THE CONSCIOUS ADVERTISING NETWORK (CAN)
The Conscious Advertising Network is a voluntary coalition of over 70 organisations set up to ensure that industry ethics catches up with the technology of modern advertising.
Their mission is to stop advertising abuse by highlighting the conscious choices advertisers and their agencies can make to ensure good practice.
Across all sectors of the advertising industry, modern technology has advanced so quickly that ethics haven’t been able to keep up and they want to change that. Now more than ever, brands, agencies and adtech are perfectly placed to consciously change both the way they operate and the content they produce, resulting in communication that is better for all.
That’s why they have developed a set of seven manifestos, with the aim of getting their principles embodied in every UK agency brief.
Together we can make a big difference. #TogetherWeCAN
www.consciousadnetwork.com
DOWNLOAD CAN’S SEVEN MANIFESTOS :
ANTI FRAUD DIVERSITY FAKE NEWS INFORMED CONSENT HATE SPEECH CHILDREN’S WELLBEING CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY
WATCH OUR CAN BITESIZE CLIP FROM APRIL 2021 BELOW :
SERIES TWO
Moderated by Ete Davies, COO at DENTSU CREATIVE
Ete is the Chief Operating Officer across EMEA for Dentsu Creative. With 20 years in the advertising and marketing industry working with global and local brands, he has witnessed and been a part of brand marketing that has affected culture, impacted society and driven behaviour change. His belief in the importance of responsible, net-positive advertising and is what brought us together to work on this new season.
Producer Ep1-4: Sera Berksoy. Editor: Nathan Copelin. EP: Jane White (CAN). Music: The Nerve. A Dentsu Creative Production for the Conscious Advertising Network.
Access through the links below and also available on Apple, Audible, Amazon Music and Spotify.
SERIES TRAILER. INTRODUCING ETE DAVIES
Introducing our brand-new host: Ete Davies - Chief Operating Officer across EMEA for Dentsu Creative. With 20 years in the advertising and marketing industry working with global and local brands, he has witnessed and been a part of brand marketing that has affected culture, impacted society and driven behaviour change. His belief in the importance of responsible, net-positive advertising and is what brought us together to work on this new season.
EPISODE 1 CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY
With COP27 just around the corner and with the recent launch of CAN’s new climate and sustainability manifesto, we discuss what, if any, meaningful progress our industry has made on climate and sustainability accountability over the past year. Ete’s guests include: Jake Dubbins, Co-founder CAN Anna Lungley, CSO for Dentsu International. Suzie Rook, Head of Group Brand and Design at SSE plc Stephen Woodford, CEO of the Advertising Association
EPISODE 2 CHILDREN’S WELLBEING
Our panel discusses how to actively protect our children within the internet & metaverse, The implications of the Govt delay to the new Children's Wellbeing Code and the coroner’s verdict from the inquest of Molly Rose, Ollie Hayes, Policy & Campaigns Lead for Global Action Plan. Beth Kerr, Group Wellbeing Director at Cognita Melanie Kentish, MP @ Gleam Callum Hood, Head of Research Centre for Countering Digital Hate.
EPISODE 3 HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES AT THE FIFA WORLD CUP
In this episode we explore the topic of brand sponsorship and activism with regards to controversial events, hosts, or nations in the sporting arena. We discuss the responsibility advertisers, brands, social media platforms have towards representation, inclusivity, and equality in sport. Ete’s guests include: Amar Singh, Head of Content and Communications for MKTG Sports + Entertainment Lou Englefield, Director of Pride Sports
EPISODE 4 BRAND ACTIVISM: MIS- & DIS- INFORMATION
In the wake of the US mid-terms, the shock decisions on Roe vs. Wade from the Supreme Court and the attack on the US Capitol in January 2021, we discuss what role brands and advertising have to play in public discourse on social and political issues. Ambika Pai, Chief Strategy Officer at Mekanism (US) Claire Atkin, Brand Safety Advocate & Co-Founder of Check My Ads Institute - the adtech industry's first and only watchdog Doug Gordon, Co-Founder of Upshift Strategies (US)
EPISODE 4 BONUS BRAND ACTIVISM & POLITICAL ADVERTISING IN THE UK
This episode is a follow up to a previous episode where we covered Brand Activism and Political Advertising in the wake of the US midterm elections. Ete speaks to Alex Tait (Founder of Reform Political Advertising, and organisation based in the UK focused on regulation and awareness of political advertising) about the work he’s been doing with his organisation and how it impacts brands relationships with advertising and social media platforms.
EPISODE 5 INFORMED CONSENT - THE SURVEILLANCE ECONOMY
With an increasingly fragmented media landscape, what does the future hold for data privacy, transparency, and regulation?And should we give more consideration to consumer data literacy and review our contract with them?
Joining Ete in this episode are: Ossie Bayram Country Director Ogury, Advertising Associations Director of policy Research Konrad Shek and Matt Potter Chief Content Officer Dentsu Creative and Author of We are all Targets.
