In response to the Scottish Government’s decision to halt any further public service advertising for the rest of this financial year, with the exception of campaigns deemed ‘essential’, the Advertising Association, which represents its members in Scotland, has issued the following statement.
Marie Owen, Chair of AA Scotland and Founder & CEO of LS Productions, said: “We recognise the pressure on the Scottish Government to make savings across departments in the face of an increased budget deficit. However, we would encourage Ministers to recognise that spend on advertising is an important tool and investment for governments and that cutting marketing budgets can lead to unintended consequences which may bring additional costs.
Government advertising plays a crucial role in revenue-generating activities like tourism and exports as well as vital public health messaging which can reduce costs and pressures on public services. This has been demonstrated in health campaigns such as the cancer detection campaign ‘Early Bird’ by Healthier Scotland and NHS Scotland, which targets people across Scotland, particularly those from more deprived communities.
Investment in advertising helps to drive growth and address societal challenges. We would strongly urge the Scottish Government to recognise the importance of advertising and marketing to achieving their policy goals and rethink short-term plans to cut departmental marketing budgets.”
The government’s decision has already been criticised by the IPA, which warned of ” long and indeed short-term damage for the population at large, as well as to the economy.”
