ISBA’s head of media Bobi Carley explains why she decided to join the trade body despite its “grey” reputation
Ever since I joined ISBA two years ago, I’ve been planning to write a piece on why – mainly because at the time, so many people asked me exactly what had motivated me to join a trade body.
I understood the question. At first glance, I’m probably not a trade body type of gal. My own not-so-unconscious bias was that trade bodies were full of grey-haired old men and even greyer ways of doing things. I was this young (still believe I am), energetic (definitely still am) person who was going to shake things up.
Oh, how wrong I was. Yes – thankfully – there is some aged wisdom! But there is certainly no boring shuffling of papers. Put simply, there is just a group of people who really care that this industry is a bloody good one. Which is ideal, because I joined ISBA as I love this industry, the people in it, and what we create.
Of course, like everyone else, I am missing seeing those people. This was probably reflected in my over-excitement when Cyane Bonnel from Zenith and I saw one another in Tesco last weekend, culminating in an animated conversation about the nightmare of pitch grids in the rainy car park.
Nevertheless, in what must be one of its few benefits, lockdown has also allowed more one-on-one and more diverse conversations, as video calls have enabled brands from all over the country to have a regular voice at the table and talk about accelerating change.
We have all had to learn a new normal for how we work. I don’t get to hit revenue targets and think, “job done”, or tell taxi drivers that I sell magic (cabbies used to love that I worked at Disney, although would always complain to me about the food in the parks!).
But I do get to listen and act on the needs of ISBA’s members which, as ever, heavily influence our priorities.
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We’re focused on leading our members in creating an advertising environment that delivers positive social and economic impact (for example, on helping shape online harms legislation; advocating on HFSS and gambling; and delivering the goals of Ad Net Zero); empowering media, agency, and digital supply chain relationships that deliver value for advertisers (such as with our world-first cross-media measurement programme, Origin); and delivering thought leadership, advice, and guidance.
In short, ISBA is the opposite of the image of the fusty old trade body. We’re not just publishing papers, but pushing for change. And I’ve found that I fit in, not because I’m a data or policy expert – although we are blessed with those – but because ISBA takes the wider view and is driven both by curiosity and the desire to secure what’s best for our industry.
That can take many forms. On the one hand, it’s the network-building and meeting peer-to-peer; having the conversations with fellow marketers that you can’t often have in your day-to-day work because of the silos we all end up in. ISBA acts as the convenor which brings like-minded people together.
On the other, it’s the hard yards of research (often world-leading, as in our Programmatic Supply Chain Transparency study), advocacy with policymakers and regulators, and thought leadership; working collectively to move forward on the issues which frustrate, inspire, and challenge us as advertisers.
And it is all of us that have to move forward – not just the brands. They may ultimately hold the purse strings, and it’s our privilege to represent them; but we need a healthy, competitive industry with all the benefits that brings to society.
Having worked in multiple corners of advertising, I like to think that I bring a wider perspective; and common sense says that we have to marry those approaches of different parts of industry, and work together to achieve that common goal.
On the theme of coming together, over the next few months, my focus as ISBA’s lead on diversity and inclusion is going to be the All In campaign announced at the joint ISBA, AA and IPA conference in January.
On 10 March, a census will be landing in your inboxes, which will enable us truly to take stock of the state of diversity in adland.
After the protests and upheaval of the last year, at ISBA we promised that we would stop simply saying, and start doing.
The census will give us a baseline and let us identify the concrete action we need to take to truly turn a corner on inclusion.
If I have one ask of you over the coming months, it’s to commit yourself and your marketing teams to All In. It’s in all our interests for it to succeed. It’s a moment to banish any lingering doubt that advertising is for everybody.
And it’s a campaign in which ISBA, and this unashamed trade body gal, are proud to be playing a part.
