Advertising is more culpable than many other industries in missing the mark when it comes to baked-in biases that actively reinforce the widely accepted (and loathed) division of London and anywhere outside the M25, aka “the regions”.

For example, a board-level marketer of a large advertiser recently shared their experience of intermediaries providing a dim view of non-London agencies, including clichés about having “outgrown” their market or needing the sort of sophistication “you can’t get with a regional agency”. What does this even mean? 

Anyone required to tolerate the “regions” label knows the loaded connotation – second division, second tier, lower priority to the main show. And, frankly, when it comes to figuring out “what the fuck is going on?” in the UK at the moment, it’s an own goal.

Saatchi & Saatchi posed this question in its State of the Nation research last year, but we are still trying to figure out what the fuck is going on for clients and the answer is getting harder to grasp, the less connected we are to the communities we are speaking to on their behalf.

There are many divisions within the ad industry at large, but the division between London and everywhere else in the UK is baffling, and it demands change that can work for all.  

That’s why we, a senior group from across politics, agency, clients and beyond, are going on a mission to do just that – to ban the barking-mad phrase and work towards long-term change to “level up” the industry nationwide.

There are three big reasons why this matters, whether you are based in London, Bath, Liverpool, or Manchester.

1. Othering 85% of the country with a dismissive and generic label is a red flag for an industry grappling with what the fuck is going on?

We are all charged with applying empathy and science to the understanding of the lives, desires, and habits of 67 million people – 58 million of whom live outside London.

The 2023 All In census, carried out by the IPA, the Advertising Association and ISBA estimated that 89% of our industry is based in London, so how can we genuinely “represent” the 67 million outside the capital if so many of us are single-location centric? Surely that affects availability bias. Along with the issues, experiences and opinions you and your peer group believe are important.

Brazen PR recently published Mind the Gap exploring how language related to the othering of “the regions” perpetuates emotional barriers isolating London’s industry from stronger national engagement. It also found language helps to underline a sense of stigma regarding the standard of what the “non-London” industry (aka the UK) might adhere to.

2. It suppresses economic growth

A better-balanced UK network of skills and influence spanning the whole country helps deliver a more sustainable economy that raises all our boats

The non-London economy is worth £1.94tn, and there is real potential to unlock a significant growth dividend in which we all share. Whether you are advertising cars, appliances or avocados now available in Iceland, a thriving consumer economy is in all of our interests.

But the UK is at the bottom of the international league table for regional inequality, according to the ONS. If we could unlock the potential of our “second cities”, we could have an economy 9% bigger and ahead of Germany, fuelled by better connections with the communities we serve.

Advertising, of course, isn’t solely responsible for regional inequality in the UK, but we need to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Of all our industry’s executive leadership roles, 82% are located in London, leading 89% of the workforce (Source: IPA. Applies to IPA member agencies). You cannot meaningfully direct the sort of required change voluntarily, where there is a continually reinforcing logic for self-interest and status quo

3. It’s just bollocks

Using the “R” word simply diminishes thousands of your peers nationwide and serves only to underline distance from the 58 million who live outside London.

It may sound like semantics but it makes a difference. Many of us can happily call out tangible consequences of how it affects decision-makers in their prioritising resource, structure, networks of influence and quality of jobs.

It also stagnates the flow of business. How the market outside London is perceived and discussed is having a very tangible impact.  At the The Future of Media Manchester event, Simon Crunden, managing director of The Freethinking Group, said he estimated that £250m in billings had been lost from the north west to London in recent years. This has an impact on the availability of careers in a major centre as well as adjacent effects on the linked economies such as hospitality. And so on.

London is no less a region than anywhere else and, currently, we are concentrating 90% of our focus on a region that accounts for 15% of the population. It is counterproductive, exclusionary and embarrassing.

Our mission (we all need to have one, huh) is to create a better balanced, progressive and balanced UK comms industry that works for all – additive to London, not just redistributive.

To start, we will no longer be accepting the “regions” label from colleagues, as change needs to come from those of us who live outside London too. If you are taking active steps to better represent the UK market, just call it what it is: the UK.

We also have a set of key pledges we want to see our industry peers get behind, connect with the entire 67 million and unleash the UK-wide potential of our communications industries.  

Long-term change can be daunting but all journeys start with simple steps. Ours could not be simpler. Ditch the “R” word now and we can do the rest together.

Curious? Want to get involved? Drop us a line at yes@therword.co.uk

Nik Wheatley is the co-founder of Manchester media agency Notorious Communciations and Lisa Tomlinson is the founder of Think Shape Do.