The 4A's focused on several key initiatives in 2013 including developing guidance on new business practices, client compensation negotiations, and agency operations management. They also successfully advocated on issues like proposed advertising sales taxes and advertising deductibility. Events included Transformation, CreateTech, and the inaugural Data Summit. Research services provided customized analysis and industry trend reports. Diversity programs like MAIP and the High School for Innovation Advertising and Media continued. Benefits programs offered alternatives for health insurance and retirement plans.

1. YEAR IN REVIEW 2013

2. AGENCY MANAGEMENT SERVICES
The 4A’s Management Services team works with members and marketers to
develop guidance and benchmarks to help member agencies more effectively
manage their operations for improved profitability. While 2013 provided many
challenges for our members, we focused on a few, key initiatives:
Business Development – published guidance to improve New Business practices:
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Joint ANA-4A’s task force developed Agency Selection Briefing Guidance -
provides best practices for every phase of a review.
New Business Committee developed 4A’s Opportunity Screening Criteria
Guidance - advises agencies to develop and follow new business screening
criteria because not all business is worth having.
Client Compensation – developed negotiation tools for procurement-driven
environment:
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Client Compensation Negotiation—Best Practices Dos and Don’ts
Lessons Learned from Other Professional Services Industries
4A’s Media Services Compensation Survey
4A’s Agency Billing Practices and Client Payment Terms Survey Report
(in answer to press coverage of major clients’ extended terms)
1. Most clients pay within 30 days
2. Weighted range is 32-36 days
3. Agencies pre-bill to manage slower payment terms
Operations Management – published important guidance for improved operations:
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Agency Best Practices: Project-Based Assignments Guidance
4A’s Employee Compensation Survey captures data for 34,000 employees at
over 270 agency offices
Analysis of Agency Costs Survey with operating cost ratios
4A’s About Employee Benefits Series
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3. GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
The 4A’s Washington office successfully advanced the advertising community’s
agenda by working effectively with members and other associations and by advocating
directly at the state and federal government levels.
Advertising Sales Taxes – three states proposed tax on advertising and agency
services:
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4A’s Washington quickly mobilized local boards, councils and peer associations
to guide defensive actions
4A’s members testified at key public hearings and wrote their local legislators
Successful defeat of all three ad sales tax efforts in Minnesota, Ohio and
Louisiana
Advertising Deductibility – new proposals to reduce and/or change rules:
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4A’s has long fought to preserve advertising as a fully deductible expense
As founding member of The Advertising Coalition, the 4A’s organized
grassroots meetings with members and key lawmakers in local districts
Organized a written response by the 4A’s Board of Directors to Congress
when new corporate tax proposals emerged late in 2013 from both the
House and Senate
Consumer Data Privacy
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Continued active support for the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) to fight
efforts against interest-based online advertising
Are preparing to launch a public policy outreach campaign in 2014
Patent Trolling
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4A’s Washington formed the Stop Patent Abuse Now (SPAN) coalition
Advocated for HR 3309, The Innovation Act, which passed the U.S. House in
December 2013
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4. AGENCY RELATIONS & MEMBERSHIP
The 4A’s Agency Relations and Membership team keeps our 750+ member agencies
connected to 4A’s information and activities in the most relevant ways.
In 2013, the 4A’s ARM team:
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Visited more 250+ member agencies
Facilitated 60+ local council board meetings
Participated in 22 CEO Forum discussions
Regional activities included:
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4A’s New England Council sponsored two “Advertising Agency Diversity Day”
events in Boston showcasing the agency business to 75 multi-cultural students
from Emerson College and Boston University
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4A’s West Coast team partnered with San Francisco law firm Coblentz Patch
Duffy & Bass on the Brilliant By Noon leadership speaking event that attracted
90 C-level executives
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4A’s Chicago agencies collaborated with Choose Chicago, the Chicago tourism
group, on its first-ever marketing campaign promoting the city and brand to
enhance talent acquisition
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4A’s Atlanta Council reprised its annual gathering in partnership with Google
featuring Abigail Posner
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5. AGENCY RELATIONS & MEMBERSHIP
Training and Education – Webinars, Seminars and Multi-day Programs
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Provided 36 hour-long webinar programs on topics such as Measuring Social
Engagement, Selling Creative Work, Metrics & Analytics and Progressive
Agency Business Models. 3,500+ people participated
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Produced 51 full-day seminars in 23 markets. Digital Strategy, Leadership Skills,
New Business Pitch Strategy and Project Management were especially popular
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Presented 9 multi-week Institute of Advanced Advertising Studies (IAAS)
programs presented in Dallas, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Atlanta,
Chicago, Minneapolis, San Francisco and Los Angeles
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Offered two very popular three-day Executive Leadership Programs for newly
promoted agency principals
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6. STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
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Formed a Data Advisory Council, a cross-section of industry thought leaders/
experts in data and analytics
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Launched the Agency 2020 initiative, a survey focused on unleashing the
value of agencies as idea-creating intermediaries. Results to be presented at
Transformation: The Idea Effect, March 16–19, 2014, and will identify how
agencies can best align strategy, structure and capabilities to support clients’
business growth
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Created Rising Stars group, representing 20+ member agencies to identify
best practices for recruiting and training millennials and to plan other projects.
