Thinkbox’s Chris Dunne Joins Outvertising

Chris is Head of Marketing at Thinkbox, the marketing body for TV advertising in the UK, and has joined the Outvertising board as Events Co-Director.

Chris began his career in PR and events, before moving into marketing media brands across radio, print, online, and now TV. Over the last 20 years, he’s amassed extensive events experience as host and organiser of everything from conferences, awards ceremonies and press launches to pub quizzes, concerts and festivals.

““Events are so vital in bringing the Outvertising family together and providing more opportunities to grow the community, so I’m completely thrilled to join the board and work alongside Emy to deliver and develop the superb events programme. With Outvertising Live on the horizon and the Awards coming up next year, it’s an incredibly exciting time to join and I can’t wait to get started.””

— Chris

Mark Roper Joins Outvertising

Senior Creative at Manchester based comms agency Tangerine, Mark Roper has joined the Outvertising board as Creative Co-director.

“I am extremely excited to be joining such a fantastic organisation. Based in the North, I’m really looking forward to playing a part in the growth of Outvertising, supporting even more organisations to ensure the industry is completely LGBTQ+ inclusive.”

— Mark

In response to a doubling of homophobic hate crime, Outvertising creates Advocacy & Activism workstream

In response to a doubling of LGBTQ+ hate crime between 2017 and 2021, Outvertising has launched a new Advocacy & Activism to pressure brands to actively and more effectively use their influence to combat LGBTQ+ prejudice. 

Core to the workstream’s remit is a focus on transphobia, with a new YouGov report showing that half of Britons say prejudice against transgender Britons is a major or significant problem in Britain today. 

Spearheading these efforts are Co-Directors Marty Davies (they/them) and Ant Jackson (she/her). In the shadow of big-budget Pride sponsorships, Marty and Ant aim to unite inclusive organisations, people, and brands to help turn purpose-led efforts into real, impactful action. 

As a first step they are inviting like-minded queer talent and allies to join Outvertising and help the organisation progress towards its goal of making UK advertising and marketing completely LGBTQ+ inclusive.

““Every person within the industry has a choice: to continue creating short-term solutions that look great as a case study film, or work together to create long-term strategies that solve some of the world’s real problems. If making a pride-coloured logo was effective, why is it that homophobic and trans-hate continues to rise? When a queer Female Creative Director in our own industy has received death threats what will it take for us to say enough is enough? It’s time we all started to think smarter.””

— Ant

““As queer people who understand the power of advertising and brands, we are in an enviable position to harness the power of brands to defend and progress LGBTQIA+ liberation. I believe brands advocating for LGBTQIA+ people need not be cynical, in fact it can and should play a critical role in the usualising of queer lives.””

— Marty

1. Hate crime, England and Wales, 2020 to 2021, Home Office, 2021 

2. Where does the British public stand on transgender rights in 2022?, YouGov, (2022)