UK Advertising Takes Centre Stage for Advertising Week 2020

The UK Advertising Export Group (UKAEG), a UK advertising industry marketing partnership with UK Government, is launching a new campaign to profile the country’s leading advertising and marketing service companies. 

The campaign, ‘Made Global’, produced by The Mill with strategy by adam&eveDDB, will be rolled out across international industry events this Autumn and Winter including Advertising Week 2020 and the British Council Virtual Festival which will run in both the UK and China. 

It is led by a new two-minute long film, featuring work from UK based companies for global brands. It aims to show that the UK’s advertising market is not just a gateway to Britain; it’s a gateway to everywhere and underlines how the country remains open for business during the ongoing coronavirus crisis. The film will be supported by a B2B social media campaign coordinated with the team at the Department for International Trade, targeting international buyers interested in buying world-class advertising and marketing services. 

Alex Hesz, CSO at adam&eveDDB, said: “The UK has a rich history and strong global reputation for creativity. Our strategic positioning ‘UK Advertising. Made Global’ celebrates this – showing the world what we can do and how we do it. We are in the perfect time zone for working globally, able to service businesses in the USA and Asia and everywhere in-between. We speak many languages and attract creative talent from all over the world. It’s this genetic make-up that makes the UK advertising industry rich in cultural perspectives and innovative ideas.”

Janet Hull, chair of UKAEG, member creative industries Council, and IPA director of marketing strategy said: “We wanted to find a way of expressing how UK advertising is uniquely positioned to support companies around the world with their growth ambitions. This campaign by the hugely talented teams at two of our member companies, featuring work by many more of those members, captures what we can offer perfectly. At a time when businesses all around the world face into the challenge of the coronavirus crisis, we want them to know that the UK advertising and marketing services sector is here and ready to help them with any challenge they face.”

Mark Hardy The Mill, said: " We were delighted to be part of the UKAEG and work with adam&eveDDB on this project as we believe more and more, brands need to think globally to inspire their audiences.  The UK advertising and media industries have a proven history in solving creative problems and exciting audiences. We have always been known for bold ideas and world class productions. At The Mill, we are seeing an increasing number of creative briefs coming from Asia, especially China and Japan. As a global studio with offices in Europe, The USA and India, we are well positioned to work across every time zone. The challenges thrown at us over the past 6 months have forced us to work differently – taking a virtual approach to our work has actually allowed for even more flexibility and opened up new opportunities, meaning we can provide 24/7 support for global clients.”

Matt Scheckner, global CEO, Advertising Week, said: “With the same creativity, fervor, passion and talent as what the world saw in the 1960’s with the British Invasion, the UK’s advertising delivers incredible work on a global scale. Without question, the UK will drive the global creative economy going forward, with advertising leading the way.”

Every company in the UKAEG shares the same collective ambition – to work together and show the world it is open for business. In these extraordinary times, this is more important than it has ever been. Backed by the Advertising Association, the IPA, the APA, the DMA, London & Partners and the Creative Industries Council, the Export Group features 50+ members drawn from across the UK’s advertising and marketing services industries. It is supported through the industry’s partnership with the Department for International Trade (DIT) and includes the support of the GREAT campaign team. 

The new brand campaign follows a highly successful Summer Showcase where the efforts of UKAEG created approx. 146,000 opportunities to meet and hear UK Advertising companies in its community. The Group’s marketing drive ensured that UK Advertising was visible and travelled virtually to key markets such as America, China, Europe and South Korea. It launched its first virtual trade mission which included 19 presentation slots and hosted networking events with China and South Korea during Lions Live.  Its second trade mission delivered over 55 new business meetings for members and UK Advertising was the headline sponsor at the inaugural PHNX Festival. 

Annual UK exports of advertising services reached a total of £7.9 billion in 2018 according to the latest ONS figures, a 15% increase as the industry overtook Telecommunications and Engineering services to become the second largest services for exports behind Computer Services. £3.7bn worth of advertising services were exported to EU nations, accounting for 53% of overall advertising exports. The percentage of all UK advertising exports going to Europe, including both the EU and non-EU countries, was 55%. The USA is the largest market for UK advertising services in terms of individual country exports. In total, the USA purchases £1.1bn worth of UK advertising services. The USA is followed by Germany (£1bn), France (£733m), Switzerland (£661m), and Ireland (£640m).

As of Sept, 2020, members of the UK Advertising Export Group include: 

23red

360xec

Across the Pond

adam&eveDDB

Advertising Association

Advertising Producers Association

Agency Inc

AI Music

Atomic Creative 

Brand Culture 

BrandFuel 

Chrome Productions 

Coffee&TV

Cream UK

Crowd

Data & Marketing Association

Datasine

Digital Detox 

Department for International Trade

ENGINE

Experience 12

Four Communications

FX Digital

Grace Blue Partnership 

Guinness World Records

Happy Finish 

Hey Human 

Hoi Polloi Media

Ignis

Institute for Practitioners in Advertising 

Kode Media

Locate Productions
London Advertising 

London & Partners

Madam Films

Made in London

MBA

MullenLowe Group

Nexus Studios

Ping Pong Digital 

Procure Worldwide 

Pulse Films

Quimn

St Luke's

Talent Republic Ltd

The Beyond Collective

The Mill 

The Specialist Works

Thomas Thomas Films

Umbrella 

VCCP