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Advertising

We need advertising more than ever

By Matt BOURN, director of communications

October 1, 2018 | 7 min read

It’s a year since I joined the Advertising Association (AA) as communications director and it’s a dream role - I’ve always been a fervent supporter of commercial media and of advertising’s importance as an essential revenue stream. To me, advertising is a lifeblood for creativity in our culture. Twelve months in and I believe the case for advertising is stronger than ever. You would say that, wouldn’t you, I hear you cry, so let me try and explain why…

PICCADILLY CIRCUS BILLBOARD

Why we need the advertising industry more than ever / Pexels

I’ll start with one of my core beliefs – that the fourth estate is here to hold power to account. In a properly functioning society, the role of our media is to provide a series of checks and balances to ensure fairness, moral responsibility, ethical behaviour and to help people have a strong sense, appreciation and understanding of the truth. And to spread some fun and joy too around that truth, in the process.

The opposite can be said when the fourth estate is weak, that is when the powerful can get away with things. Ergo, for our democracy to function properly, we need a strong fourth estate (backed by a healthy stream of advertising income).

My passion for advertising’s role in funding this fourth estate has been fed by my experiences at the AA these past 12 months. Time and time again, I have been amazed by our industry. Our advertising is quite simply world class. Whether that is in the creativity (world-beaters at Cannes Lions, tick) or the technical art of post-production (watch this line-up from the A.P.A), the strategic planning (next-up, IPA Effectiveness Week), the constant drive for better, more accurate measurement (hello PAMCO) or the brilliant delivery of advertising (hat-tip to IAB UK and its Gold Standards initiative), we lead the world in what we have to offer in terms of advertising services.

Taking all this in and a step back, I think the reason our advertising is world class is because our media industry is right up there - we have the best public service broadcaster in the world (faults noted but still) and the BBC is kept on its toes by commercial players providing true competition at all levels. Our commercial TV, commercial radio and commercial publishing are incredibly strong and, boy, we need them to be. There’s a great deal of truth right now that needs to be reported and highlighted. A large amount of funding for this commercial line-up comes from advertising – our advertising expenditure figures here at the AA, in partnership with WARC, show billions of pounds are invested into commercial media every year in the UK.

So we need our commercial media to be well- funded (in part, through advertising spend), and our commercial media, with a healthy spread of voices from different political viewpoints, alongside the BBC makes for a powerful fourth estate. Which is what enables our society to operate effectively, with accountability.

However, my contention that we need advertising more than ever arises from an observation that, right now, our fourth estate needs advertising’s support, perhaps more than it ever has. Its role is being heavily questioned from political quarters, it is being dismantled and rebuilt by technology and it is viewed differently now by a public as engaged in their own media channels, as those of the established media. A notable share of UK advertising spend goes into relatively new players in our advertising landscape. Their role as tech platforms and the return they contribute to our fourth estate continues to evolve through vital, responsible debate, not just as members of the AA but across wider industry.

Thanks to the funding from our industry – by brands, agencies and media owners including the newer tech players – the AA promotes the role, rights and responsibilities of advertising. We work to promote its strength as an engine-room to power growth in the economy, to spotlight its role in supporting positive societal change and to build recognition of our prowess as UK advertising on the world-stage. For example, our industry think-tank, Credos, is currently mid-way through two essential major studies – one into public trust in advertising and the other into the digitalisation of advertising – that will be invaluable to our future work. The Trust report will help shape our industry’s response to the decline in public trust in advertising, while the digitalisation report will inform decision-making about we make the most of our status as the world’s leading digital advertising hub.

At the same time, the AA also ensures our industry will not be detrimentally damaged by poor decisions about advertising, ones that are disproportionate, or based on weak evidence. Our current work around HFSS advertising is exactly that, where we are facing down the potential of a wrong decision – enforced restrictions of HFSS advertising across all media - which will not serve the problem it tries to address (tackling childhood obesity) but will certainly damage jobs and weaken our fourth estate. At times, these aren’t popular arguments but they are the right ones and they are important to win if you go back to my core belief.

Advertising sits at the heart of our fourth estate and has the power and responsibility to help our democratic society find its way through the challenges of the early 21st Century. It isn’t just about the poster, the half-page, the 60-second spot, the banner, Video on Demand, the ad break, the sponsored breakfast show and everyone’s involved, whether you buy the ads, make the ads, schedule the ads, measure the ads, critique the ads or just shoot the breeze about a great ad…

So, it’s about more than what’s in our advertising (although that’s a great starting point). It’s about where our advertising goes and how the funding it is deployed to hold power to account. As my first year at the AA draws to a close, it seems to me that if you believe in a democratic future, a society with a healthy, vibrant and creative beating heart, then promoting the roles, rights and responsibilities of advertising is more important than ever.

Matt Bourn is the director of communications for the Advertising Association

The Drum Advertising Awards this year will focus on the theme 'Advertising is not a dirty word' with the aim of putting pride back into the industry. More information on the awards can be found on the dedicated website.

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