Conference Agenda

FIRST TIME ATTENDEE RECEPTION

Welcome to your first ANA Advertising Financial Management Conference! Join us for an informal afternoon of conversation, networking, and fun at the First-Time Attendee Meetup. It's a great way to meet new colleagues and AFM Conference veterans who are available to answer questions to help get you off to a great start for your first conference. This reception is open to all first-time conference attendees. We look forward to meeting you!

WELCOME REMARKS

Peter Kenigsberg

Sr. Director, Brand & Media ANA

ANA PROGRAMMATIC MEDIA SUPPLY CHAIN TRANSPARENCY STUDY

In December 2023, the ANA released the complete Programmatic Media Supply Chain Transparency Study, which delves deep into the dynamic world of open web programmatic advertising, with a keen focus on a pivotal issue: transparency. The key conclusion – about one-quarter of programmatic spend is wasted, which represents a huge opportunity for procurement. The report covers issues including: the optimal number of websites for a campaign, Made for Advertising websites, the benefit of inclusion lists, direct supply chain contracts, SSP optimization, having too much focus on cost (rather than value), log-level data, sustainability, and more. This session will discuss the recommended action steps to help optimize investment in programmatic media, resulting in a greater percentage of every ad dollar reaching the consumer.

Bill Duggan

Group Executive Vice President ANA

COST OF THE PITCH (PT.II): THE RISE OF VALUE & IMPORTANCE OF RELATIONSHIPS

This session will explore the elements perceived to be most important in building successful long-term relationships between agencies and their marketing clients. The discussion will address the significance of demonstrating trustworthiness and other critical factors to establishing transparent relationships. We will also discover the challenge of defining the value of these partnerships and how the focus on cost evolves over time. Finally, we will touch on the role of mutual respect and usefulness that a culture of mutual trust can play in delivering long-term success.

John Bishop

Vice President Business Intelligence Advertiser Perceptions

TRANSFORMING MARKETING THROUGH PARTNERSHIP: THE CHARLES GROUP & CHICO’s/ AVEDA EXECUTIVE

The Charles Group exemplifies excellence in weaving collaboration into both their operational ethos and client engagement strategies, building a 5-year relationship with Aveda and ongoing relationship at Chico's. This session brings together key figures from Chico’s/ AVEDA and The Charles Group to delve into the intricacies of their partnership, spotlighting the strategic moves that paved the way for their AOR selection.

Moderator: Christine Moore

Managing Partner RAUS Global

MADISON AVENUE NEEDS A NEW BUSINESS MODEL

The predictability and reliability of client fees has been declining for decades – it is much harder for Madison Avenue to achieve targeted growth. AI will replace many man-hours with software-generated work, replacing a significant portion of junior staffs and cannibalizing agency income. Agencies will remain short of senior, strategic talent. An entirely new business model is urgently needed. Vigorous management change programs must be put in place and executed before AI advances too far. The author of “Madison Avenue Makeover” and "Madison Avenue Manslaughter" always has something interesting to say! 

Michael Farmer

Chairman & CEO Farmer & Company

CLOSING REMARKS

Peter Kenigsberg

Sr. Director, Brand & Media ANA

A DOGGONE GOOD TIME WITH TPC

Kick off AFM with Phil the Dog, TPC and your fellow AFM attendees! Cocktails and treats will be served, Bone- Appetit!

BREAKFAST ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS

On the first full day of the Advertising Financial Management Conference, we are offering five themed and facilitated breakfast discussions on topics including:

1. Agency Compensation Models - Nicole Rizzo, SVP Business Insight & Intelligence, 4A’s
2. Programmatic Supply Chain Transparency - Bill Duggan, Group Executive Vice President, ANA
3. Agency Evaluations - Steven Wales, Chief Revenue Officer, Decideware, Inc.
4. In-Housing Creative Services/Decoupling Production - Kristi VandenBosch, President, U.S., OLIVER
5. Madison Avenue Needs a New Business Model - Michael Farmer, Chairman & CEO, Farmer & Company

Conference attendees will have the option to join a themed table and have breakfast with peers knowledgeable about and interested in a similar topic starting at 7:30a.m. It will be an informal discussion that allows attendees to network with each other to start the day. To join a table, simply look towards the front of the breakfast room for the tabletop sign with the breakfast theme you would like to attend. You do not need to register or reserve a seat at your desired table in advance of breakfast

WELCOME REMARKS BY DECIDEWARE

Steven Wales

Chief Revenue Officer Decideware, Inc.

