{"id":15783,"date":"2022-12-19T18:24:08","date_gmt":"2022-12-19T18:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=15783"},"modified":"2022-12-19T18:24:08","modified_gmt":"2022-12-19T18:24:08","slug":"what-we-can-learn-from-the-media-landscape-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/news\/2022\/dec\/what-we-can-learn-from-the-media-landscape-in-japan","title":{"rendered":"What we can learn from the media landscape in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"lazyblock-text-full-width-IVbw7 wp-block-lazyblock-text-full-width\"><section class=\"fullwidth text-center\" data-aos=\"fade-up\">\n  <div class=\"container\">\n    \n    \n    <h5 style=\"text-align: left\">Steve Taylor, joint chief strategy officer at VCCP Media ruminates on the built-in playfulness that Japan lends to its ad landscape. Originally published in <em>Campaign<\/em>.<\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Watching\u00a0Blade Runner\u00a0and, being a media soul, I always marvelled at just how many advertising opportunities Ridley Scott imagined might decorate the cityscape of 2019 Los Angeles. Real-life 2020s LA disappoints me in this regard. But, there is a land, far far away, where Scott\u2019s ad landscape is made real. That land is Japan and off the back of a recent short trip to Tokyo, I wanted to share some observations on what I think we can learn from Japan\u2019s adland.<br \/><br \/><strong>Video rules<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Everywhere you go, the eye is drawn to LCDs delivering ads that twitch, jiggle, blink and shine out from LCD screens of every possible shape, size and combination. Japan is a very rich country, and has a hugely advanced data and technology infrastructure and my experience would suggest that neither money nor data connectivity are a bar to digitising the out-of-home advertising landscape. LCDs are literally everywhere. On every wall, on the side of every bus, on every escalator panel, at the top of the stairs, at the bottom of the stairs, in the loo \u2013 well OK, not in the loo.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">However the average Japanese loo certainly seems to have the technical capabilities to become part of the advertising landscape. Even in a lowly bus station you can rely upon a convenience which has push button controls for flushing, bidet functions front and back, warming the seat and playing music. It seems to me a terrible oversight that no one has acquired that inventory to use the sound functions for the purposes of delivering a happy advertising jingle. Think of the sponsorship opportunities! There\u2019s plenty of scope for our own domestic outdoor estate to be further digitised and connected, so a growing advertiser demand is matched with growth in the inventory available.<br \/><br \/><strong>No LCD, no problem<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Where LCDs cannot physically be attached to a surface, paste and paper and vinyls may instead be suspended or otherwise positioned. Just because you can\u2019t hang an LCD from the monkey bars on the tube, doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t hang a vinyl ad there. This led me to think about how effectively, or otherwise, we currently use our own spaces.<br \/><br \/><strong>Built-in playfulness<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">The Japanese seem a little bit more playful than we Brits. It\u2019s not unusual to see the most serious looking of middle-aged business execs reading a manga or gaming on the bus, or stalking the figurine shops of Tokyo\u2019s Akihabara \u201cgeek\u201d district for the latest merch from their favourite series. Perhaps it\u2019s because much written Japanese is literally pictures, but Japanese culture feels innately and intensely visual.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">So while the environment felt to me to be saturated with ads, it never felt too much. The reason being that the ads are endlessly entertaining, often surrealistic, frequently with very beautiful graphical artwork; in short they are a joy to see.<br \/><br \/><strong>Stand out<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: left\">Given the volume of ads, the visual nature of the culture and the demonstrable rich creative talent in the community, it\u2019s no surprise that ads in Japan work really hard to stand out. Gaudy and clashing colours; in. Exaggerated expressions; in. Massive overacting; in. Surreal situations; in. And of course QR codes; in. Be it on the smallest coffee shop napkin, or the largest video screen, QR codes are everywhere. Every opportunity is taken to remove the friction between seeing an and visiting the website to buy the product, or learn more, or get a piece of branded content or brand relevant useful gadget, widget or app.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><strong>Brand and response<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">For Japanese ads also stand out in the clarity of their purpose. There is not much that is coy or hard to decode about the average Japanese ad. Even if you don\u2019t speak much Japanese, it\u2019s invariably easy to understand what the proposition is, why it\u2019s better than the competition and why you therefore need this particular product in your life, and of course how to go about acquiring it; perhaps directly via QR code.