Summary
The UK’s advertising industry is a success story. Advertising fuels the economy by helping businesses to grow and compete against one another. It is also a significant sector of the economy on its own. The UK, especially London, is a global centre for advertising, exporting services to clients around that world. In turn it attracts talented workers from overseas giving the industry its strong international quality. Advertising is a creative endeavour that contributes to the UK’s culture and society. It plays an important role in the creative industries nurturing talent for example by providing work for film makers, musicians and artists. Advertising, having historically supported traditional media, now also funds a vast quantity of content and services available online. Advertising is regulated by an industry-funded body with the aspiration that it should be “legal, decent, honest and truthful”.
The industry is in a state of flux: following rapid year-on-year growth the internet is attracting more advertising spending than all other media collectively. Although most news media publishers have moved online, advertising revenue from this new source does not nearly compensate for the loss of revenue from the decline in conventional print advertising. The production of high-quality content is under threat. Additionally, the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union presents a challenge for the industry’s access to international workers. Our inquiry sought to investigate how the industry can maintain its success through these changes.
The rapid growth of ‘digital’ advertising has changed the nature of the businesses within the industry. Advertising agencies have been quick to sell digital advertising services to their clients but we are concerned that in doing so they have created a new threat for their industry: digital advertising often bombards users and does not comply with established standards. This has had a corrosive impact on the trust that advertising traditionally relied on.
A growing proportion of digital advertising is delivered through automated processes collectively known as ‘programmatic advertising’. This has generated a plethora of new business models to make money from content and services, with the result that even individuals within the industry do not have a comprehensive understanding of how it works. Advertisers (those who pay for advertising) claim that this system is not transparent: they find it hard to ascertain where their money is being spent and whether they receive value for it. According to one estimate, over $16 billion spent on digital advertising was stolen through fraud in 2017. Advertisers may also find that their advertising is displayed next to inappropriate or illegal content, such as hate speech or indecent content.
We recommend that the industry should take greater steps to self-regulate through independent bodies such as the Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards. The largest businesses in the industry should sign up fully to these bodies, which should be given greater powers to enforce rules. The Government should be prepared to legislate if business fails to act.
The digital advertising market is dominated by a small number of very large companies. These companies maintain that they do not abuse their position and that the market remains highly competitive. But given the lack of transparency, we recommend that the Competition and Markets Authority investigates this market to ensure that it is working fairly for consumers and other businesses. As the Government proceeds with the work of its Digital Charter we recommend that it review whether competition law is appropriate for the 21st century digital economy.
As we await the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation, we remain concerned that many businesses exploit users’ data without informed consent. Nonetheless we note that digital advertising relies on the free flow of data and so it is essential that the UK maintains alignment with EU standards of data protection. We encourage the Government to ensure that the UK has a place on the European Data Protection Board as part of any post-EU membership settlement.
The rise of digital advertising has exposed a need for individuals with digital skills. Specifically, the industry requires individuals with a blend of arts and science skills. The current education system in England encourages children to specialise in either an arts or a science subject at a young age. At the same time, the Government’s efforts to promote the take-up of science subjects has side-lined arts subjects on the school timetable. We therefore recommend that the Government should review the skills needed for the future workforce and consider whether the education system reflects the needs of the growing industries such as advertising and the creative industries generally which will be increasingly important in the face of automation.
Universities remain the largest source of entrants to the industry, but many witnesses noted that advertising and marketing courses are not sufficiently relevant to the needs of industry. We recommend that universities should work more closely with industry. They should also build strong local connections to help build regional growth.
The advertising industry needs a diverse workforce that reflects the demographics of the UK, including ethnicity, gender, class and ability. Advertising must also reflect the demographics of the UK onscreen. This is essential for the reputation and trust of the industry which are necessary for advertisers to communicate effectively with their audience. The advertising industry is better than most in taking action on diversity. We recommend that it should show further leadership in this regard. In particular, it should discontinue informal working and recruitment practices, such as unpaid internships, which present a barrier to those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. The Government should also clarify the law on unpaid internships. The industry should also provide outreach and mentoring.
Better careers advice will also help increase diversity. The Government should provide more resources to encourage professional careers advice and take account of activities where children can interact with employers when they measure school performance, but the industry should also do more by providing role models, tools to help schools and create stronger initiatives to promote advertising as a career.
Apprenticeships present another route into the industry and have the potential to increase the talent pool and diversity of the industry. Many businesses have expressed frustration about the Government’s apprenticeship scheme. The scheme is failing to provide training of an appropriate quality that works for businesses. It takes too long for apprenticeship standards to be approved. We note that this appears to be a wider problem for all creative industries and so we recommend that the Government should review the suitability of its scheme for this sector.
The advertising industry’s global success relies on its ability to attract and retain international workers who can understand international clients and their audiences. If the tiered visa system is applied to EU workers after the UK leaves the EU, the immigration system will become unmanageable and seriously damage the advertising industry. We recommend that the Government should negotiate reciprocal agreements with other countries under which international workers with a job offer in the advertising industry will have the right to work in the UK.