ISBA

ISBA has joined 25 other trade bodies, advertisers, media owners and food & drink manufacturers in calling on the Prime Minister to think again on the new Nutrient Profiling Model. Obesity is a serious public health issue. That's why the ad industry has taken action in the past on HFSS ads, and why we worked constructively with government on bringing in the 'Less Healthy' Food restrictions. Ministers promised to assess the impact of the LHF rules after five years. Instead, applying the new NPM would move the goalposts. Food and drink which manufacturers have spent millions reformulating would be banned from being advertised. The increased costs could be passed on to consumers at a time of a continuing cost of living crisis. Andy Burnham has said that he will listen carefully to business so that there can be good growth in every postcode. He can deliver on that promise by pressing pause on the NPM.   Link to the full letter in the comments ⬇️

Today, ISBA and Asbof brought together industry professionals and representatives from government and trade bodies to launch Proud to Support the ASA, and to call on brands to use this moment to ensure that the advertising regulator survives and thrives. UK advertising self-regulation is a global success story. The Advertising Standards Authority regulates £50bn of UK adspend, 35% of all advertising in Europe. In 2025 it handled 37,284 complaints about ads, over two thirds of all ad complaints across Europe. Trust in UK advertising is at a five-year high. But the way the ASA is funded hasn’t kept pace. Its 0.1% levy is collected through media agencies, whose share of UK ad expenditure has fallen from half in 2016 to around 26% this year. With more spend going direct to the platforms or in-house, over 70% of UK adspend no longer contributes to the ASA system. If your organisation buys significant amounts of advertising direct or in-house, you can make a direct contribution in place of what you would pay if the spend went through a media agency. No new money is being sought, and the ASA’s budget stays flat to 2030. As our Director General, Simon Michaelides, said this morning: “The success of our self-regulatory model shouldn’t be taken for granted – and it’s our belief at ISBA that brands must play their part.” Thank you to Nicky Morgan, Mark Lund OBE, Stephen Woodford and our panel from Royal Mail, TUI and Nationwide Building Society for backing the campaign. https://lnkd.in/erjwA6ss

🚨 Registration is OPEN for WFA Global Marketer Week 2027! ISBA members can register now for the Global Marketer Conference, taking place on Thursday 22 April. The Conference will bring together over 1,000 senior marketers, with leading CMOs and industry experts taking to the stage to share how they're tackling marketing challenges, innovating with AI, and delivering measurable results. We'll be releasing the full agenda and more speakers in the coming weeks. The first speakers confirmed include: - Sir John Hegarty, Co-founder and Creative Director of The Business of Creativity - Jane Wakely, Executive VP, Chief Consumer and Marketing Officer and Chief Growth Officer, International Foods at PepsiCo - PK Paul Anthony Katimbang, Global Chief Marketing Officer at Haleon - Andrew Tindall, Chief Growth Officer at System1 Head to the registration platform - link in the comments - and benefit from early bird pricing by booking before 30 November. See you in April!

ISBA's Gen AI Summit 2026, held at Google's London headquarters on 22 September, brought together more than 230 attendees to explore how advertisers can move beyond experimentation with Gen AI and use the technology to deliver greater effectiveness and competitive advantage. From AI search and agents to governance, regulation and the changing role of human creativity, the day focused on the practical applications of AI and how brands can embrace innovation while maintaining trust, transparency and strong marketing judgement. We're pleased to share our editorial report from the Summit, bringing together the key themes, discussions and takeaways from the day, linked below.

Next April, the world comes to London 🌍 For the first time in more than 20 years, Global Marketer Week will be hosted in the UK, bringing together around 1,000 senior marketers, industry leaders and decision-makers from across the globe for one of the most important events in the marketing calendar. This is Britain's moment to shine. A chance to put our creativity, innovation, talent and commercial expertise centre stage; to show why London remains one of the world's great marketing capitals; and for organisations across the advertising and marketing ecosystem to be part of something truly special. If you're interested in sponsoring Global Marketer Week 2027, join our online briefing next Tuesday, 20 October at 12pm to hear what's planned and discover how your organisation can get involved, including at the prestigious Welcome Cocktail reception and Conference. This isn't just another conference. It's a once-in-a-generation opportunity to showcase the very best of British marketing to the world. London is calling. Join us and be part of the story. Email Mark Willock at markw@isba.org.uk for online joining instructions.

We’re delighted to see Michelle Yeadon recognised as one of ADWEEK’s 2026 Agents of Change. Michelle has been a driving force behind ISBA’s Ad Accessibility Network, helping to make accessibility a more integral part of advertising and supporting brands with practical guidance to make their content more inclusive. Her work with the network has helped drive real progress, with the proportion of ISBA members using subtitles in their advertising increasing from 51% to 70% since 2025. Congratulations, Michelle, on this very well-deserved recognition. Explore the Ad Accessibility Network and find practical resources to help make your advertising more accessible: https://lnkd.in/euJUPmx6

AI is recommending brands. Is it recommending yours? Large Language Models are changing how consumers discover, evaluate and engage with brands.   Drawing on discussions from ISBA’s Digital Performance Steering Group, our latest report explores what this means for advertisers, from understanding visibility and influence to measuring business impact.   Swipe through the key findings below - link to the full report in the comments.

Congratulations to each and every ISBA member who's made it into Marketing Week's Top 100 Most Effective Marketers list 🎉 Effectiveness is our members', and our, top priority. But the heart of effectiveness isn't the level of ROI, or the KPIs hit. It's the people who make the creative decisions and work at the leading edge of change in our industry. We're proud that so many of these brilliant marketers form part of the ISBA community. #MWTop100

Not every edition of our Director General's newsletter will begin with a Star Wars image ... we promise 🤞 Click below for this month's edition of Simon Says - drawing on the lessons from our Gen AI Summit and Survey as marketers continue to search for competitive advantage. ✍ Simon Michaelides

Often, when brands are considering how to show up, the fear of appearing tokenistic can stop them from making meaningful changes. Even with the best intentions, advertisers may hesitate out of concern that their efforts will feel performative or simply come too late. However, avoiding the conversation altogether can also prevent brands from listening, learning and building more inclusive practices. “Will we look like imposters if we jump on the bandwagon?” is just one of the five most common worries explored and answered in the Too Scared to Ask? playbook. ISBA’s Inclusion Network and The Diversity Standards Collective have partnered to create a game-changing playbook that explores some of the biggest questions brands face when navigating more inclusive work. Designed to provide practical answers to the fears that have held brands back in the past, the playbook encourages marketers to move beyond one-off campaigns, particularly when they have a limited history of engaging with certain communities. Instead, brands can learn how to build authentic connections with communities, turning uncertainty into informed action and communicating with greater confidence.   To find out more, read the playbook: Too Scared to Ask? on the ISBA site here - https://lnkd.in/enW2Q7RK