Just weeks after draconian new advertising restrictions came into force on TV and online, it’s a prime time for ad industry stalwarts Matt Bourn and James Best to publish their new book Trusted Advertising (Kogan Page, £29.99).
Advertising is, they say, still seen as the visible face of all things unacceptable, be it booze, junk food or betting, so “shooting the messenger” is an appealing policy to Labour politicians, most of which, we learn, favour still more restrictions.
And food ads – particularly for HFSS products – are the second least trusted after gambling in the minds of the public. Crucially, the book serves up plenty of practical advice and case studies for brands seeking to gain the trust of a new generation.
How brands should adapt to the age of the influencer and, even more topically, how they should be using artificial intelligence, are also explored.
Can ads written by machines ever be trusted? On this point the authors themselves fall out. Bourn professes to be “full of dread” at the prospect of a tsunami of cheap, AI-produced marketing slop, while Best argues it will mean “fewer badly put together inaccurate or clumsily targeted ads”, as well as better policing.
The overriding message is that without trust the future doesn’t just look bleak for brands – rather there’ll hardly be one at all. With Labour having signalled even tougher rules in the pipeline for food brands, the stark message is this: start shifting the dial on trust now or the messenger will indeed “be shot”.
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