected to see fastest growth, and the OOH market will revive.

Marketers to spend again in 2021, subject to vaccines

A CMO Council survey reveals that 65% of global marketers plan to boost their investments this year, with a focus on automation.

UK government pulls ‘sexist’ pandemic ad

The Drum looks at a UK government advert that was pulled for depicting outdated gender stereotypes.

2020 Effie UK Report Finds Non-Conformity as Key Theme to Effectiveness

Created in partnership with Ipsos, the report found that winning entries and finalists broke category conventions to punch above their weight and deliver results.