The Advertising Association promotes the role and rights of responsible advertising and its value to people, society, businesses and the economy. We represent UK advertisers, agencies, media owners and tech companies on behalf of the entire industry, acting as the connection between industry professionals and the politicians and policy-makers.

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The Advertising Association focuses on major industry and policy areas that have huge ramifications on UK advertising. This section contains our work around Brexit, HFSS and gambling advertising, data and e-privacy, trust, the digital charter and our Industrial Strategy campaigns.

Credos is the advertising industry’s independent think tank. It produces research, evidence and reports into the impact and effectiveness of and public and political response to advertising on behalf of UK advertisers in order to enable the industry to make informed decisions.

Front Foot is our industry’s member network of over 50 businesses across UK advertising. It aims to promote the role of responsible advertising and its value to people, society and the economy through a coalition of senior leaders from advertisers, agencies and media owners.

We run a number of events throughout the year, from our annual LEAD summit to the Media Business Course and regular breakfast briefings for our members. We are also the official UK representative for the world’s biggest festival of creativity – Cannes Lions.

Case study: DMA

/ October 6th 2020
Action 3 Resources Ad Net Zero Climate Action UK Advertising’s Climate Action Showcase

Two of the biggest areas of impact from direct mail are paper waste and plastics. The DMA invests time and resource into promoting discussion around what they as an organisation, as well as the wider marketing industry, can do to reduce waste and research eco-friendly alternatives.

When it comes to paper, back in 2004, the DMA signed a voluntary producer agreement with the Department of the Environment & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), committing the marketing industry to a target of 70% of all direct mail waste to be recycled by 2013. This target was reached four years ahead of schedule and ended up on an audited level of 76%.

Of course, in addition to recycling and reuse of materials, reducing use is key for minimising waste and emissions. Between 2013 and 2017, annual volumes of unaddressed mail fell considerably from 6.6 billion to 5.7 billion. Additionally, in the 12 months leading up to July 2018, the total weight of door drop material reduced by 3650. This paints a picture of an industry becoming more aware of the environmental impact of direct mail marketing.