4A’s Announces New Positioning

Dear 4A’s Member,

It’s been almost a year since I joined the 4A’s as President & CEO. Over these past 10 months, I’ve had the chance to hear from many of our members about how you see the 4A’s, the role we serve in your business, and the opportunities we have as an organization. After many candid conversations and our own careful reflection, I’m pleased to share news that the 4A’s is adopting a new vision that centers more directly on the things that make our industry so unique and vital to the world we live in.

Our new purpose is to help empower our members to deliver insightful creativity that drives commerce and influences culture, all while moving the industry forward.

The 4A’s has long maintained a focus on leadership, guidance, advocacy and community, and while these will still be areas the 4A’s will address, we recognize that creativity is at the heart of what we do as an industry. We want to ensure the 4A’s is serving this unique aspect of the business, specifically as it’s your creativity that connects people, products, and services, inspiring the buying decisions that ignite commerce, and weaving itself into the fabric of our lives and culture.

We all know this is a critical time, and things are changing rapidly. You’ve communicated what you need from the 4A’s, and we’ve updated our Code of Conduct to reflect these dynamic changes, as well as put forth a promise to become a more valuable resource and partner for you and the industry.

To that end, we have a number of initiatives designed to promote, advance and defend the craft of marketing and advertising, and to demonstrate that we are truly vested in your business growth and success. We’ve identified three pillars that will drive our initiatives moving forward: the value of agencies, talent and the ecosystem. Several key projects are already coming to fruition, like the recently announced Enlightened Workplace Certification, which underscores our commitment to advancing diversity and creating safe environments for all. This summer, we’ll be releasing primary research focused on the future of marketing and the value of agencies, and touting new ways to rebuild trust between agencies and clients. We’ll also be championing creativity in new ways, and will be revealing more on that in the weeks and months ahead.

In a few weeks, our industry will come together at the 4A’s Accelerate conference in Miami (April 8-10), and I look forward to addressing all of this in greater detail. In the meantime, I hope you’ll find these developments positive and encouraging for your business and the industry at large. I’m certainly excited to share more with you as we move forward together.

Best,

Marla Kaplowitz
President & CEO
4A’s

 

Related resources:

4A’s Member Code of Conduct
4A’s Promise