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">I\u2019m making it sound like every Japanese ad is all about direct response and there\u2019s no brand advertising. Of course that\u2019s not true. Most international advertisers don\u2019t seem to have adapted their international brand campaigns very much for the Japanese market; surely a missed opportunity. And there\u2019s certainly plenty of ads I saw that didn\u2019t fit into the &#8220;buy it now&#8221; category and that I presume were building brand affinity among those with enough Japanese to be brand affiliated. But the overall impression is of an ad landscape where every impact works hard one way or another.<br \/><br \/><strong>What can we learn?<\/strong><br \/><br \/>Our tolerances for ad clutter in the UK are very different to those in Japan; or at least we believe they are. But the biggest thing I took note of is just how much fun Japanese ads are. They seem to decorate and enhance environments and experiences rather than intrude upon them. As we\u2019ve always known; people don\u2019t like ads, they like to be entertained and sometimes that\u2019s by an ad. And when it is, they don\u2019t care where it is or how many of them there are. They\u2019re fun! And who can have too much fun?<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":57,"template":"","categories":[191],"class_list":["post-15783","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","category-agency-news"],"acf":{"author":{"ID":10489,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2020-08-13 09:14:15","post_date_gmt":"2020-08-13 08:14:15","post_content":"","post_title":"Steve Taylor","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"steve-taylor","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-02-23 17:49:17","post_modified_gmt":"2023-02-23 17:49:17","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/?post_type=people&#038;p=10489","menu_order":0,"post_type":"people","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},"capability_ids":["10112"],"client_id":"","hero_video":"","hero_image":{"ID":15784,"id":15784,"title":"Japan Ad Landscape","filename":"Japan-Ad-Landscape.png","filesize":3185164,"url":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Japan-Ad-Landscape.png","link":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/news\/2022\/dec\/what-we-can-learn-from-the-media-landscape-in-japan\/attachment\/japan-ad-landscape","alt":"","author":"57","description":"","caption":"","name":"japan-ad-landscape","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":15783,"date":"2022-12-19 18:20:59","modified":"2022-12-19 18:20:59","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Japan-Ad-Landscape-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Japan-Ad-Landscape-300x169.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Japan-Ad-Landscape-768x432.png","medium_large-width":640,"medium_large-height":360,"large":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Japan-Ad-Landscape-1024x576.png","large-width":640,"large-height":360,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Japan-Ad-Landscape-1536x864.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Japan-Ad-Landscape.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080,"Header":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Japan-Ad-Landscape-1920x720.png","Header-width":1920,"Header-height":720,"Wide":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Japan-Ad-Landscape-1920x960.png","Wide-width":1920,"Wide-height":960,"Square":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Japan-Ad-Landscape-768x768.png","Square-width":768,"Square-height":768,"Tall":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Japan-Ad-Landscape-307x615.png","Tall-width":307,"Tall-height":615,"Mobile":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Japan-Ad-Landscape-768x960.png","Mobile-width":768,"Mobile-height":960,"Facebook":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Japan-Ad-Landscape-1200x630.png","Facebook-width":1200,"Facebook-height":630,"Grid-Item-Square":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Japan-Ad-Landscape-768x768.png","Grid-Item-Square-width":768,"Grid-Item-Square-height":768,"Grid-Item-Wide":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Japan-Ad-Landscape-768x384.png","Grid-Item-Wide-width":768,"Grid-Item-Wide-height":384,"Grid-Item-Tall":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Japan-Ad-Landscape-307x615.png","Grid-Item-Tall-width":307,"Grid-Item-Tall-height":615}},"meta-title":"Steve Taylor in Campaign 'What we can learn from the media landscape in Japan'","meta-description":"Steve Taylor, joint chief strategy officer at VCCP Media ruminates on the built-in playfulness that Japan lends to its ad landscape.","social-media-image":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Japan-Ad-Landscape.png","news_id":"191","related_content_title":"You may also like","relateditems":[{"relateditem":{"ID":15766,"post_author":"61","post_date":"2022-12-15 15:44:42","post_date_gmt":"2022-12-15 15:44:42","post_content":"<!-- wp:lazyblock\/text-full-width {\"text\":\"\\u003ch1 class=\\u0022wp-block wp-block-post-title block-editor-block-list__block editor-post-title editor-post-title__input rich-text is-selected\\u0022 role=\\u0022textbox\\u0022 aria-label=\\u0022Add title\\u0022\\u003eVCCP Media continues winning streak as it secures further clients across beauty, sport and FMCG sectors\\u003c\/h1\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cstrong\\u003eVCCP Media, \\u003c\/strong\\u003ethe media division of the global challenger network for challenger brands has today announced a streak of new business wins. The media shop has been appointed by brands \\u003cstrong\\u003eABI, Callaway Golf Europe, Major League Baseball \\u003c\/strong\\u003eand cosmetic clinic group\\u003cstrong\\u003e SK:N.