Reopen Advertising Production

A key aspect of ensuring the advertising industry returns to work is the resumption of advertising production. While production companies have been allowed to continue to their work, social distancing rules have prevented them from doing so in practice. In reopening the economy, the Scottish Government must give priority to the advertising production sector, to allow it to start up again as soon as possible and to ease its transition from lock down. Production has virtually stopped and by its nature it requires human presence so there will need to be new arrangements around social distancing. The Scottish Government should issue guidelines on how this can be done safely with considerations given to the welfare of production crews. The areas shoot guidelines must cover are: Social distancing, a health declaration by all attending the shoot, a process for excluding people who display symptoms, sanitiser provision, PPE provision, the sanitising of studios and locations before and after use and travel.

The Scottish advertising industry is crucial to Scotland’s economy, employment and the national media. In a study that the Advertising Association published on the Scottish advertising market, we showed that for the £1.7 billion spent on advertising, the contribution to national GDP was £8.8bn – representing 5.6% of Scotland’s economy. Advertising drives product and service competition, innovation and growth. When the Scottish economy begins to recover from the current economic downturn, advertising will be crucial to boosting that recovery process.