The group formed an inspirational panel at Transformation 2013
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7. CONFERENCES & EVENTS
The 4A’s continued to strengthen its portfolio by programming world-class events
offering thought leadership, professional development and strategic networking.
Transformation 2013: The Idea Effect
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Annual March event attracted 1,100+ attendees in New Orleans
Featured stellar line-up of speakers from advertisers and agencies including
Procter & Gamble, Campbell Soup, Mondelez International, Geico,
BBDO, Leo Burnett and 360i
Six media family heads shared insights on future of media investment agencies
CreateTech
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Third annual conference focused on technology role in the creative process
Featured highly visible speakers including Wendy Clark from Coca-Cola
and Ray Kurzweil from Google
250 attendees shared ideas and discussed industry’s trajectory for this discipline
Inaugural Data Summit
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Event was guided by the newly formed 4A’s Data Advisory Council
Attended by data specialists from advertising agencies and data analytics
companies
Featured noted speakers including Sir Martin Sorrell and Nate Silver
Annual Strategy Festival – “Strategy &”
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Event held in Nashville and highlighted future of strategy and its role in relation
to research, creativity, data, innovation, business goals and content
Featured speakers included founder and CEO of Big Machine Records, Scott
Borchetta, who shared how a music label can be a content creator
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8. RESEARCH SERVICES
4A’s Research Services provides marketing insights and thought leadership to aid
members in new business efforts and client growth strategies.
Customized Research Analysis
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85% of member agencies relied on Research Services as an extension of
internal agency staff
Completed over 10,000 research projects in 2013
Topics included agency trends, changing American demographic profile,
consumer behavior and hundreds of prospect/client categories
Industries Trends and Profiles
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Introduced new website section on nine vertical industries including industry
profiles, current research, rankings, statistics, consumer behavior and forecasts:
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Banking & Financial
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Travel
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Food and CPG
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Automotive
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Healthcare
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Retail
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Restaurants
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Home & Garden
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Tech & Electronics
Social Media Monitoring and Reporting
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Conducted 4A’s survey of agency social media monitoring and reporting
behavior
Produced webinar with Netvibes to help agencies determine how best to use
and analyze social media
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9. DIVERSITY, INCLUSION AND TALENT DEVELOPMENT
Talent, diversity and inclusion are critical business fundamentals key to agencies’
relevancy and sustainability in the global marketplace. 4A’s Diversity & Inclusion and
Talent Development initiatives included:
MAIP Turned 40
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4A’s MAIP (Multicultural Advertising Intern Program) celebrated its 40th year
with 113 interns graduating in 2013
90% of ready-to-hire MAIP graduates placed at agencies around the country
Expanded the program to include a virtual training series in addition to
traditional on-location agency placements
The High School for Innovation Advertising and Media (IAM-HS)
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With the National Black Programming Consortium, continued support of the
in-school advertising agency, IAM Advertising, staffed entirely by students
IAM – HS created a social awareness campaign for its first client to promote the
PBS documentary, 180 Days: A Year Inside an American High School
Achieved over 1.5 million impressions prior to program’s premiere
Re-investing in the 4A’s Foundation
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Provided scholarships funded in part by 4A’s members and partners
Added new program in 2013, the Collective Media Fund, for students pursuing
careers in media
Introduction of Chief Talent Officer Council
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Established the 4A’s Chief Talent Officer Council to serve as collective thought
leadership and best practice authority for developing talent
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Council to identify examine and discuss the critical issues surrounding talent
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10. 4A’S BENEFITS
4A’s Benefits, a 4A’s subsidiary, designs and manages insurance and benefits programs
exclusively for members.
Health Insurance
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4A’s, with partner National General Insurance, provided alternative health
insurance programs covering 2,250 employees of member agencies facing
significant rate increases with current carriers
Retirement Plan Services
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4A’s Benefits provided agencies with free analysis of current retirement plan
costs in response to the Department of Labor’s regulation requiring disclosure
of fees and expenses
Many agencies participating in this analysis moved to the 4A’s Retirement Plan
and gained significant savings
Workers’ Compensation Insurance
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4A’s program returns profit and premium savings to policy holders
Agencies enrolled in the 4A’s Workers’ Compensation Program in 2013
enjoyed a dividend equal to 61% of premium cost, $10,370,000 in total
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