OPENING REMARKS

Bob Liodice

Chief Executive Officer ANA

OPENING REMARKS AND HOUSEKEEPING

Kerry Kielb

Director, Agency Strategy and Operations AT&T

CMO KEYNOTE

Kim Wijkstrom of Vanda Pharmaceuticals will provide his perspective on the intersection between science (data, insights, analytics), culture (creativity, innovation, and strategy), and financial realities.

Joakim “Kim” Wijkstrom

SVP, Chief Marketing Officer Vanda Pharmaceuticals

GETTING PAID WHAT YOU’RE WORTH

After a long run at BBDO, Stacie Boney joined independent Milwaukee-based Hanson Dodge in 2016. Her career has provided vast experience with agency compensation which has shaped her perspective on helping agencies get paid what they are worth. Pay attention – agencies and procurement professionals alike.

Stacie Boney

President Hanson Dodge

AI AND CREATIVITY

"AI” is likely the hottest word (and issue) in the industry, especially for the creative side of the business. According to Andrew Robertson, AI provides an amazing opportunity to close the gap between ideas and bringing them to life, and the ability to scale personalization in a way we haven’t been previously able to do. In this session Andrew will provide his perspective on the current and future state of AI for the ad industry. Given the procurement/financial audience for this conference, Andrew will also address the opportunity AI provides for lower costs and better efficiencies.

Andrew Robertson

President & CEO, Worldwide BBDO Worldwide

THE TRANSPARENT PATH FORWARD IN ADVERTISING

In an era where transparency is pivotal to consumer trust and industry sustainability, Jason Kint, CEO of Digital Content Next, stands at the forefront of advocating for open and honest advertising practices. This session will highlight the critical importance of transparency in advertising. Attendees will gain unparalleled insights into the evolving landscape of advertising, including the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, as he explores the pathways toward a more transparent, ethical, and effective future for the industry.

Jason Kint

CEO Digital Content Next

EMERGING TRENDS, RAPID SHIFTS, SEISMIC DISRUPTIONS IN MEDIA

Joanna O’Connell is a well-known industry leader who now heads the marketplace intelligence function for OMG. Her team delivers the actionable insights, predictive analyses and prescriptive recommendations that enable agency teams and clients to anticipate, manage and leverage the emerging trends, rapid shifts and seismic disruptions in the media landscape to drive business growth.

Joanna O’Connell

Chief Intelligence Officer Omnicom Media Group

MARKETING PROCUREMENT AS AN ATTRACTIVE CAREER PATH

Join marketing procurement leaders as they discuss how marketing procurement can serve as both a talent magnet and an attractive career path that can open various professional doors. From importing top industry minds to influencing the C-suite and boardroom, they will explore the trajectory of marketing procurement careers, review some of the challenges, and offer valuable advice on maximizing opportunities.

Moderator: Alice Tomlinson

Manager, Global Marketing Sourcing WFA

THE RISE OF PRINCIPAL MEDIA BUYING AND OTHER NON-TRANSPARENT SERVICES

The agency media buying model is changing. It is important for advertisers to know when their agency is purchasing media for them as an agent versus selling them inventory on a non-transparent basis or that has been acquired as a principal. Principal media buying and other non-transparent services are increasingly rapidly – and advertisers need to be aware and take safeguards, which will be discussed in this session by two top media auditors and a leading advertising lawyer.

Moderator: Jack Myers

Founder and Media Ecologist Media Village

THE CASE FOR BRINGING PRODUCTION INSIDE

In 2023, Bayer Consumer Health expanded the remit of its 4-year-old in-house agency (known internally as “ContentHaus”) to include decoupled production – effectively centralizing all third-party production management, from asset planning to pre-pro to post. This session will explain the business case for bringing production in-house, the process of building world-class production capability within the business, how Bayer and OLIVER work with Bayer’s roster of external AORs, and the scale, quality, and savings achieved.

