| Welcome to The Conscious Advertising Network (CAN) newsletter for December 2025. Here's what we're covering in this month's newsletter:
Thank you to all the individuals and organisations who have continued to support us, we wish you a happy holiday and a successful new year.
We're now out of office, recharging until January 5th. See you in 2026!
For urgent matters, contact hello@consciousadnetwork.org
#TogetherWeCAN
| | | 2025 in Review: Conscious Advertising, Global Impact, Effective Results | | | As the end of the year draws near, we at CAN are taking a moment to reflect on 2025. Join us for a look back on a year filled with purposeful, ethical, and globally impactful advertising. This year has been a full feature of milestones, collaborations, and industry-leading impact, unlocking new opportunities for growth while ensuring effective advertising truly works for everyone. | | CAN at COP30
Reflecting on the two-week whirlwind of COP30, our blog post covering on-the-ground action from CAN is now live. At the summit's close, the final Global Mutirão text directly mentioned information integrity, marking a recognition of the need to protect the integrity of climate information on a global scale.
What you will find in the post:
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The CAAD Open Letter - Over 400 organisations and individuals signed the CAAD open letter, signalling a huge demand for robust, binding measures that protect public health, democracy and the planet's future. -
First hand thoughts and reflections from our Co-Founder Jake Dubbins and Head of Advocacy, Alex Murray - On the ground at COP30, we reflect on the key moments from our team, focusing on the impact that CAN continues to have in the field of information integrity on climate change.
Read the full blog post here | | | | UK Disability History Month | | | As UK Disability History Month 2025 (20th November – 20th December 2025) comes to a close, we pause to reflect on the progress made and the work still ahead in fostering genuine inclusion. This year's theme, "Disability, Life and Death," underscores a profound impact that representation (and lack thereof) has on everyday lives.
In advertising, we have a collective responsibility to normalise and celebrate disabled experiences. Danny Josephs reflects on the continuing absence of disabled people in advertising in his article for Campaign – especially in this year's Christmas campaigns. He shares some striking insights:
This lack of representation follows a societal shift, which shows that the Disability Employment Gap is rising, and hate crimes against disabled people are, too. Now is the time for brands to lead in cultural progress, not retreat from it.
| | | New Resource
The Disability Guide Playbook | | | The newly published Disability Playbook from Channel 4, Bupa, Initiative and our supporter member Purple Goat offers a hands-on guide that you can follow to embed authentic and meaningful representation into your workplace and campaigns.
This user friendly, comprehensive guide gives you five stages for development: Define, Research, Design, Produce, Review.
From start to finish, this guide makes the business case for inclusion, reflects on different models for representing disability, identifies important legislation and practical guidance, and offers case studies of purposeful campaigns.
The Purple Goat Agency have not stopped there. Dom Hyams sat down with Primark's Adaptive Designer, Victoria Jenkins, and Head of Marketing, Kate Maunders, to discuss how their adaptive range is reshaping fashion through co-creation with people who have lived experience. The podcast shows how other fashion brands can take inspiration from these practices. | | | As UK Disability History Month closes, begin embedding authentic representation and change into your organisation by accessing the resources below:
- Read Danny Joseph's article here
- Access the collaborative Disability Playbook from Channel 4, Bupa, Initiative, and Purple Goat here
- Listen to the full episode of the Purple Goat Podcast here, or watch the full YouTube video here
- Embed the CAN Inclusion Guide alongside our Guiding Principles to ensure your organisational structure is inclusive from the ground up
| | | A Three Part Series: Ad-Fraud, Sustainability, and Safer Media
CAN x December 19 x IAB
| | | Ad fraud, wasted carbon, and unsafe media environments are stealthily draining budgets, funding harmful content, and adding wasteful emissions to our campaign processes. Too often these are treated as technical problems, not ethical ones.
Our 3-part series, developed in collaboration with CAN member December 19 and IAB, lifts the lid on why these are societal issues and how advertisers can take practical action using CAN's Guiding Principlesalongside the IAB Gold Standard Certification.
This series offers a comprehensive framework, practical implementation, with an industry backed business case to prove that conscious advertising delivers better performance, not just ethical benefits.
It is easy to feel like you have to choose between performance, planet and ethics – but by addressing ad-fraud, sustainability, and information integrity, you can protect your media investment, shrink your environmental footprint, and stop inadvertently funding harmful ecosystems all at the same time.
Access the relevant resources here:
| | | New Resource
The Responsible Marketer's Guide To: Community Centric Planning - Responsible Marketing Advisory | | | There is a shift in the industry; audiences are redirecting their attention, investing it in the communities that matter to them. Acknowledging this transition, the Responsible Marketing Advisory has distilled the essential steps to capture this momentum into a concise, 3-page Community Centric Planning Guide.
Inside this guide, you will find six actionable tips for community centric planning; identifying community types, finding your people, getting to know them, defining your value, co‑creating content, and measuring impact.
