Creativebrief: Tim, as CEO of the Advertising Association what are your key responsibilities?

Tim Lefroy: Anywhere we work in marketing or communications we are the agents of competition and choice on which the economy is built. We stand for the open exchange of ideas and information and, as a by-product, prop-up a whole system of cultural and artistic diversity. Fundamentally then, we make things better for people. We’ve rather lost touch with that fact – and I’m determined to put that right.

Creativebrief: For an industry that knows more about promoting ideas than any other, isn’t it odd that the case for advertising is so rarely heard?

Tim Lefroy: That’s why the Advertising Association exists. To put people that care about advertising together to champion its role, protect its rights and deliver its responsibilities.

At the heart of the AA is its role as a forum through which companies and their trade associations can collectively monitor and review developments relevant to the advertising industry; shape the sector’s self-regulatory systems; and advise policy makers.

We have four mains aims:

creating and maintaining public trust and confidence in advertising

creating a single confident and coherent industry voice

advocating less and better regulation around advertising and supporting the freedom to advertise responsibly

inspiring our industry to lead the agenda

Our work centres on three main areas.

putting evidence and intellectual authority into the case for advertising, most notably through the creation of Credos – a new, independently governed think-tank for advertising

creating industry-led networks to influence and lead advertising’s response to its current and future challenges

creating an effective link between the complex make-up of the advertising industry and the world in which it operates. We aim to be the first port of call for anyone seeking to understand or influence the advertising industry

Creativebrief: It is now 2 years since the AA launched Credos. What do see as the main achievements and the impact made to the debate about the advertising industry within UK?

Tim Lefroy: Credos is advertising’s think tank. It was created to put evidence into the public and political debate where the sentiment towards advertising has been in long-term decline. It has helped us stand toe-to-toe with our critics, defend self-regulation and our freedoms. Now on the front foot the next step will be work on the positive role that advertising plays in the economy and society.

Creativebrief: The advertising industry is seen sometimes as a barometer of the economy, very sensitive to both sentiment and growth. What does the AA’s latest research on the industry conclude?

Tim Lefroy: The picture right now is relatively flat – not quite as flat as the wider economy but not far off – and it has been for some time. Within that there are winners and losers, of course, but at a macro level, new investment hasn’t really started to flow. Too many commentators are fixed on infrastructure – hard hats and tractors, for recovery. We point to consumer confidence, marketers willing to invest in innovation and acknowledgement that a little aspiration is a good thing.

Advertising’s role in the return to growth cannot be understated, and that’s why it was so refreshing  to see, at last, the CBI recognising our contribution in their latest industrial strategy report. The UK has to champion its strengths – and our media, marketing and advertising capability is one of our greatest assets.

Creativebrief: What are the plans for expanding the AA as the mouthpiece of the whole marketing and communications industry within the UK?

Tim Lefroy: Remember that I am not the Association. The whole industry is – media owners, brand marketers and agency practitioners – plus their trade associations; our strategy is to equip them to speak as industry leaders. So rather than grow an AA bureaucracy we look to deliver more impact for less.  When we do speak, it’s to exercise the clout of a whole industry consensus.

With the wealth of talent on hand, it’s useful to get them in the same room from time to time. On January 31st we’re hosting LEAD 2013, our second annual summit for absolutely everyone whose business depends on good advertising and marcomms. Aside from hearing from our new Culture Secretary, we will be launching the definitive report on what, and how, advertising contributes to our economy. The message of the day will be growth, growth, growth – arming our 300 best spokespeople with the facts they need to promote what we all do for UK plc.

Creativebrief: How does the AA champion British interests at Brussels and promote our industry further afield?

Tim Lefroy: Two aspects – influencing the drafting of pan European regulation; look at the recent briefings of UK Ministers, Helen Grant & Ed Vaizey, asking them to put the brakes on inappropriate proposals for data protection. Secondly, looking at the future of trans-national self regulation – the plan for a European system for online behavioural ad regulation is a current case in point.

Creativebrief: How does the Advertising Association see its relationship with the other major trade organisations developing over the next 5 years?

Tim Lefroy: Most practitioners are confused by the number of industry trade associations and their companies are concerned about duplication and cost. It’s a problem if policy makers don’t know who to talk to, or members who to support.  The AA evolves to ensure that its membership represents the main blocs of what people perceive to be contemporary advertising – hence the involvement of the internet, search and social media leaders.

Creativebrief: Can you tell me about the AA’s members?

Tim Lefroy: The Advertising Association is its members, and those members are drawn from all sides of the advertising and marketing industry: the advertisers, the agencies and the media owners. We facilitate discussion amongst members and reduce the costs of information gathering, policy research and political action. We enable our members to co-ordinate their activities and act collectively for the benefit of both individual organisations and the advertising industry as a whole.

Creativebrief: How does the Advertising Association engage government, both domestically and at international level?

Tim Lefroy: We must be evidence-based. When Government is faced with pressure groups using rhetoric and hyperbole, we bring the facts to the table. When we do that with the full force of the media owners, brands and agencies behind us, we make a compelling case.

Creativebrief: What are some of the key industry issues currently under review?

Tim Lefroy: The big themes remain fairly constant. Privacy and how we both collect and use data responsibly. How we behave when marketing to – or in the presence of – children. Concerns about advertising where the products themselves are under scrutiny like alcohol. At any one time, the AA has over 50 issues logged on its policy register.

One to watch is diversity and in particular, depictions of women in advertising.  It’s part of a much broader debate about media imagery but touches also on how marketing impacts children and the use of sexual imagery in advertising. There are lessons for the industry to learn – Credos’s Pretty as a Picture report is a great place for practitioners to get to grips with the issue.

Across all of these issues, Credos has been producing some fantastic analysis. Their web-site is well worth exploring.

Creativebrief: What are the main benefits of Advertising Association membership?

Tim Lefroy: The AA is the place where the industry’s leaders come together to lead. What’s at stake firstly are our freedoms – to create, curate, innovate in marketing communications at the cutting edge. Secondly, its our relationship with society – people in advertising should feel as I do, that when they go to work they are part of what fundamentally is a force for good. I want people to spend 99% competing; just give us 1% working on Planet Advertising UK to keep it the best in the world.