"Smile More", the Industry Discusses Perpetual Disruption at 4A's Decisions 2023

The past three years of the industry have changed nearly every aspect of how work gets done From remote and Zoom meetings to the evolution of programmatic and the integration of valuesbased media planninginvestment such as DEampampI inputs and sustainability the agency world and workflow is likely second in terms of disruption to the retail sector That has created huge cultural challenges which agencies are still trying to work through As Horizon Media39s founder and CEO Bill Koenigsberg pointed out in a panel quotI39m looking out at the audience and there39s only one person smiling We are at the most exciting time in our industry Yes it39s daunting but bringing enjoyment back into what we do is a really healthy drug We try to celebrate every day And we tell our people to smilequotThe opening keynote delivered by investment banker and 39cut and paste39 expert Terence Kawaja of the Lumascape Kawajas aka CEO of LUMA Partners was an illuminating tour de force around the media landscape Coming from a perspective of quotI don39t carequot as a relative outsider to the agency side Kawaja gave his assessment of the business expressing his love of creativity storytelling and marketing but hedging that with quotI want to do what you do but get paid like what I doquot Kawaja subsequently pointed out that although the industry has become far more complex quotcomplexity is your friend It39s an opportunityquot when it comes to adding value to clients After somewhat stating the obvious that agency multiples currently quotsuckquot he advocated that agencies evolve into the role of strategy and system integrators which has a much higher multiple valuation In truth agencies have been moving in that direction for many years but as a panel later in the day pointed out convincing current clients to rethink the agency role and compensation remains a barrierThe day continued with The Agency CEO Forum 2023 Forecast panel which touched upon a plethora of top of mind aspects to the industry such as AI talent retention supplier diversity diversity in the CSuite and industry education Moderated by 4A39s CEO Marla Kaplowitz the panel included industry luminaries Horizon CEO Bill Koenigsberg GroupM39s Chief Investment Officer Matt Sweeney Global CEO Mediabrands Eileen KiernanKaplowitz opened the session focusing on talent and asking about the rebalance of the last few years given the ups and downs around hiring and the redefined relationships between employees and employers According to Kiernan the industry has come out better for it She pointed out that with the past decade focusing on the minutiae of data analytics programmatic and the quotworkload and workflowquot focused on the quotbrawnquot of the job but minimized the quotbrainquot the creativity and strategic thinking quotI think the reckoning that we39ve had over the past 18 months has reinforced what we have always known that clients buy the people the brains the partners We have to make sure that we find that balance that makes the tasks and roles and the contributions of our people valuable joyful and strategicquotSweeney added that a former mentor of his gave him the following advice quotWork in a dynamic industry where there is a lot of change and opportunity to grow Work with good people that you like and trust And finally go to a place where you will be valuedquot Sweeney readily admits that there are plenty of other industries where compensation is higher but quotif you work with good people you are valued and your voice is heard it39s a pretty good gigquotKaplowitz also addressed the question of whether after focusing intensely over the past couple of years on diversity equity and inclusion has that topic waned given new financial pressures that agencies have had to address moving to the top priority Sweeney was adamant that it hadn39t quotWe have a responsible investment framework that with five pillars and DEampampI is at the center of those pillarsquot Sweeney admitted that they had made a mistake back in 2020 when GroupM established a New Majority initiative around the release of the US Census to prepare marketers to engage with a far more diverse country by not including a Minority Inclusive Investment element of that initiative which they did introduce in 2021 Koenigsberg interjected that in the past many minorityowned companies didn39t get the buys because they didn39t meet the parameters of much larger wellfunded companies but he continued quotat this particular point of time they can39t and shouldn39t be held to those standards But you still have to figure out ways that those buys are making impacts on your clients39 businessquotKoenigsberg said that while he believes that the industry has done a much better job at inclusion and diversity in hiring at the entrylevel quotIt39s a little bit sad I look around this room and see that we still need to do a better job at moving them along in their careers to higher levels of the pyramidquotAdditional key quotes during 4A39s Decisions 2023quotWeb3 is a scam It39s all bullshitquot Terence Kawaja Luma PartnersquotI think it39s hubris when people say that they are going to be the next Nielsen Who wants another Nielsen You have that You don39t need another one You39ll have different types of KPIs for different campaigns and you39ll transact on that if you want It puts agencies in a greater valueadd role for brands that don39t have time or capability to do it themselvesquot Kevin Krim CEO EDO Inc an outcomes based company that recently announced a large deal with The Walt Disney CompanyquotElevating strategic thinking needs to be the end goal and how AI is used as a tool to elevate that is where we want to go Technology is a great tool for marketing maybe too great of a tool We will wonder what the boundaries of ethical persuasion are Sooner or later we will have to have a reckoning as an industryquot Scott Hagedorn Chief Solutions Architect Publicis GroupequotThe painful thing that we39re all going to have to accept because there39s a generation of us that have grown up on it is that addressable advertising will eventually go away I know that39s uncomfortable and no one wants to talk about it Every addressable based solution can go away either by regulation by unilateral decision or by some sort of technical innovation that eradicates itquot Joshua Lowcock Global Chief Media Officer UM WorldwideClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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"Smile More", the Industry Discusses Perpetual Disruption at 4A's Decisions 2023

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