Agency Relations Committee Meeting

NETWORKING BREAKFAST (9:00 - 9:30)

INTRODUCTIONS (9:30 - 9:45)


I. WHAT I LEARNED FROM TWO YEARS ON THE ROAD AS KRAFT'S AGENCY TALENT SCOUT (9:45-10:45)
For the past 2 years, Deb Giampoli has spent the majority of her time scouting external marketing talent - ad agencies, of course, but also digital, social, and mobile agencies, strategy consultants, innovation firms, and activation agencies. She is essentially an agency search consultant with Kraft as her only "client". If you've read the press lately, you'll note that Kraft made some big changes in their roster. Deb's been very busy.

Deb will share observations that came from meeting with 85 agencies throughout the scouting process. The agency landscape has changed dramatically in some fundamental ways in the few short years since Kraft had just four big global agencies on their roster, driven by a combination of a proliferation of media choices and a shift in how consumers get information and make purchasing decisions. It's an amazing world out there and we'll talk about why and how.

Speaker:
Deb Giampoli, Director, Global Strategic Agency Relations, Kraft Foods, Inc.


II. ANA MEMBER BENCHMARKING DISCUSSION: AGENCY SEARCH (11:00-12:00)
The agency search process has been identified as a "pain point" by the 4A's (American Association of Advertising Agencies) and many of its member agencies. As a result, the ANA and 4A's have created a jointly authored and endorsed white paper with the purpose of providing best practice guidance for agencies and marketers pertaining to the agency search and selection process. We will do a deep dive into the final document, outlining key points, seeking your input and reactions and discussing implications for agency search going forward.

Facilitator:
Eve Reiter, VP, Marketing Category Management and Agency Relations, American Express Company


LUNCH (12:00 - 12:45)


III. CREATING, LEVERAGING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIPS AT YAHOO! (12:45-1:40)
In this session, presenters will discuss how Yahoo! partners with agencies and other external partners to develop custom programs for worldwide brands. Yahoo!'s agency partners bring a wealth of knowledge about their clients and their businesses which helps ensure that their work will have actionable insights for the industry, so managing these relationships is critical to success. Based on recent partnerships with Universal McCann, Mediavest and Digitas Health, Yahoo! will show how their strategy leads to the best possible content for their clients, and how the end customer ultimately benefits from strong relationships. We will discuss how to effectively work with agencies and share lessons that can help you create, leverage and maintain partnerships at your own organizations.

Speaker:
Andrew Snyder, Executive Director of Content Solutions Sales, Yahoo!
Lauren Weinberg, Vice-President, Strategic Insights and Research, Yahoo!


IV. PANEL DISCUSSION: IN-HOUSE AGENCIES (1:40 - 2:30)
In-house agencies have become an area of increasing interest for marketers who want to complement their agency roster with an internal team that can often turn more routine work more quickly and nimbly, while freeing up more expensive external agency resources to focus on strategic or complex work.   And some marketers rely on their in-house agency as their lead team providing ease of creative control and brand consistency as well as having come to realize the benefits a seasoned work force with a strong understanding of their business delivers. A recent ANA study showed that 46% of marketers have an in-house agency already.  Our committee members tell us they are interested in learning more best practices from other ANA members.  This topic is especially timely as marketers start planning for 2012.

Given this recent interest in in-house agencies, the ANA is pleased to welcome members from the In-House Agency Forum (IHAF) to this committee meeting.  IHAF is the only membership organization that's dedicated to the advancement of internal advertising and creative services teams.   IHAF plans education and networking events, as well as field research to provide internal ad agencies with information and insight that helps them increase their effectiveness and the value they provide to the businesses they support.

During this session, an IHAF board member will present a 15-20 min state of the industry including fresh bench marking data recently published and delivered at IHAF's Exec Forum.  This will be followed by a 20-30 minute panel Q&A, including a few ANA members who have developed in-house agencies and can share insights and best practices.

Facilitator:
Mark Shafer, Chairman, In-House Agency Forum

Panelists:
Ed McFadden, Group Manager, Partner Management, Target Corporation
Chris Needham, VP - Interactive, Fidelity Investments
Jamie Brocki, Staff Vice President, Marketing Communications, WellPoint