Agency Relations

NETWORKING BREAKFAST (9:00 – 9:45AM)
INTRODUCTIONS (9:45 – 10:00AM)


I. GUARDIAN AND THE NO RFP PITCH PROCESS (10:00 – 11:00AM)
The Guardian Life Insurance Company took a rather unconventional approach towards the recent appointment of their new agency of record. By breaking away from the traditional procedural model, they followed a streamlined review process that involved interviewing agencies for the business instead of issuing a formal competitive RFP. The elimination of the RFP allowed The Guardian Life Insurance Company to cut the review process window from six months to three, narrowing the time frame on an exercise that was typically both time consuming and costly for both the advertiser and the pitching agency. In this session, hear about the modern search process, why it is needed, the challenges and opportunities it presents, and the focus it places on the relationship over contract.

Speakers:
Sherry Pudloski, Chief Communications Officer - The Guardian Life Insurance Company
Lindsey Slaby, Founding Partner & Strategic Brand Marketing Advisor – SundayDinner


II. A CUSTOMER-FIRST APPROACH TO BRIEFING AND CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT (11:15AM - 12:15PM)
You either love the creative brief or hate it. American Express wanted to put some structure around the brief, to reduce the rework that was going on. Much of which resulted from an unclear brief. A better brief inspires better creative and a better relationship with agency partners. In this session, Jennifer LaFiura, VP brand strategy – American Express, will share how they created a customer-centric approach to the brief and briefing, driving a deeper understanding throughout the organization as to why they are important.

Speaker:
Jennifer LaFiura, VP Brand Strategy – American Express


LUNCH (12:15 – 1:15PM)


III. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BRIEF AND THE BRIEFING (1:15 – 2:00PM)
The ANA and a task force of ANA members have focused on developing guidelines for advertisers use in writing briefs and conducting briefings. Eleven subject matter experts who each had a thoughtful, well-informed perspective to share, met weekly with the task force to share their best practices. These SMEs included advertisers, agencies, and consultants. The learning has been condensed into guidelines, which will be distributed prior to this meeting.

Speaker:
Gregory Wright, Director, Conferences and Committees – ANA


IV. ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION: ENHANCING THE BRIEF PROCESS (2:00 – 2:30PM)
In this roundtable discussion, we'll continue the conversation about the overall brief and briefing process: what's working, what isn't, and how we can work to make it better. Come with your thoughts and feedback on the briefing process. We will also discuss major trends, topics, and current issues members are facing in Agency Relations and which topics we should cover in more depth at future committee meetings.

Facilitators:
Eve Reiter, ANA Agency Relations Committee Co-Chair (recently Vice President, Global Supply Management at American Express Company)
Gregory Wright, Director, Conferences and Committees – ANA