The UK Advertising Export Group launches its ‘Made Global’ campaign

The UK Advertising Export Group (UKAEG), a UK advertising industry marketing partnership with the 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, The Drum’s Agencies4Growth Festival and the British Council Virtual Festival which will run in both the UK and China.

It is led by a new 2-minute long film, which features 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.

Mark Hardy, The Mill’s Global VP of Marketing, states: “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.”

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).

Find out more about the UK Advertising Export Group here.