Despite GARM’s setback, look to Team GB cyclists to keep collaboration on track

There’s a lot that Paris 2024 will be remembered for — Celine Dion atop the Eiffel Tower, Léon Marchand sweeping the medal board, Simone Biles making history and Andy Murray’s au revoir to the court all spring to mind.

But while brilliant individuals dominated the headlines, there were plenty of astonishing displays of teamwork that shone through as well. At the velodrome, in particular, a total of 31 records were smashed, with Team GB responsible for three of them.

Why am I telling you this? It’s not only because I found myself whooping at the TV as Katy Marchant, Sophie Capewell and Emma Finucane pedalled their way on to the podium.

It’s also because watching them totally nail it was a timely reminder of what can be achieved when people pull together towards a common goal.

This was top of mind for me last week when news broke that the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, or GARM, was closing with immediate effect following a legal challenge from X. Coverage of the story has raised questions about whether this could mark the end of cross-industry collaboration and collective efforts to set standards — a fallout that would undermine the ad industry’s ability to effectively self-regulate.

I understand where the current narrative around a divided, jittery and fractured industry has come from, but it’s not the view from where I sit and I don’t believe that GARM’s closure — while disappointing — will derail everything the ad industry has collectively achieved to date.

It’s vital that it doesn’t.

Part of something bigger

As CEO of IAB UK, I spend a fair amount of time talking about standards and collaboration.

It goes with the trade body territory and it’s what we do best — bring together different parts of the ecosystem to be part of something bigger and tackle shared challenges. Our role is not to tell advertisers where to spend their money, but to create impartial, cross-industry initiatives that result in a more responsible ecosystem so that advertisers have confidence in where they’re investing. Essentially, to make things work that bit better for everyone.

From the IAB Gold Standard to channel-specific initiatives like Isba’s Influencer Code of Conduct, frameworks help to make the advertising ecosystem more accountable, transparent and safer for brands. While we haven’t solved every issue, we have achieved a lot by working together towards specific goals. Just look at how industry bodies, including IAB UK, are engaged directly with the government via the Online Advertising Taskforce to bolster existing standards and the support for them.

We’ve come a long way since the early days of digital advertising, when it was routinely and persistently referred to as the Wild West. But — from brand safety to environmental sustainability to ad fraud — there is still much more we can do. Doing it well lies in this industry’s ability to pull together around the issues that no one company can solve alone.

The road ahead

GARM’s closure has raised many questions and left some advertisers feeling like they’re on their own. In my view, that makes this the moment to double down on cross-industry collaboration; to engage with the work that trade bodies are doing across the ecosystem; and to actively use your company’s voice as part of collective efforts to make advertising better.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a results-driven and competitive industry, where individual business interests are always going to be paramount — it’s why calling this “teamwork” just doesn’t ring true. But, at the same time, a rising tide does float all boats and it’s in everyone’s interests to set shared standards and establish mutually useful frameworks. Not least because if we don’t make self-regulation work, the government will step in and regulate for us.

So my ask of you is pretty simple.

If you’re not already, get acquainted with the cross-industry bodies and organisations that are out there, identify the ones most relevant to your business and actively engage with the work they’re doing. We all have a part to play to make this industry better, safer and stronger.

To cycle back to where I started — let’s take a leaf out of Team GB track cyclists’ book to keep our own joint initiatives on track.

This piece was first published on The Media Leader