\\u003c\/strong\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003eEstablished in 2012, VCCP Media is an award-winning full service media agency with a mission to deliver \\u003cem\\u003eMedia: like it should be. \\u003c\/em\\u003eHeaded up by Joint CEO\u2019s, Tara Marus and Pete Bennett the agency has gone from strength to strength and these new wins follow news of other wins earlier in the year for Financial Services clients Bestinvest \\u0026amp; Evelyn Partners as well as \\u003cstrong\\u003eHamleys\\u003c\/strong\\u003e and \\u003cstrong\\u003eDUG\\u003c\/strong\\u003e, the world's first plant-based potato drink, who appointed VCCP Media as its first UK media planning and buying agency.\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003eVCCP Media have secured a multitude of accounts including \\u003cstrong\\u003eThe Association of British Insurers (ABI), \\u003c\/strong\\u003ewinning a joint pitch win with sister agency Teamspirit. The agencies will take an integrated approach to ABI\u2019s media planning and buying, using both offline and online methods to effectively reach its customer base.\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003eFollowing a competitive pitch process the award-winning agency has claimed the UK\u2019s leading skin clinic,\\u003cstrong\\u003e SK:N,\\u003c\/strong\\u003e winning both an SEO and through the line performance remit with work commencing with immediate effect.\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003eExpanding their remit in the sporting and e-commerce sector, VCCP Media will also now manage the digital performance media for \\u003cstrong\\u003eCallaway \\u003c\/strong\\u003eas well as other brands in their portfolio which include golf and luggage brand OGIO and men\u2019s clothing and golf apparel brand TravisMathew.\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003eTo seal this succession of wins, VCCP Media alongside sister agency CSM will be responsible for all media planning and buying across the \\u003cstrong\\u003eMajor League Baseball\\u003c\/strong\\u003e (MLB) series which returns to the UK next summer. This appointment by MLB marks the growth of VCCP Media\u2019s international outreach and the growing diameter of its fully comprehensive service.\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003eThe wins speak to the diversification and expansion of VCCP Media\u2019s client base and signals their impressive trajectory of growth as an agency. The wins add to an existing client base which spans multiple sectors and include Abbott, Bonhams, Cox \\u0026amp; Cox, De Montfort University, GoDaddy, Organix, Princess Yachts, Royal British Legion, SsangYong, Saga and Violife.\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cstrong\\u003eTara Marus, Joint CEO at VCCP Media, added\\u003c\/strong\\u003e:\\u003cem\\u003e \u201cVCCP Media continues to go from strength to strength and I\u2019m incredibly proud of our recent new business wins. \\u003c\/em\\u003e\\u003cem\\u003eWe are really excited to be launching new brands into the UK market with innovative and passionate teams alike. All with a challenger spirit, they really do epitomise the type of brand we love to work with.\u201d\\u003c\/em\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\",\"blockId\":\"T7HgL\",\"blockUniqueClass\":\"lazyblock-text-full-width-T7HgL\"} \/-->","post_title":"VCCP Media winning streak","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"vccp-media-continues-winning-streak-as-it-secures-further-clients-across-beauty-sport-and-fmcg-sectors","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-01-17 17:00:04","post_modified_gmt":"2023-01-17 17:00:04","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=15766","menu_order":0,"post_type":"news","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}},{"relateditem":{"ID":15499,"post_author":"61","post_date":"2022-10-10 12:02:04","post_date_gmt":"2022-10-10 11:02:04","post_content":"<!-- wp:lazyblock\/text-full-width {\"text\":\"\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cstrong\\u003eCharles Vallance Founding Partner and Chairman, VCCP in his latest column for Campaign, explores how previous enforced remote working has meant a return to the prominence of Powerpoint Presentations.\\u003c\/strong\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eOne of the many consequences of enforced remote working was the return to prominence of PowerPoint presentations. We soon tired of staring at each other\u2019s faces (or bookshelves) in that odd, unnatural gameshow format and quickly opted instead for some charts to hide behind.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eSo be it. We had to find our own coping mechanisms back in those days. The problem, however, is that the chart habit seems to have stuck. And it's not as if we were an industry that was averse to slideware in the first place.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eDon't get me wrong. I know we need presentations, and presentations often need some slides. They provide a framework for what we have to say, as well as a record of our objectives, plans and recommendations. Depending on the subject matter, charts can often be essential, particularly for information-heavy topics such as media and market performance. But, as the information load gets lighter, so should the charts. If we're simply framing an argument or point of view do we need charts at all?