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Politics Home | How Out of Home advertising helped unlock creative careers across the UK
Images courtesy of 23red creative agency
The success of the UK’s creative industries depends on a strong and diverse talent pipeline. That’s why in November, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport ran a pilot campaign as part of the Discover! Creative Careers programme. It focused on six key regions identified in the Industrial Strategy: Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, the North East, the West of England, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire. These areas already have growing creative sectors, including major advertising hubs.
The advertising industry was proud to support the campaign as one of DCMS’s priority sectors. Working with Creative UK and partners, we helped reach the target areas and support from the Out of Home (OOH) industry was exceptional. Through Outsmart and WPP Media, the Advertising Association convened OOH partners including Alight Media, Bauer Media Outdoor UK, JCDecaux, Limited Space, Ocean Outdoor UK, Open Media UK, Outdo and SmartOutdoor. Their donated inventory enabled the campaign to reach millions of young people, parents and carers across the North of England and beyond.
The figures speak for themselves: the campaign’s combined online and OOH advertising activity generated more than 100 million impressions and achieved 18.5 million total video views. This visibility translated directly into record engagement on the Discover! Creative Careers platform.
This support helped spotlight real stories from young people thriving in creative roles. It also demonstrated what OOH advertising contributes to society. A report by PwC shows that the OOH sector reinvests more than 40% of advertising revenue into local communities, public services and employees. Many of the partners who backed the campaign are themselves major employers who contribute to this growth.
The campaign launched in response to Government research showing strong interest in creative careers among young people. Nearly one in three 11- to 18-year-olds have expressed an interest in working in the creative industries, yet almost half do not know what skills or qualifications are required. It is also concerning that 23% believe there are no creative jobs where they live. Discover! Creative Careers has helped address this gap by showing the scale and diversity of roles available.
This work supports the wider Creative Industries Sector Plan, which identified advertising as one of the priority growth sectors. We know this to be the case from our Advertising Pays report, which demonstrates how the industry supports 1.7 million jobs up and down the UK. What’s more, 60% of UK advertising and marketing jobs are based outside of London. Employment in the North West has risen from 8% in 2017 to 12% in 2024, with similar growth in Yorkshire and the Humber.
It is important for the future of our industry that young people see creative opportunities exist on their doorstep. In advertising alone, they include a range of employers, such as creative agency McCann Manchester, media agency Republic of Media based in both Manchester and Edinburgh, production company LS Productions in Edinburgh, not to mention UK broadcaster Channel 4 in Leeds.
To build on the success of the Discover! campaign, there are practical steps Government can take.
First, apprenticeship programmes in advertising and marketing play a vital role in ensuring that people can live and work in any area of the UK. Greater flexibility within the Growth and Skills Levy would help employers increase apprenticeship opportunities available. We believe that allowing unused levy funds to support new apprentices, for instance by covering the first 12 months of entry-level apprentice salaries, would reduce the financial barriers to taking on an apprentice for SMEs in particular.
Second, business rates for local media operators should be removed for out of home advertising estates, particularly those that support social infrastructure, like bus shelters and defibrillators. OOH companies invest significantly in this social infrastructure within communities, so a fairer system would help sustain this contribution to essential services, like public transport.
It’s clear that the Discover! Creative Careers pilot showed what can be achieved when industry and Government work together with a clear purpose. Continued support for the advertising industry, including Out of Home, will help more young people see a future for themselves in the creative industries and strengthen the growth we all want to see across the UK.
If you are interested in finding out more about the Advertising Association’s work, please email [email protected].
