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 and brands 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.

Things to know about UK advertising

/ May 13th 2019 / Matthew Evans

The UK is the global hub for advertising, with an unrivalled concentration of expertise, creativity and knowhow, and we have the evidence to prove it. Here are some key facts about our industry in the UK and why we are regarded as the world’s leading location for clients to find the best advertising services on offer.

  • The UK is a magnet for global talent and a top exporter of advertising expertise
  • Since 2005 the UK has won more Cannes Lions than any other European country – over 1,500!
  • Every £1 spent on advertising contributes £6 to UK GDP – that’s more than £138bn per year in total!
  • Advertising supports nearly a million jobs across the length and breadth of the UK.
  • The Advertising Association’s UK Advertising Exports Report shows we are a top location for global advertising businesses looking to expand overseas.
  • Over a third of the top 20 UK ad agencies’ revenue comes from overseas business – that’s almost £300 million.
  • Advertising finances UK culture, media and sport, valued at £10 billion a year.
  • The latest full year AA/WARC Expenditure Report, published in April 2019, shows UK adspend rose 6.3% year-on-year to reach £23.6bn in 2018 – the ninth consecutive year of market growth.
  • Both the 2018 annual and fourth quarter adspend totals were the highest on record.
  • The forecast for 2019 has been upgraded to £24.7bn, equivalent to 4.8% growth and the UK’s ad market is expected to grow a further 5.5% in 2020.
  • The world’s most influential marketer (according to Forbes) Keith Weed, is British, and President of the Advertising Association.
  • The world’s best advertising agency in 2018, according to Cannes Lions, was British… adam&eveDDB and one of its founders, James Murphy is now UK Advertising Exports Champion.
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