Inspired By Sir Isaac Newton

By Bill Duggan

At the very start of the pandemic in March 2020, I came across a meme headlined, “When you have to work from home and end up discovering gravity.” It went on to describe how Newton was sent home from Cambridge in 1665 due to the Great Plague of London, and used the time to develop theories on calculus, optics, and gravity.

I have used this as inspiration throughout the year, and am proud of the work my team has done to help contribute to the ANA Growth Agenda, notably:

1. The Power of Supplier Diversity: A supplier diversity program is a proactive business program which encourages the use of women-owned, ethnic/minority-owned, veteran-owned, LGBTQ-owned, disability-owned, and small businesses as suppliers. This report provides an understanding of the incidence of supplier diversity programs as well as benefits, challenges, spend, goals, measurement, influence, and more.
2. Certified Diverse Suppliers Resource List: Finding diverse suppliers is a key challenge in supplier diversity. As a follow-up to “The Power of Supplier Diversity” report, ANA/AIMM curated a “Certified Diverse Suppliers Resource List” for marketing/advertising and is asking others to contribute to that.
3. A Diversity Report for the Advertising/Marketing Industry: For the third consecutive year, ANA/AIMM has measured gender and ethnic diversity within the advertising/marketing industry. It concludes that women overwhelmingly comprise the bulk of the industry's workforce and at the senior leadership level, female representation is now likely at an all-time high. However, ethnic diversity continues to be poor. There is also learning on key action steps that have helped improve diversity within marketing departments.
4. Media Transformation and the Television Upfront: Media transformation and reform was a focus of the ANA Media Advisory Board, specifically reform on the television upfront marketplace. The ANA Media Advisory Board issued two reports — one for the C-suite and the other for media practitioners.
5. The State of Connected TV Report 2020: ANA and Innovid partnered on a study to help marketers better understand the opportunities with connected TV. Seventeen major marketers participated, running a total of 60 million impressions. Key findings: connected TV significantly extends reach, provides more interactivity, and increases earned time over standard ad experiences.
6. Data Sources for Media: A Buyer’s Guide: A tremendous amount of money is spent on data for media buying decisions, specifically third-party audience data. This paper recommends criteria for advertisers to focus on when evaluating data and provides a checklist to use when considering a new data partner. This is an initiative from the Trust Consortium, launched by the ANA in partnership with Reed Smith, the ANA’s outside legal counsel.
7. The State of Influence: Challenges and Opportunities in Influencer Marketing: The ANA surveyed its members to gain a greater understanding of marketers' experiences with, usage of, and needs surrounding influencer marketing. Sixty-five percent of marketers have used influencer marketing in the past 12 months and the majority report being satisfied with their influencer marketing results. But measurement is a challenge.
8. The Business Care for Relationship Management: A relationship management program is a platform for discussing the value exchange between a client-side marketer and an agency – not just at a single point in time, but rather on an ongoing basis, with a focus on continuous improvement. ANA partnered with the 4A’s to provide guidance on how relationship management can help existing relationships maintain or rebuild a strong foundation and help get a new client/agency relationship off to the right start.
9. Growth and Opportunities in Content Marketing: This report, in partnership with The Content Council, reveals that advertisers are embracing content marketing more than ever. Commitment to content marketing has grown substantially, as has spending. Yet, there are misgivings about a lack of actionable insights derived from current tracking methods in determining the effectiveness of content marketing.
10. Best Practice Guidelines for Agency Search Consultants: Agency search consultants can provide a valuable service to marketers and agencies by running a well-structured agency review. This guide, co-developed by the 4A’s and ANA, provides the industry with best practice guidelines to align the interests of marketers and agencies around agency searches and make the process clear and beneficial for all parties.
11. In-House Agency Fact Book: The ANA In-House Agency Fact Book is comprised of 22 client-side marketer in-house agencies. The Fact Book highlights the structure, capabilities, and operations of in-house agencies at ANA corporate member companies and serves as a reference point for other in-house agencies and those looking to learn more or start their own in-house agency.
12. Payment Terms: Current Practices for Marketing Services: Given member interest resulting from coverage in the advertising/marketing trade press regarding changes in payment terms being implemented by a handful of companies to some suppliers, ANA initiated research to determine if such changes were isolated examples or reflective of a broader trend. The answer is clear: payment term changes, notably extended terms, are reflective of a broader trend.
13. ANA 2020 Marketing Word of the Year: ANA committee members selected "Pivot" as the ANA 2020 Marketing Word of the Year.

I can’t wait to see what we do in 2021.