2021 Look Ahead
Moving Forward to 2021
As we move into a new year, we can leverage the experiences and learnings from what was likely the most challenging year in our lifetime. 2020 brought lasting, transformational shifts to our industry from the way (and where) we work to the acceleration of marketplace trends like e-commerce and automation. And technology was the core enabler of this velocity of change.
Last year was an extreme test of resiliency as agencies proved that the talented professionals who are passionate about our industry will always use creativity and ingenuity to figure out even the most complex business challenges. As one agency CEO shared with me, “When the going gets tough, marketers turn to their agencies for support.” The crisis served to strengthen the dynamic client/agency relationship reinforcing how agencies enable brands to take the right risks and act decisively. And when many agencies were facing never before imagined situations across all areas of business - from people and clients to operational and financial - the team at the 4A’s did what we do every single day: support the needs and ambitions of our members to ensure they didn’t just survive, but thrive. Like you, we had to reinvent not only the way we work and connect our community, but shift our content to address the urgent needs of members across all areas, including advocacy, business intelligence and insight, and diversity, equity and inclusion.
2021 will bring reverberations from the extraordinary shifts that occurred last year. We will share the results of a research partnership with Google and Forrester exploring the path forward for how marketers and agencies can accelerate growth and future-proof their organizations. We’ll continue to see leaders reimagine how the organization works, with offices becoming more purposeful to drive collaboration, with a new hybrid approach to work - in the office and remote - providing talent greater geographic flexibility, as well as employee fulfillment. Investments in technology will further impact agencies providing an increase in workflow automation and people augmentation of capabilities. New compensation models will be explored emphasizing more project-based work and flexibility. And the new business experience is being reimagined with an even greater emphasis on substance over style.
However, the future of creativity is only possible by ensuring all voices are represented by embracing meaningful actions to ensure a more diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce and workplace for our industry. This requires continued self-assessment and commitment to improving BIPOC representation in agencies as well as the way we work to uncover and remove bias across all areas: research, briefs, creative, targets, media buys and measurement. It’s critical to have the unwavering commitment of every individual and organization to ensure we deliver on the 4A’s Equity & Inclusion Manifesto - created by agency leaders for the agency community - to drive significant change over the next several years.
As we look ahead, we’re energized to continue our work to ensure members have what they need to compete and explore important topics including ‘The Future of Work’ with an agency lens. You have our commitment that every member of the 4A’s team will passionately champion your needs and be your essential partner in business.
Marla Kaplowitz, President & Chief Executive Officer, 4A’s