4A’s Brand Identity Guidelines

YEAR IN REVIEW 2013

4A’s Brand Identity Guidelines

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:

• 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 CriteriaGuidance - advises agencies to develop and follow new business screeningcriteria because not all business is worth having.

Client Compensation – developed negotiation tools for procurement-driven environment:

• 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 days2. Weighted range is 32-36 days3. Agencies pre-bill to manage slower payment terms

Operations Management – published important guidance for improved operations:

• 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

AGENCY MANAGEMENT SERVICES

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4A’s Brand Identity Guidelines

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:

• 4A’s Washington quickly mobilized local boards, councils and peer associationsto 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:

• 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 theHouse and Senate

Consumer Data Privacy

• Continued active support for the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) to fightefforts against interest-based online advertising

• Are preparing to launch a public policy outreach campaign in 2014

Patent Trolling

• 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

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

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4A’s Brand Identity Guidelines

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:

• Visited more 250+ member agencies• Facilitated 60+ local council board meetings• Participated in 22 CEO Forum discussions

Regional activities included:

• 4A’s New England Council sponsored two “Advertising Agency Diversity Day”events in Boston showcasing the agency business to 75 multi-cultural studentsfrom Emerson College and Boston University

• 4A’s West Coast team partnered with San Francisco law firm Coblentz PatchDuffy & Bass on the Brilliant By Noon leadership speaking event that attracted90 C-level executives

• 4A’s Chicago agencies collaborated with Choose Chicago, the Chicago tourismgroup, on its first-ever marketing campaign promoting the city and brand toenhance talent acquisition

• 4A’s Atlanta Council reprised its annual gathering in partnership with Googlefeaturing Abigail Posner

AGENCY RELATIONS & MEMBERSHIP

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4A’s Brand Identity Guidelines

Training and Education – Webinars, Seminars and Multi-day Programs

• Provided 36 hour-long webinar programs on topics such as Measuring SocialEngagement, Selling Creative Work, Metrics & Analytics and ProgressiveAgency Business Models. 3,500+ people participated

• Produced 51 full-day seminars in 23 markets. Digital Strategy, Leadership Skills,New Business Pitch Strategy and Project Management were especially popular

• 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

• Offered two very popular three-day Executive Leadership Programs for newlypromoted agency principals

AGENCY RELATIONS & MEMBERSHIP

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4A’s Brand Identity Guidelines

• Formed a Data Advisory Council, a cross-section of industry thought leaders/experts in data and analytics

• Launched the Agency 2020 initiative, a survey focused on unleashing thevalue of agencies as idea-creating intermediaries. Results to be presented atTransformation: The Idea Effect, March 16–19, 2014, and will identify howagencies can best align strategy, structure and capabilities to support clients’business growth

• Created Rising Stars group, representing 20+ member agencies to identifybest practices for recruiting and training millennials and to plan other projects.The group formed an inspirational panel at Transformation 2013

STRATEGIC INITIATIVES

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4A’s Brand Identity Guidelines

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

• 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

• 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

• 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 &”

• Event held in Nashville and highlighted future of strategy and its role in relationto research, creativity, data, innovation, business goals and content

• Featured speakers included founder and CEO of Big Machine Records, ScottBorchetta, who shared how a music label can be a content creator

CONFERENCES & EVENTS

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4A’s Brand Identity Guidelines

4A’s Research Services provides marketing insights and thought leadership to aid members in new business efforts and client growth strategies.

Customized Research Analysis

• 85% of member agencies relied on Research Services as an extension ofinternal 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

• Introduced new website section on nine vertical industries including industryprofiles, current research, rankings, statistics, consumer behavior and forecasts:

◊ Banking & Financial◊ Travel◊ Food and CPG◊ Automotive◊ Healthcare◊ Retail◊ Restaurants◊ Home & Garden◊ Tech & Electronics

Social Media Monitoring and Reporting

• Conducted 4A’s survey of agency social media monitoring and reportingbehavior

• Produced webinar with Netvibes to help agencies determine how best to useand analyze social media

RESEARCH SERVICES

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4A’s Brand Identity Guidelines

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

• 4A’s MAIP (Multicultural Advertising Intern Program) celebrated its 40th yearwith 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)

• With the National Black Programming Consortium, continued support of thein-school advertising agency, IAM Advertising, staffed entirely by students

• IAM – HS created a social awareness campaign for its first client to promote thePBS 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

• 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

• Established the 4A’s Chief Talent Officer Council to serve as collective thoughtleadership and best practice authority for developing talent

• Council to identify examine and discuss the critical issues surrounding talent

DIVERSITY, INCLUSION AND TALENT DEVELOPMENT

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4A’s Brand Identity Guidelines

4A’s Benefits, a 4A’s subsidiary, designs and manages insurance and benefits programs exclusively for members.

Health Insurance

• 4A’s, with partner National General Insurance, provided alternative healthinsurance programs covering 2,250 employees of member agencies facingsignificant rate increases with current carriers

Retirement Plan Services

• 4A’s Benefits provided agencies with free analysis of current retirement plancosts in response to the Department of Labor’s regulation requiring disclosureof fees and expenses

• Many agencies participating in this analysis moved to the 4A’s Retirement Planand gained significant savings

Workers’ Compensation Insurance

• 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

4A’S BENEFITS

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