You order a pizza and only 44% arrives.

You'd send it back, right? Yet in advertising, we keep paying the bill.

Thursday's Advertising: Who Cares? Event proved something important: this industry still has a lot of people who care.

For the last few months, we've been working on the AdTech work stream, which culminated in Thursdays event where Alessandro De Zanche, Joseph Pamboris and I spoke on how we can work to build a better future.

And when brainstorming on how best to set the scene on Ad Tech and show the messy middle which leads to billions in wastage, we thought what better analogy then a restaurant.

The video was an absolute pain to make, going back and forth a million times with countless AI tools, but I'm happy with the final outcome.

Every few months, a new report reminds us: budgets are leaking, transparency is missing, and trust is thin. But what do we do? We nod, we share the article on LinkedIn… and then we go right back to ordering another half-baked pizza.

We’ve normalised inefficiency and called it innovation.

This broken value exchange impacts everyone:

Consumers get stalked across the internet by creepy ads they actively block.

Publishers are in a race to the bottom, cramming their pages with ads that nobody wants to see.

Advertisers watch their budgets evaporate into a system so complex, even the experts can't explain where the money went.

This isn’t about bad intent. We've built a kitchen so complicated, we've forgotten about the food.

But the best restaurants don’t obsess over the pipes that carry the gas to the oven.

They source quality ingredients. They respect their diners. They create experiences worth paying for. They obsess over the food.

That's the mindset shift we need.

Stop adding layers of tech complexity. Start asking simple questions:

Is this ad worth someone's time?

Does this publisher deserve our investment?

Can we trace where every pound goes?

Good advertising, like good food, starts with respect.

Respect for budgets. Respect for audiences. Respect for the craft.

The solutions, surprisingly, are simple:

Work directly with quality publishers. Cut out unnecessary middlemen.

Measure what matters – not just clicks, but genuine human attention.

Build creative that earns its place in people's feeds.

We don’t need to reinvent advertising. We just need to rebuild trust in the basics.

If we get those right, the recipe takes care of itself.

Better data. Better media. Better outcomes.

The day left me energised. All nine workstreams brought real solutions to real problems. Our AdTech workstream is now focused on creating practical tools and next steps. We don't have all the answers yet, but we know where to start. For anyone who'd like to join us, we'd love to have you onboard.

Massive credit to Nick Manning and Brian Jacobs for creating more than an event, but a space for honest conversation and optimism, and a movement focused on solutions. I'm excited to see what comes next.

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