\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eOne of the reasons I ask this question is from my experience of enforced slidelessness. Unless you're one of those people for whom technology always works perfectly (and I'm yet to meet one), the chances are that you will have experienced more than a few tech meltdowns. This inevitably means that the PowerPoint deck you were about to romp through remains stuck stubbornly on a distant, truculent server.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eIn these situations, whilst the IT technician wrestles with cables and remote controls, and we smile at each other awkwardly, I've taken to asking \\u0022should we have a go at starting without the slides?\\u0022. Sometimes the reaction to my question is one of quiet horror, as if an ancient protocol has been offended. On other occasions we give it a go freestyle and, lo and behold, ten minutes in and everyone has forgotten the wrestling technician. We're swimming without slides. There is even mild disappointment when the recalcitrant HDMI link is restored and we can boot up the slideware.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eThe meeting immediately becomes more formal and more regimented. There are also more interruptions. Perhaps because there is now something to interrupt. Or perhaps because of boredom. What has been gained in terms of structure has been lost in terms of fluency.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eSo we should aim for both. This means dramatically cutting down on the number of slides, and also on the number of words on the slides. If you ever find yourself reading out the fourth bullet point under the third subhead of the forty-third slide then I'm afraid you've got a bad case of chart\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eitis. You're reading, not presenting.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eWe're all guilty of this every so often due to expedience. It's the easiest way of downloading everything we want to say. Chopping words out, cutting down on charts, takes time and effort. Thus Mark Twain's famous proviso, \\u0022if I had more time I would have written a shorter letter'.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eBut lack of time is only part of the explanation. The other is lack of clarity. We end up festooned in charts and bullet points because we're not quite clear what we mean. And for this, there is only one solution. Before you go anywhere near PowerPoint, write what you mean down in normal sentences in normal English. Only then can you tell if it's clear and if it's meaningful. It's much easier to mangle a chart than it is to mangle prose.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eThe cure for chartitis, therefore, can be summed up in four simple steps. Step 1, start with a script (despite the urge to chartify). Step 2, ruthlessly edit your charts to highlight only the essential points you're making. Step 3, where possible, don't repeat on the chart what you say in your narrative - illustrate, visualise or dramatise your point instead.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eThe 4th step is perhaps the most daunting, which is to individualise what you present. Don't assume that your script needs slides at all. Slides can so quickly emphasise similarity rather than difference. Why not handwrite your points on boards? Or drag a Nobo chart along and draw your thoughts up as you go through them? - it worked for Simon Sinek.\u00a0 Devote some time to ensuring that any visual props are an \\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eextension \\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eof you, rather than the other way round.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eWe kid ourselves that presentations are viewed rationally. But they aren't. They are far more about empathy, trust, chemistry, body language. And, as such, though we may be reluctant to admit it, they're far more about the messenger than the message.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eSo step 4 is be yourself. The problem with this step, of course, is that it's a lifetime in the making.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\",\"blockId\":\"Z1qNNew\",\"blockUniqueClass\":\"lazyblock-text-full-width-Z1qNNew\"} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:lazyblock\/quote-full-width {\"quote\":\"If we're simply framing an argument or a point of view do we need slides at all?\",\"quotee\":\"VCCP's Founding Partner and Chairman Charles Vallance \",\"blockId\":\"T1kvQ\",\"blockUniqueClass\":\"lazyblock-quote-full-width-T1kvQ\"} \/-->","post_title":"Charles Vallance: Lately, We've Let Things Slide","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"charles-vallance-lately-weve-let-things-slide","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-10-10 12:02:05","post_modified_gmt":"2022-10-10 11:02:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=15499","menu_order":0,"post_type":"news","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}},{"relateditem":{"ID":14806,"post_author":"57","post_date":"2022-04-25 18:42:56","post_date_gmt":"2022-04-25 17:42:56","post_content":"<!-- wp:lazyblock\/two-column-text-quote-image {\"text-left\":\"\\u003cp\\u003e\\u003cstrong\\u003eWhat\\u2019s holding agencies back from making greater progress on diversity? IPA president and VCCP international chairman Julian Douglas argues agencies must double down on improving access into the industry.\\u003c\\\/strong\\u003e\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003e\\u003cem\\u003eOriginally published in\\u00a0The Drum.