4A's Chair Discusses Industry Initiatives
Progress against three pillars: talent, corporate social responsibility & the value ad agencies add to brands
Chris Weil, Chairman & CEO, Momentum Worldwide and 4A's Board of Directors Chair
Visit http://www.4astransformation.com/ for more information.
HAPPY ST Patrick's day!! And Welcome to beautiful LALaeve the mid west and the east coast winter to come out here –We have a great lineup for the next 2 and half days couple minutes with some opening remarks and then get right to our packed agendaStuart Elliott –Its changed quite a bit over those 20+years… so has this industry and so has the 4A’simportant time in our industries history – this event was named transformation 5 years agoThe real transformation will be us becominga growth industry
That is our discussion the next couple days – what our future as an industry could look likeSee some old friends, network a bit, have a few drinks on Nancy. Hear some GREAT MUSICWE ARE here for us to collectively discuss and imagine the future of our bizWe have the right people in the room to make this happenThe talent assembled here today includes our highest C-suite attendance in recent historyThe leaders and brightest thinkers John Hayes Dana Anderson Marisa Myers, Bea Perez to name a few, we have the leaders of all of our member agency from all around the country wehave all parts of the media eco systemrepresented So I am excited to get the discussion going so that we can help steer our industry forward towards a brighter future
Agency Brands r Important but no one agency can steer the success of the industryThat is the job of the 4A’s and the other industry associationsWe set an agenda last year let me quickly review these focus areasWhat we do works etc.Talent is how we do it – talent warBrands that careLets review the work we are doing against each…
Truth About AdvertisingIt showed us what consumers thought of our business, versus what we think of ourselveswe commissioned the most extensive research in the 4A’s history Agency 20/20, piggybacking off the ANA’s Marketing 20/20, You’ll all get this information today, which will be essential to proving the value of our ideas and our contributions…It also will help set the future agenda of the 4A’s so that we can help lead our industry – a couple teasers50% of agencies think we’ve transformed the nature of our business to show the ROI value of our ideasOnly 19% of brands think their agencies have transformedThis research will set the agenda for the future of the 4A’s
I’m not talking about how the best agencies win with the best talentIf our industry doesn’t have the best talent, it can’t winWhat clients need today and tomorrow is a different skill setThat skill set is gravitating to the tech sector NOT TO USClients needs US to be the solution providers which means we need new talentWe need the technologists, analysis data wonks and creative thinkersThe Truth About Advertising winners by Leo will be out talking to all the creative types on campuses4A’sRising Stars initiative –harness the power of the many 20 something's in this biz we will have to pull from a much broader talent pool – otherwise clients will go elsewhere to get what they need
People believe we can so lets do it…The consumer is already thereWe need to deliver the thought leadership to the c suiteChange consumer behaviorANA partnership to ensure marketers are leadingRising Stars will be announcing something very exciting for our industry later today
We are making progress at the 4A’s,We still have a long way to go but the work is happening Thank Nancy, Laura mike and the team for their hard work… And welcome Alison to the teamWe’rereexamining our value propOur structure and We’re evolving to better deliver that value to all our membersWe are transforming the 4a’s to be bolder, better, faster and stronger.I think the programming of this conference is a great indication of how we are changinglet’s hear a round of applause for Nancy and the team
IN CLOSINGI want to impress upon you how much more transformation lies ahead.Data and technology has the opportunity to make this a growth business or a declining share gameIf we don’t capitalize on this opportunity, someone else will.The old saying : “I know 50% of my advertising is wasted I just don’t know which 50%”We can’t say that anymore. With data, we can and will provide those answers. I’m bullish about this industry our discussions and sharing inside this room and outside in the days that follow, will help move us forward
THANK YOUSo thank you all for being here to ensure our futureThank Nancy and the 4A’s for making it possible, and programming an amazing two and a half daysThanks to every guest for speaking and giving us your outside perspective.Thank to the Rising Stars, tomorrow’s talent for joining us and bringing your ideas. Thank Bill for stepping up and taking over soon as the first head of a media agency to chair the 4A’s. Good luck, Bill. Now lets get on with the show