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.

ADVERTISING MATTERS 29.01.21

/ January 29th 2021
Industry News

ON YOUR MARKS GET RESET, GO!!!

Yesterday, alongside ISBA and the IPA, we held RESET 2021 – our first-ever joint event as a tripartite.

Although it was completely virtual, RESET still provided attendees with the full experience – they could network, browse sponsor stands and hear from a stellar line-up of speakers discussing issues that are central to the future of UK advertising, such as Trust, inclusion, climate action and HFSS advertising. Not to mention that all 600+ people got to watch from the very best seat in the house!

It was a fantastic morning full of inspiration, insights and food for thought. Highlights included Oliver Dowden CBE, Secretary of State for DCMS, who hailed the role of advertising in rebuilding the economy back to full strength and praised the work of our industry in spreading the ‘Stay home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives’ messaging; a political keynote by Kate McCann, Political Correspondent at Sky News, who gave an honest talk on the current political landscape and the media’s role; our stellar panel discussion on building back better and what Adland’s leaders have learnt from the Coronavirus pandemic; the ‘President’s Reflections’ session with the AA’s Keith Weed, ISBA’s Peter Duffy and IPA’s Nigel Vaz, where ‘the All In’ initiative was launched (more on that below); and a discussion on the LEGO brand, where Julia Goldin, its Chief Marketing Officer, revealed what drives its success and how she lives its purpose on a personal level.

A huge thanks goes to our sponsors, including platinum sponsor IAB Gold Standard, our speakers, and of course everyone who attended. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Don’t forget that if you registered, you can still access the platform for a month to re-watch sessions and network with others in the lounge.

Oliver Dowden’s session has been covered in Campaign and BITE. Kate Nicholls of UKHospitality’s session regarding the impact of an HFSS ad ban was covered in Campaign here and City A.M. here. The President’s Reflections session was covered in BITE here and the LEGO brand here.

ARE YOU ALL IN FOR 10TH MARCH?

During the President’s Reflection session at RESET 2021, Keith Weed announced the launch of All In – our campaign, alongside ISBA and the IPA, to help build back a better, inclusive industry for all.

It starts with a date for your diary – March 10, 2021.

On this day, UK advertising and marketing professionals will be invited to take part in the first fully confidential and aggregated industry-wide census in the form of a short survey. It will provide the very best record of the make-up of UK advertising’s workforce and a vital benchmark for progress. This will then be used to inform an Action Plan later on in the year on how to achieve greater inclusivity across all areas of the industry.

We’re aiming to reach teams at thousands of agencies, media companies, brands and tech companies, so please spread the word and let us know if you’re All In for March 10, 2021.

Head over to our website here for more information. The launch was covered widely by industry outlets including The DrumCampaignBITEMarketing Week, and more.

LATEST AA/WARC EXPENDITURE REPORT

On Tuesday we published the latest AA/WARC Expenditure Report for Q3 2020, with projections for this year.

The latest adspend figures show a marked upgrade in prospects compared with the last time we issued the report in October 2020 and we now expect the UK’s ad market to grow by 15.2% this year. The new forecasts show that the UK’s ad market will also make up for 2020’s decline and accelerate further into growth this year, reaching a total of £26.69bn.

In further positive news for our industry, the decline seen in the UK’s ad market during 2020 is estimated to be softer than the global rate and that of the rest of Europe. The projected ad market growth in 2021 is also expected to be ahead of key international markets.

Our Chief Executive, Stephen Woodford, commented: “These forecasts are encouraging and come at the beginning of a critical year for UK advertising. With the vaccine rollout accelerating and a Brexit trade deal in place, the 2021 business outlook is looking brighter and, given our industry’s role as an engine for GDP, I hope this also means good news for jobs and growth in the wider economy.

Read the full release on our website here. The report was also covered by The TimesCampaignLittle Black BookMediatel News, and more.

THIS WEEK: UK ADVERTISING IN THE MEDIA

In our weekly series we are pulling together, in one place, a selection of must-reads from across our industry media.

Click here to check it out!

Want the full edition to land in your inbox every Friday? Drop us an email on aa@adassoc.org.uk and quote ‘Ad Matters’.