Why this matters for you: | | | Upcoming Event
WeAre8 Comedy Fest in Support of Mental Health UK | | | As 2025 closes, many of us feel the weight that the new year can bring. To bring some joy and connection to these anxieties, CAN member Weare8 is hosting their Comedy Fest on the 21st of January 2026, at London's Big Belly Comedy Club. This event spotlights emerging talent, and every ticket sold helps raise vital funds for Mental Health UK.
Tickets are free and on sale here - all you are asked to do is offer a donation to Mental Health UK instead. It's a celebration of fresh voices, community spirit, and the power of laughter to bring people together.
Have you got a taste for comedy and want to try it out yourself? There is still time left to enter the competition (rules for entry here), but be quick, as entrance closes on the 21st of December!
"We're delighted that Comedy Fest is set to brighten up January, using laughter to bring people together. Thanks to the support of WeAre8, every ticket sold for the final will help support our work to providepractical advice, peer support and local services across the country." said Jemima Woolgar, Head of Community and Events Fundraising at Mental Health UK | | | What We Are Reading
Lessons on Inclusion from Outvertising Live 2025 | | | Outvertising Live 2025 brought together marketers, advertisers, and media professionals to reflect on a year of LGBTQIA+ inclusivity and developments across the advertising industry.
The day opened with an inspiring keynote from Dr Darren Styles OBE, followed by an engaging conversation with the iconic Tom Allen, who shared his experience as a queer man in TV, setting an open, honest tone for the rest of the day.
Georgie Moreton, Deputy Editor of Bite at CreativeBrief, shared her 5 crucial takeaways from this year's Outvertising Live: -
Now is the time to show up: Despite social setbacks, Outvertising CEO Chris Dunne and Darren Styles OBE called on brands and audiences alike to collaborate with and champion supportive voices; advertisers will follow engaged, empowered communities. -
Choose celebration: While challenges persist, real change is happening with agencies championing the LGBTQIA+ community. And research continues to show celebrating inclusion unlocks clear business gains. -
Do the internal work but be visible: Brands are investing in authentic inclusion in the workplace, but as Marty Davies, Founder of Trans+ History Week, reminded attendees that "there is pride in visibility, [but] visibility without protection is a trap." -
Privilege is power: True allyship uses privilege to identify and challenge bias. If inclusivity isn't written into the brief, then agencies have responsibilities to make sure it is in the room. -
Push for representation: The closing panel highlighted new measures to gain better insight into the media landscape. Tom Allen emphasised how early representation in comedy gave him essential queer role models growing up.
The CAN team was proud to attend Outvertising Live 2025, and our Senior Research and Insights Manager, Eline Yara Jeanne, reflected:
"The message was clear: we need to be baking inclusion into everything we do. The work needs to be done internally to support LGBTQIA+ employees, and we need to continue showing up for this community publicly." | | | 2025 Salary and Organisational Culture Survey
 The CharityComms Salary and Organisational Culture Survey benchmarks salaries and how comms and marketing is valued within the sector, across strategy, leadership and the impact it's making.
Share your views by the 31st of January 2026 and help advocate for what charity communicators need to be more effective and feel more valued in their roles.
It takes no more than 10 minutes and with your survey submission, you'll receive exclusive access to Connected Comms, a practical framework for charities to consider, measure and monitor how their communications function is integrated within their organisation.
Access the survey here | | | | New Initiative
The First CMO x CSO Mini-MBA Launches to Tackle Brand and Sustainability Challenges | | | As climate, social, and regulatory pressures mount, brands are being forced to navigate one of the most complex landscapes in modern business. Marketing leaders face rising skepticism from consumers. Sustainability leaders face growing demands for measurable impact. Yet too often, the two functions operate in silos weakening the ability of organisations to act decisively and authentically.
The International Advertising Association, together with sustainable marketing pioneer Thomas Kolster (a member of the IAA Sustainability Council) is launching a new mini-MBA program to bridge this divide: the C-Suite Impact Leaders Accelerator (CIL).
It's the first integrated programme bringing together Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) and Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs). Over six months, the Accelerator combines learning, peer exchange, and hands-on casework to equip leaders with the tools and mindset needed to drive both brand and societal impact. It's like a future-fit mini-MBA.
The programme is designed around the UN Global Compact's CMO Blueprint for Sustainable Growth and focuses on personal, creative, and brand excellence. Participants will learn how to: | | | New Opportunity
Flying Academy Internship Applications Now Open! | | | Neverland, a Shoreditch-based advertising agency has opened its applications for 4 paid, 12-week internships for people from underrepresented backgrounds in advertising and marketing. In 2025, this internship scheme won the Marketing Week's Talent Trailblazer award for its social impact.
Key details:
What you will experience:
Opportunities like the Flying Academy are vital. Reflecting the diversity of society in workforces allows campaigns to resonate more authentically, spark genuine connections, and drive positive cultural change. Share this with your network, to ensure as many people as possible have access to this opportunity. | | | Watch out for more news on all things CAN related via LinkedIn. For any other questions or concerns, or if you would like to know more about joining, please feel free to contact us at hello@consciousadnetwork.org.
We welcome new supporters and members to join our growing collective to change the way we think about business ethics and human rights. Subscribe to our newsletter here.
Thank you for your ongoing support, The Conscious Advertising Network | | | | |
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