Jennifer Reeder

Director In-House Content Production North America Bayer

FOSTERING A STRONG SCOPE OF WORK PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN FORD AND WPP

In this panel discussion, industry leaders will explore how to make your agency a true Scope of Work partner by examining a model for self-service and data analytics sharing between Ford and WPP. This session will delve into the strategies that have propelled their relationship to new heights of collaboration and transparency, leading to industry-leading effectiveness and market impact.

Richard Benyon

Co-Founder & Chief Evangelist Decideware

CLOSING REMARKS

Kerry Kielb

Director, Agency Strategy and Operations AT&T

BREAKFAST ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS

On the second full day of the Advertising Financial Management Conference, we are offering four themed and facilitated breakfast discussions on topics including:

1. Agency Compensation Models - Nicole Rizzo, SVP Business Insight & Intelligence, 4A’s
2. Procurement Talent Acquisition and Development - Sherry Ulsh, Director of Indirect Procurement, The Hershey Company
3. Principal Media Buying - Keri Bruce, Partner, ReedSmith
4. Influencer Talent Sourcing and Governance - Aura Wanat, AVP Marketing Services, Influencer and PR Agencies, L’Oreal and Erin Wilhoite, Chief Client Officer, APR
5. AI in Marketing Procurement and Agency Management – Steven Wales, Chief Revenue Officer, Decideware, Inc.

Conference attendees will have the option to join a themed table and have breakfast with peers knowledgeable about and interested in a similar topic starting at 7:30a.m. It will be an informal discussion that allows attendees to network with each other to start the day. To join a table, simply look towards the front of the breakfast room for the tabletop sign with the breakfast theme you would like to attend. You do not need to register or reserve a seat at your desired table in advance of breakfast.

WELCOME REMARKS AND HOUSEKEEPING

Kerry Kielb

Director, Agency Strategy and Operations AT&T

REIMAGINING THE CLIENT/AGENCY PARTNERSHIP TO OPTIMIZE PROGRAMMATIC

Over the past decade, media has moved to the center of the marketing ecosystem, propelled by the growth of programmatic, given its proximity to data, measurement, content, and commerce. Now more than ever, savvy brands recognize media's strategic role in modernizing the marketing model and unlocking greater business impact. Boehringer Ingelheim and OMD have re-imagined their partnership to fully optimize the power of programmatic media as a growth multiplier. Their global media AOR model has been reinvented and the team has implemented recommendations from the recent ANA Programmatic Media Supply Chain Study to drive business results.

Katherine Freeley

Head of Media Center of Excellence Boehringer Ingelheim

THE WALL STREET PERSPECTIVE

Tim Nollen is a sell-side equity research analyst covering media tech, a broad and evolving landscape including ad tech and streaming services in addition to traditional advertising and media. Here, Tim will provide his insights on the industry and outlook for the future.

Tim Nollen

Director and Senior Analyst – Media, Entertainment, Advertising and AdTech Macquarie Bank

CONVENTION BUSTERS: DISRUPTING PROCUREMENT MYTHS

This session will challenge prevailing conventions within procurement, identify the barriers holding the industry back, and find ways to work together to create meaningful change. With 55% of marketing procurement departments having been in existence for less than 15 years, 2024 represents a unique opportunity to achieve a deeper understanding of each of our capabilities and foster a mindset of collaboration. At the heart of our mission lies a shared ambition with our clients and partners in procurement and finance, to help businesses grow. Join us as we disrupt where we are now, and how we are going to find our path to growth together.

Jen Costello

Global Chief Strategy Officer TBWA Worldwide

A DIFFERENT TYPE OF AGENCY COMPENSATION MODEL

Known was recently recognized by Ad Age on its 2024 ‘A-List’ of agencies. That profile called Known, “a rare agency grounded in data but growing with edgy creative and a fundamental difference in its compensation model – which includes no markup on costs – and puts all profits at risk if work doesn’t perform for clients.” The Known compensation model is based on complete transparency on pricing and hourly costs and a baseline fee structure that leaves the agency with zero margin, but gives 100 percent of that margin over to incentives that the clients set based on key performance indicators. One of its clients calls Known, “the most transparent agency I’ve ever worked with” and the Ad Age article notes that, “It takes questions about margins, markups, kickbacks, and arbitrage out of the equation.” Known also has been a venture partner with one of its clients, taking an equity stake in a new hotel concept.

Kasha Cacy

Chief Media Officer Known

INFLUENCERS AT SCALE

How does a brand create the infrastructure to capture and enable the benefits of a fragmented, diverse, distributed creative network while ensuring brand compliance and a level of consistency of process management and cost control at the right level, where it matters? From sourcing influencers and talent to building the framework and governance around influence and talent programs, brands like L’Oreal are undergoing shifts rooted in topics such as these, so having visibility into how we as an industry are navigating these complex changes is what this panel discussion is about. Entrepreneur Kenna Zemedkun says, “Influencers have had their run, but authenticity lives with talent and their deep relationship to their audience. The world is changing, and Gen Z knows when they are being sold.”

Moderator: Jillian Gibbs

Founder and CEO APR

UNLOCKING STORYTELLING SUCCESS WITH CREATIVE DATA

Join Judith Carr-Rodriguez, Partner and CEO of FIG, alongside Harriette Martin-Szilvasi, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Benjamin Moore, for an electrifying discussion on the transformative power of storytelling data. Dive deep into the journey of how Benjamin Moore’s narrative has been revolutionized through innovative data utilization. This session promises to unveil secrets on fine-tuning your creative strategies for peak efficiency and effectiveness, empowering you to make bold, informed decisions on crafting stories that resonate and captivate. Prepare to be inspired to elevate your storytelling game and stand out in the cluttered landscape of today's information age.

Judith Carr-Rodriguez

Partner, CEO FIG

A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO MODERNIZING A HOLDING COMPANY AGREEMENT

In 2023, Dell and WPP embarked on a journey to modernize their longstanding but outdated agreement.  This session will outline what the process was to complete this, what was achieved and what key lessons were learned along the way.

Mark Bucklar

Director Marketing Procurement Dell

GAINING PROGRAMMATIC CONTROL: HOW A NEW APPROACH TO AUDITING CAN DRIVE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND REINFORCE MEDIA AS A LEVER FOR GROWTH

Welcome to the new world of programmatically traded media where price is demand-driven, not volume-based, and optimization is algorithmic, not manual. To meet the performance management challenges of this evolving landscape, and leverage the many insights in the ANA programmatic transparency study, a new approach to audits is required. Only by shining a light on the key risks inherent in digital media buying can we introduce a modern audit framework designed to surpass traditional price-based analyses, eradicate waste more effectively and offer advertisers a deeper understanding of their digital media investments. Join ID Comms and Restaurant Brands International for a thought-provoking session that will outline strategies for effectively communicating digital media value creation to build trust and alignment across the enterprise.

Jean Paul Ciaramella

Head of Media North America – Popeyes Restaurant Brands International

ADVERTISING OPERATIONS AND PROCUREMENT, UNITED TOGETHER

Measuring value from marketing spend requires a clear understanding of how internal and external partners are involved in a scope of work and a project timeline from briefing through launch and measurement. It demands hands-on learning and time spent with the internal and external partners that bring an advertising campaign to life. At United Airlines, Julia Fedor takes partnership with procurement to the next level by integrating her colleagues into the campaign process, including production shoots and business unit showcases, to strengthen relationships, build trust, and grow their industry knowledge. At United, operations plays a critical role in procurement’s marketing education to achieve alignment on spend and ROI.

Julia Fedor

Director, Advertising and Social Media Operations United Airlines

CLOSING REMARKS

Kerry Kielb

Director, Agency Strategy and Operations AT&T

MEDIA AGENCY CONTRACT

One of the most important outputs following ANA’s work on media transparency in 2016 was the development of a new media agency contract template (developed by Reed Smith and adapted from work done by ANA’s sister trade association in the U.K., ISBA). A key finding in that transparency work was that many marketers had poor and outdated contracts with their media agencies and the new media agency contract was designed to level the playing field. The contract was updated in 2018 and since then, the media buying landscape and scope of agency services has continued to evolve. In 2023, the contract was updated again. The focus has been on simplifying and improving the template and modifying it to meet the evolving needs of U.S. and global advertisers and the overall marketplace. There are updates in key areas including audit rights, AI, inventory media and other non-transparent services, as well as reporting and access to data.

(Open to client-side marketers only)

Keri Bruce

Partner Reed Smith LLP

RELAX & CHILL (INSIDE) WITH TTC AND CAST & CREW

Wrap up the last evening at AFM in the calm Del Lago Foyer looking out to the serene (but hot) Valencia Lawn.

WELCOME REMARKS AND HOUSEKEEPING

Kerry Kielb

Director, Agency Strategy and Operations AT&T

PERSPECTIVE FROM A PROCUREMENT UNICORN

Kat Budzien has had a very untraditional path leading to her current role in marketing procurement. She has an extensive background in production, with experience on the client-side, agency-side, at production companies, and television and radio stations. At Post Consumer Brands, she was head of production at the in-house agency studio for over three years prior to moving into her current role in marketing procurement at Post Holdings. This broad perspective has given Kat incredible empathy with her marketing counterparts. She views her role to be an investment manager to help maximize spending with partners and suppliers and to stretch dollars to meet business objectives. She has a focus on quality and a passion for developing strong partnerships and helps her marketing stakeholders understand perspective from the agency. Kat Budzien is a true procurement unicorn!

Kathryn (Kat) Budzien

Director, Marketing & Sales Procurement Post Holdings

PROGRAMMATIC 3.0 – COMBATING WASTE!

The ANA 2023 Programmatic Media Supply Chain Transparency Study concluded that only 36 cents of every ad dollar that enters a DSP effectively reaches the consumer. That is a stunning amount of waste. And yet, programmatic has proven to be a popular and highly effective form of marketing. This candid conversation will discuss what the study revealed and more importantly, the solutions to ensure a transparent, safe, and trusted Programmatic 3.0.

Moderator: Katie Kempner

Host and Creator Perspectives with Katie Kempner Podcast

CLIENT FIRST: REDEFINING MEDIA PURCHASING

Dive into an engaging dialogue with Jared Belsky, former agency leader and now consultant, and Yogi Jashnani, Chief Revenue Officer of Sky Zone, as they unravel their innovative approach to media buying. This session highlights the transparent and client-empowering practice where all clients pay media costs directly to the media company. Such a strategy not only circumvents the common agency-centric media selection but crucially places data ownership and direct channel influence back into the hands of the clients. Jared and Yogi will explore the significant advantages of this model, including enhanced transparency, improved client-publisher relations, and a shift towards more client-beneficial media strategies.

Jared Belsky

CEO Acadia

PROCUREMENT’S BALANCING ACT OF STRUCTURE AND FLEXIBILITY IN MARKETING

The stakeholders that represent marketing’s structure and its flexibility often differ in terms of their needs and goals. It is the responsibility, and opportunity, of marketing procurement and sourcing to find balance between both sides: embracing marketing’s flexibility while keeping certain structural restraints. This is an essential session on the importance of proactive relationship management, and a reminder that strong communication with marketing will position procurement and sourcing as necessary partners to the entire organization.

Chinwe Obinani

Global Strategic Sourcing Lead, Marketing and Media Bloomberg

INSIGHTS FROM THE CONVERSATION BOARD

The Advertising Financial Management Conference will conclude by reviewing posts made to the Conversation Boards stationed around the conference floor. If you post a marketing procurement, sourcing, or financial management challenge and/or question to the board, our panel of experts will take this time to offer their advice.

Moderator: Peter Kenigsberg

Sr Director, Brand & Media ANA

CLOSING REMARKS

Kerry Kielb

Director, Agency Strategy and Operations AT&T