\\u003c\\\/em\\u003e\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eIt\\u2019s 12 months on since the start of my IPA presidency and, despite a few setbacks, things are looking up for the ad industry in many ways. The lockdowns of 2021 are behind us, ad spend has bounced back, and we\\u2019re able to go to the office or work from home as we please. Even conferences and awards have made a welcome return, from SXSW to the upcoming Cannes Festival.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eYet there is one dark cloud that still lingers over the blue horizon: the talent crunch. Like many industries, the upheaval of the past two years has caused many people in advertising to reassess their priorities and value exchange with work. Much has been written about the great resignation and the resultant talent exodus. With the competition for new talent hotter than ever in all creative industries, is it time for advertising to ask itself whether it has an image problem? And that is exactly what we did at the most recent IPA Council meeting debate, the unfolding of which was fascinating.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003ch2\\u003e\\u003cstrong\\u003eAccess\\u003c\\\/strong\\u003e\\u003c\\\/h2\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eThe Chatham House Rule, which we observe in all IPA Council meetings, precludes me from sharing who the speakers were (despite one of them sharing a pic on LinkedIn). The proposer made the sound argument that in an era where we are ranked as the UK\\u2019s least-trusted profession, people pay to avoid ads in the media they consume, and with slow progress against the targets we set ourselves in terms of diversity, we do have an image problem. Ain\\u2019t that the truth, and the motion was indeed carried.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eHowever, there was a significant point made by the opposer that almost swung the vote. That clients spent over \\u00a323bn on advertising in 2020 suggests there isn\\u2019t an image problem. And most agencies report they have no shortage of people applying for their entry-level roles, with many oversubscribed several times over. But there is a lack of diversity among those applicants they receive. So maybe the issue isn\\u2019t an image problem: it is an access problem.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\",\"text-right\":\"\\u003cp\\u003eToday we understand the need to attract people from all backgrounds with all skill capabilities. This means we need to look wider, beyond the expected places and channels, to find fresh sources of untapped talent. It is heartening to see brilliant initiatives continuing to thrive throughout the industry, from Brooklyn Brothers\\u2019 Night School to Brixton Finishing School to the long-standing Ideas Foundation \\u2013 each one tackling head-on the lack of diversity and social mobility in adland. At VCCP we are setting up an academy in Stoke to raise awareness of advertising as a viable career opportunity by inspiring, training and hiring local young people in their home town.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eLetting fresh talent know about the opportunities that exist right across the UK will be the focus of the 10X-ed Advertising Unlocked, which returns in November 2022 \\u2013 more to follow on this later in the year.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003ch2\\u003e\\u003cstrong\\u003eRetention\\u003c\\\/strong\\u003e\\u003c\\\/h2\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eBut let\\u2019s not focus only on access and recruitment. Perhaps more important is the experience that new joiners have once they join our industry. There is no point in working hard to attract fresh talent from underrepresented groups if they do not feel included once they are through the door, whether physical or virtual.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eA great starting place is the brilliant \\u2018Belonging\\u2019 by Sue Unerman, Kathryn Jacob and Mark Edwards, an instruction manual on how to build a better workplace where everyone feels like they belong, and The IPA Talent Conference on May 4 will build on this much-recommended read. We\\u2019ll be providing tangible, actionable initiatives to tackle wellbeing issues, nurture talent to go on to be our future leaders and celebrate the inspirational people paving the way who have made the final 2022 IPA iList.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eIn the spirit of 10X, we have to move things on by leaps, not bounds, this year. The industry is getting its mojo back; it\\u2019s an exciting and prosperous time, full of new creativity and opportunity, but it\\u2019s also time we direct the talents we collectively have into tackling the talent issue and making those outside our brilliant industry recognize and realize its true potential.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003e\\u003cstrong\\u003eJulian Douglas is president of the IPA and international chairman of VCCP.\\u003c\\\/strong\\u003e\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\",\"blockId\":\"Z2w98AW\",\"blockUniqueClass\":\"lazyblock-two-column-text-quote-image-Z2w98AW\"} \/-->","post_title":"Dougie in The Drum: Access in advertising","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"advertisings-image-problem-is-really-about-access","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-04-25 18:45:19","post_modified_gmt":"2022-04-25 17:45:19","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=14806","menu_order":0,"post_type":"news","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}}],"hide_related_items":[],"visible_on_home_page":["1"],"websites_to_publish":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/15783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}