On Wednesday our 果冻传媒n president Keith Weed offered the delegates of our LEAD 鈥�19 conference a stark ultimatum: 鈥淭rust or bust鈥�.
Weed addressed the endemic issue of falling public trust in advertising – and potential solutions – in front of a standing room only crowd at Kings Place in London. Based on newly-released trust research from Credos, Weed and other industry veterans noted that since advertising depends wholly on the ability to communicate authentically with audiences, any break in trust undermines the messages we attempt to communicate.
Weed set out his 鈥楽even Deadly Sins鈥� of advertising, ranging from inauthenticity around influencer marketing to poorly-handled personalised advertising. He ended his speech with a multi-part call to action to help address the fall in trust, ranging from raising awareness of the activities of the ASA and the action of the ICO to gathering industry-wide support for pro-social forces for good.
An all-star panel consisting of representatives from the Guardian, Nationwide, WPP and Google then discussed the rapidly-changing advertising landscape that has brought the issues of trust into stark focus. The Guardian鈥檚 CRO Hamish Nicklin questioned whether the goldrush for data has overshadowed the industry鈥檚 real strength of creativity, while WPP鈥檚 Karen Blackett OBE noted that the industry still has a long way to go to be representative and wholly trusted again.
Other sessions over the course of the half-day event focused on the intersection of advertising and politics. Graham Stuart MP discussed the work of the Department for International Trade around our Promote UK campaign. Labour鈥檚 Tom Watson recounted how his own experience as 鈥渁 failed advertising executive鈥� informs his decisions as a politician, saying 鈥渟ome say advertising is just a mirror on our culture; I think advertising shapes our culture.鈥�
