The Advertising: Who Cares? movement has announced details of its launch event, to be held at the Royal Society of Arts in London on 12 September, starting at 2pm. The event seeks to offer solutions to many of advertising’s current issues, delivering practical advice to move the industry forward.
These issues include an overreliance on data, much of which is misleading; and a feeling among consumers that they are bombarded on a daily basis with too many ads that are ineffective, intrusive and invasive. In short, a sense that advertising has lost its mojo.
The event breaks down into five workstreams: Business Models (led by Michael Farmer); Trading, Transparency and Trust (Jenny Biggam); Measurement and Accountability (Denise Turner); Recruitment and Wellbeing (Crispin Reed); and Brands and Journalism (Ruben Schreurs). Each workstream leader will explore the current challenges and present practical ways to make improvements. In addition to the workstream sessions, the event will also feature contributions from some of the industry’s biggest names.
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Speakers include Lucy Jameson, Founder of the Uncommon Creative Studio; Jessica Lovell, CSO, Wonderhood Studios; and Pippa Glucklich, CEO, Electric Glue. The event will close with The Next Creative Revolution: David Wheldon, President Emeritus WFA, ex Marketing Director, RBS, Vodafone and The Coca-Cola Company, in conversation with Sir John Hegarty, Founder, BBH.
“We all know that the advertising industry is not in a good place,” says Advertising: Who Cares? Co-founder, Brian Jacobs. “Much advertising is ineffective, unaccountable, untrackable, unmeasurable (or just unmeasured), unpopular and not trusted. Furthermore, it’s not attractive to young people and graduates as a career. Our movement and our event aims to go beyond role-calling the problems, and invite some of the ad industry’s finest minds to come up with practical solutions.”
Ian Moss, UKSAFC, added: “Our work is based on the fundamental principle that bringing people together from the industry is the only way we can drive change. As a major example, the lack of an open and honest debate creates huge problems and concerns over trust and integrity. Concerted, joint action is the only way we can make a significant difference to the problem so we welcome this event.”
Tickets for the event are on sale at cost price from: www.advertisingwhocares.org. The organisers are not looking for sponsors for the event, in the interests of promoting free and open discussion. Any profits generated will go to the advertising charity, NABS.
About Advertising: Who Cares?
Advertising; Who Cares? was founded in April 2024 by Brian Jacobs and Nick Manning, two highly experienced ad industry professionals driven by a desire to make the ad world a better, more productive, more creatively-driven place.
Brian spent 14 years at Leo Burnett as International Media Director, six years as MD of Carat International, three years as EMEA Director at Universal McCann, and three years as EVP Media at Millward Brown, before founding his own consultancy, BJ&A, in 2006.
Nick founded Manning Gottlieb OMD in 1990, was CEO of OMD UK for three years, then held senior positions at Ebiquity for 10 years, before founding Encyclomedia International, to provide independent media support to advertisers, in 2018.
Brian and Nick are assembling a community of like-minded professionals who understand what’s broken with modern advertising, are collectively smart enough to ideate how to fix the problem, and passionate and powerful enough to deliver what needs to be done.
Since the movement launched earlier this year, more than 300 ad industry executives from China, Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Europe and Scandinavia, who share Brian and Nick’s vision, have signed up to it.