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.

A A A

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.

THIS WEEK: UK ADVERTISING IN THE MEDIA

/ June 11th 2021 / Matt Bourn

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!

ADVERTISING NEEDS GREATER DIVERSITY, FINDS INDUSTRY CENSUS

UK – Black and disabled people are underrepresented in the advertising industry and one in five advertising professionals attended private schools, a census from the All In campaign has found.

Advertising Sector Announces All In Action Plan 

Improving the representation of black, disabled and working class talent are the first series of actions for the All In campaign announced today, following UK advertising’s landmark survey of more than 16,000 professionals in March.

Census shows industry at worst but it vows to change

The challenge the advertising and marketing industry faces in overcoming deep-rooted male dominance has been confirmed in the sector’s first ever Census, which exposes a profession still led by public school-educated white men who seemingly squeeze every last drop out of their highly stressed workforce.

Ad industry faces exodus of diverse talent if inclusion efforts aren’t improved

As the All In Census reveals a stark lack of inclusion in the industry, the Advertising Association has an action plan focused on improving the experience of black, disabled and working class employees.

‘All In’ Census results: adland vows action on black, disabled and working-class talent

The findings of the industry-wide “All In Census” have revealed the demographic make-up of the UK ad industry and prompted an immediate action plan to improve diversity, equity and inclusion.

UK Advertising Census Reveals Industry Views on Equality

According to an industry census, much of the U.K.’s advertising sector believe their companies are taking steps in the right direction when it comes to being more inclusive. However, there were continuing issues highlighted when it came to gender equality.

A third of Black talent say they’ll leave industry over lack of inclusion, finds AA census

The results of the Ad Association’s (AA) recent All In census reveal disparities among key groups of talent in the advertising industry, leading to the AA issuing three initial calls to action for agencies if they wish to retain diverse talent.

Kick off: the best ads of Uefa Euro 2020

Eric Catona, Ian Wright and Peter Crouch have returned to the small screen.

Group M forecasts ‘astonishing’ 24% increase in UK ad market in 2021

Company previously predicted 12.4% growth in 2021.

Check your head.

‘Vikings’ meets road safety in this excellent communication from the Danish Ministry of Transport.

Marketing Week to reveal secrets of advertising effectiveness in new series

In partnership with the Advertising Association and Kantar, Marketing Week will reveal the month’s most effective advertising campaign and share what marketers can learn from it.

ITV and Channel 4 unite with Sky on TV ad measurement tool CFlight

“This is a gigantic step forward,” organisers say.

IPA launches Media Climate Charter to reduce carbon footprint of adspend

Membership of the Climate Charter is available via a tiered pricing structure.

Media accounts worth billions now calculating the carbon cost of their media buys

Top UK agencies have signed up to the IPA’s Media Climate Charter, a tool designed to help marketers measure and reduce carbon impact of their media plans. The Drum takes a look at who’s onboard and how it works.

Climate charter launched to help steer media buying agencies towards net zero goals

21 media agencies that collectively represent more than £7bn in 2020 billings have signed up to charter, update reveals.

A lot of ice to break

Anheuser-Busch: “Let’s Grab a Beer, America” – 90s.

Duke of Edinburgh rose beds in at Windsor

The Queen admiring the Duke of Edinburgh Rose with Keith Weed, president of the Royal Horticultural Society. A royalty from the sale of each rose will go to charity.

Dear England

A piece by Gareth Southgate.

ITV “This is not a drill” by ITV Creative

ITV has launched a chaotic campaign signposting Love Island’s triumphant return to the small screen.

History of Advertising Trust unveils new leader

John Gordon-Saker takes over from Richard Powell.

Media accounts worth billions now calculating the carbon cost of their media buys

Top UK agencies have signed up to the IPA’s Media Climate Charter, a tool designed to help marketers measure and reduce carbon impact of their media plans.

Direct Line’s Mark Evans: Being customer orientated is a constant work in progress

Despite proving the correlation between customer and commercial, Direct Line Group’s Mark Evans says customer orientation is “not natural to everybody” so the business has to constantly “fight that tide”.

IPA and ISBA champion effectiveness culture with adland monitor

Monitor set to improve the effectiveness of agencies and brands.

Cannes Lions unveils Titanium, Glass and Innovation awards shortlists

The categories include several strong contenders from UK agencies.

Twitter Blue explained: for a fee you can undo tweet, bookmark and more

Twitter Blue further cements the social media giant’s position as a serious player in the realm of paid subscription-based services – a move that has been propelled by a number of recent investments including the company’s Tip Jar and Super Follow features. This new service is likely to improve revenue for the company and drive engagement among creators and ‘power users’.

Oil man offers slick PR attack on The North Face’s environmental credentials

A Colorado oil and gas firm has issued a PR attack on The North Face after the outdoor goods company denied a sale of 400 branded jackets on the basis of its “brand guidelines and values”. The firm claimed that the entire outdoor industry is propped up on goods created and the transport enabled by the fossil fuels sector.

Paddy Power “Euro 2020” by VCCP

Peter Crouch takes to the streets in Paddy Power’s Euro 2020 spot.

Pringles celebrates football culture in spots that put its chips at the heart of the game

Players on a fictional team make unexpected use of the snack.

The Sun tells fans ‘Eur all invited’ in misty-eyed, celebratory Euro 2020 spot

The Sun stablemate TalkSport also launching Euro 2020 work.

The great return to the office experiment: WTF happens when we don’t WFH?

Campaign has spoken to more than 20 agencies about how they are grappling with the return to the office, now that more than half of the UK adult population has been double-vaccinated.

Mastercard, Vision Express, Wickes: Everything that matters this morning

Marketing Week’s round-up of the news that matters in the marketing world each day.

French regulator fines Google €220m over ad market abuses

Google has been fined €220 million by the French competition watchdog for abusing a dominant position in the online advertising market.

Google “What are you searching for this summer?” by Uncommon Creative Studio

Coinciding with the lifting of lockdown and the promise of school holidays, Google has partnered News UK and Channel 4 to help the British public get the most out of the summer.

D&AD: AMV BBDO wins ad agency of the year and ‘Womb Stories’ wins one of three Black Pencils

D&AD has awarded three Black Pencils (its top award) this year, all of which went to campaigns with a cause.

Rise up to meet the challenge of a conscious future for advertising

Jake Dubbins, Co-Chair of the Conscious Advertising Network and MD of Media Bounty on why the industry needs to place responsible advertising on the top of the business agenda.

The power of words: how inclusive language can make for a more equitable workplace

Whether it’s neutralizing language, disclosing pronouns or not making cultural assumptions, inclusive language can make all the difference in creating a truly equitable workplace. But how can leaders manage its implementation from the top down?

Channel 4 hires Eurostar’s Amber Kirby as marketing director

The creation of the marketing director role sees CMO Zaid Al-Qassab take on expanded responsibilities heading up the marketing and viewer experience division, part of a reshuffle first announced in January.

Cinema is back with a vengeance – box office numbers are a good omen for recovery

After a year of on-off isolation, people are immersing themselves in shared experiences once again, the boss of Britain’s biggest cinema ad sales house says.

Facebook faces joint UK and European Commission competition probe

Joint action suggests a tougher new line from competition authorities.

McDonald’s celebrates ‘Hungry Eyes’ in home delivery campaign

Campaign created by Leo Burnett.