Industry FAQs during the Coronavirus outbreak

Job Retention Scheme, Loan Scheme, VAT deferral, SSP reimbursement and anything else that needs clarification.

COVID-19 is having a huge impact on all aspects of the advertising industry, from productions being shut down and campaigns being put on hold. At the IPA, we are still here to help you get through what are undoubtedly difficult and uncertain times. Here, the IPA Directors answer some of the biggest questions that you’ve been asking us over the past few weeks.

Where can I find Government advice and help for businesses?

The Government’s range of advice and support for businesses can be found on their website. Key pieces of information include:

COVID-19: Government guidance
COVID-19: Support for businesses
British Business Bank: Government-owned business development bank
Furlough Scheme Further Updated to 31 March 2021 (6 November 2020) (IPA members only)
The Extended Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Postponed Job Support Scheme (2 November 2020) (IPA members only)

If you have further questions about how you can access the Government’s support for businesses, please contact IPA Director of Legal and Public Affairs Richard Lindsay or IPA Finance Director David Clasen.

Who can I speak to if I have employment law questions?

If you are an agency member of the IPA, you can contact the IPA’s employment lawyer, Associate Director, Juliet Bawtree, via employment@ipa.co.uk.

Where can my staff go for advice and support?

This is a difficult and stressful time for everyone, including agency leaders and agency employees. NABS is the employee support organisation for the advertising and media industry and can help provide advice and support for a wide range of issues through their Advice Line, including:

Anxiety and stress
Emotional support
Redundancy
Ill health
Financial assistance
Family and relationship issues
Legal or contractual queries
Maternity or paternity rights
Discrimination

If you’d like help with any of the above or similar, give NABS a call on 0800 707 6607 between 9am – 5.30pm or email mailto:support@nabs.org.uk for tailored advice and guidance, whatever your level or experience. They will respond to all calls and emails within 24 hours.

My job is new business. What should I be doing now?

It is undoubtedly an uncertain time for new business in our industry, but that doesn't mean that there aren't opportunities out there. IPA New Business Group Chairs Pedro Martins and Laura Vipond recently outlined their advice on making new business a success when working remotely with Campaign. For more on the IPA New Business Group please contact Joyce Kelso.

Are productions shutting down?

Productions have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, with nearly all live-action productions being cancelled or postponed. IPA Production Consultant Kim Knowlton outlined her advice to agencies on how to keep the industry going in her recent IPA blog.

I work in management. What should be on my to-do list?

IPA Finance Director David Clasen has written a blog outlining the key questions that agencies need to ask when planning their COVID-19 strategy. If you have further questions then please get in touch directly.

What IPA learning is still running during the Coronavirus outbreak?

Where possible, we have moved our courses online. We also continue to run our pre-existing online course and qualification offering. Please see the full list of IPA courses and qualifications and email learning@ipa.co.uk with any questions.

We've published Log On To Get On – a list of the free or very cheap online resources out there on the subjects of brands, effectiveness, wellness, D&I, client service, creativity/tech and innovation, commercial acumen.

Please see the full list of IPA courses and qualifications.

Will the IPA be running some of their planned events as webinars?

Yes. While we have postponed some of our upcoming events we are running most of them online.

Will you still be releasing TouchPoints 2020 in September and what will the data look like?

What are the fieldwork dates for TouchPoints 2020 and do you have information on the lockdown period too?

In March, the country entered lockdown in the middle of our TouchPoints 2020 fieldwork. As a result, we produced two datasets for 2020, representing both pre-lockdown and lockdown conditions. Please take note of the following official fieldwork dates and sample sizes for both datasets.

Pre-lockdown diary data - this covers diaries completed from 15 January 2020 through to 23 March when full lockdown commenced. 4,130 respondents completed the diary during this period. This has been fused to Q1 TGI covering pre-Covid data from January–December 2020.
Lockdown diary data relates to all diaries which were completed from March 24 (the first day of full lockdown) through to 10 May. This comprises 2,253 respondents.

I’m working from home and would like to use TouchPoints to better understand some of my client’s segments, are there any handy tools which can help me to do this?

Yes. The DayLite by TouchPoints dashboard is available to all current TouchPoints subscribers and makes accessing TouchPoints data a breeze. To use DayLite, you just need to create an account or log into the IPA website using your company email address. Once you are in DayLite you will be able to analyse the lifestyle and media behaviours at a variety of standard audiences and can even request your own client specific bespoke audiences too. Please note that bespoke audiences may take up to 3 days to appear in DayLite.

Last updated 21 April 2021