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Opening our first IRL Gaming Upfronts at The Steel Yard, our CMO James Chandler told the audience that they would come away from the event “realising the huge potential that gaming has as a fully emerged and incredible channel to be utilised”. With sessions from Activision Blizzard Media, Anzu, Bidstack, Frameplay and Twitch, what followed was a fast-paced but insightful exploration of what gaming has to offer and where it’s headed next. Shifting from viewability to attention “How do we move...

“Upfronts this year have all taken on a different flavour. All of them have had a dose of reality”, IAB UK’s CMO James Chandler explained, opening Meta’s event by referencing the challenging economic situation the UK is currently in. Chiming with the theme of Meta’s event - how to thrive in uncertain times - Chandler explained that this context makes it “incumbent on all of us to collectively give you - agencies and advertisers - compelling proof points that digital works”. Ian Edwards, Global...

From Amazon Prime to Twitch to Amazon Freevee, the goal at Amazon is “to entertain audiences with stories that move them” explained Phil Christer, Managing Director UK, as he opened Amazon Ads’ 2022 Digital Upfront alongside Lou Emmerson, UK Sales Director, Twitch. What followed was a deep-dive into how Amazon is reaching streaming audiences across the UK, as the team was joined by the creators that make its content so popular. Here’s what we learnt. 2023 could be a tipping point for streaming...

IAB UK has launched the latest version of the Gold Standard , which incorporates new criteria to strengthen end-to-end transparency within the digital advertising supply chain. Improving supply chain transparency is an ongoing cross-industry priority and trade bodies including the Advertising Association, ISBA (representing brands) and The IPA (representing agencies) are vocally backing the latest version of the Gold Standard, which adds rigour to the existing framework. The overriding aim of...

Culture and community were the main themes of TikTok’s 2022 Digital Upfront, as speakers focused on the unique environment TikTok creates for audiences and brands alike. Kris Boger, UK General Manager, opened the event by touching on the TikTok born trends that have given rise to cultural phenomenons this year - from Sam Ryder’s Eurovision success to Louis Theroux’s foray into rap. Here’s what we learnt. There’s a shift from mass culture to niche culture “Today’s culture is better represented as...

From how technology is reimagining storytelling, to the future of branded content, the new exec mindset, and the evolution of BBC institutions, this event was all about exploring the relationship between heritage and innovation - while remaining true to the BBC’s core values of trust, transparency and responsibility. Here’s what we learnt. Taking risks has driven 100 years of change Technological innovation was high on the agenda, with Click presenter Spencer Kelly giving delegates a rundown of...

There were two main focuses of Twitter’s 2022 Digital Upfront: how is Twitter driving people to buy? And how are Gen Z using the platform? With 238 million people worldwide on Twitter daily - a figure up 15% year-on-year according to Director of Planning, David Wilding - there’s no debating that Twitter has a huge and growing audience. But this event was all about honing in on how brands can use Twitter to drive tangible results and reach a much-in-demand Gen Z demographic. Here’s a round-up of...

IAB Europe has announced that the Belgian Data Protection Authority (the APD) is proceeding to examine the action plan IAB Europe submitted to it in April 2022, despite an interim ruling from the Belgian Market Court that declared the APD’s decision illegal. So what’s actually happened to date? And what does it mean for IAB UK members? Here we give a topline overview and share where you can find out more information. What’s happened so far? In February 2022, the APD issued a ruling against IAB...

Update, 16 December 2022: A Statutory Instrument (SI) has been laid in Parliament to deliver the Government’s announcement of 30 September to ban the UK’s export of professional services to Russia. The legislation introduces a ban on the export of professional services including advertising services, architectural and engineering services, auditing services, and IT consultancy and design services. The SI came into force today (Friday 16 December) at 00:01am. The legislation applies to the direct...

Neurodiversity (ND) refers to the differences in cognitive functioning that occur in the human population. Rather than individually categorising conditions such as Dyslexia, ADHD, Dyspraxia/DCD and Autism, there is a movement towards seeing them simply as differences in the way we are wired and appreciate that each condition conveys a specific pattern of strengths as well as challenges. With roughly 15% of people being ND, there’s a massive pool of un tapped talent waiting to be set free. When...