EPISODE 6 HATE SPEECH & DISCRIMINATION
Our panel discusses the responsibility of the advertising industry to improve the protection of migrants and refugees from hate speech and discrimination, This episode was recorded prior to the Migrant Boat disaster in Greece on the 18th June 2023
Pia Oberoi – Head of Migration & Human Rights, United Nations Karen Middleton – Lecturer, Portsmouth University Callum Hood – Head of Research at CDDH Matt Potter – CCO, Dentsu.
TRANSCRIPT TO COME
SERIES ONE
Moderated by Sonoo Singh, Founder of Creative Salon.
Produced with incredibly kind help from Robert White, Will Hulacki, Factory Originals, The Rattle Collective, Marshall Street Editors and The Nerve.
Access through the links below and also available on Audible, Amazon Music and Spotify.
EPISODE 1 SERIES TRAILER
Host Sonoo Singh speaks with co-founders of CAN Harriet Kingaby and Jake Dubbins.
An introduction and welcome to the first ever podcast series of thought provoking sessions from The Conscious Advertising Network, designed to encourage brands and their agencies to more consciously examine and improve their advertising communications.
EPISODE 2 INADVERTENT FUNDING
Sonoo Singh talks with Jerry Daykin, EMEA Media Director at GSK, Claire Atkin, Founder of Check My Ads and Jake Dubbins, Co-Founder of The Conscious Advertising Network & Founder of Media Bounty.
As advertising budgets come under new scrutiny, we ask “where is your media going”? Digital amounts to half of all advertising spend globally, but with greater choice, new markets and analytics there is a lot that we don’t know about what this is funding. Increasingly brands are finding themselves funding extreme and criminal content, with a negative impact on society and brand.
EPISODE 3 BRAND NEUTRALITY
Sonoo Singh speaks with Amy Williams, Founder of Good-Loop and Amir Malik, Digital Marketing Expert at Accenture Interactive about Brand Neutrality and why creativity has consequences.
As a communications industry, our brand messages do not exist within a vacuum - in fact they have very immediate, real world impact across today’s hyper connected digital media landscape. This technology includes the rise of social media, which has enabled consumers to have a direct dialogue with brands, and in turn demand more from brands to use their platform and influence to have a positive impact on society.
EPISODE 4 BEYOND THE BLOCKLIST
Sonoo Singh speaks with Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana, Head of Regulation at Impress) and Christopher Kenna, Founder of Brand Advance.
How can we fund a diverse internet for all? It’s only a few years since YouTube and Facebook were making headlines for displaying ads next to inappropriate content. Premium publishers offered an alternative: ads could appear next to quality content in trusted environments, with keyword blocking giving advertisers greater control over where their ad dollars appeared. On paper this sounds like a perfect solution, but in reality blocklists have led to millions in lost revenue and shut out minority communities from the internet. Has advertising made the internet less open, tolerant and rational?
EPISODE 7 CLIMATE DENIAL
Sonoo Singh speaks with John Grant, Author The Greener Market, Richard Black, Director Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit and Harriet Kingaby, Co-Founder of CAN
What steps can brands take to make sure they’re not funding climate misinformation? A January 2020 study found that more than 100 brands had adverts running on YouTube videos that were actively promoting climate misinformation. The brands were unaware that their ads were being played before and during the videos. But online climate misinformation is still monetised and algorithms alone don’t seem to protect brands from content that lies about the impact of climate change.
EPISODE 5 ADVERTISING & HUMAN RIGHTS
Sonoo Singh speaks with Pia Oberoi, Advisor on Migration & Human Rights at The United Nations and Jake Dubbins, Co-Founder of CA.N
Digital platforms help us keep in touch with loved ones, engage in activism and enjoy an endless supply of TikTok videos or fuel our shopping habits. But what is the social cost? We’re all waking up to how corporate surveillance that is used for targeted advertising threatens democracy and human rights by enabling media manipulation and potential misuse of personal data.
EPISODE 8 A YEAR OF MISINFORMATION
Sonoo Singh speaks with Cindy Galllop, Founder / CEO at If We Ran The World, Dino Myers-Lamptey, Founder at The Barber Shop and Debarshi Pandit, SVP International Business & Head of Multicultural Business, Sky Media.
Has social media platform become a megaphone of anarchy in some shape or form? Do businesses, brands and their agencies need to agree on new rules of interaction? Will new structures help build public resilience against misinformation? Can the distribution of information change without a true change in the culture and diversity of company leadership?
EPISODE 6 ADVERTISING SUSTAINABILITY
Sonoo Singh speaks with Matt Bourn, Director of Communications at The Advertising Association, Ben Essen, Chief Strategy Officer at Iris and Harriet Kingaby, Co-Founder of The Conscious Advertising Network.
Brands and their agencies must take responsibility for the impact of their own creative strategies (and production behaviours) on the environment. They have a real obligation to engage with their customers to inspire more thoughtful, sustainable behaviour. We ask some key industry figures how effectively they feel brands are using their marketing influence to accelerate best practice across the sector and what more can be done to shape a more sustainable future for advertising?