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The Alliance develops the skills and represents the interests of entrepreneurial & independent marketing agencies.

Peer to Peer Action Groups

We offer 50+ Free Member Events per year

As a member of the Alliance why not contribute, learn from and network with peers at a diverse range of thought provoking groups. Our Member Groups are led by members for members, facilitated by the Alliance, and encourage you to have your say!

All Member Groups provide the opportunity for members to have their say and share knowledge that can feed into the future direction of the Alliance and the industry as a whole. The Alliance prides itself on engaging everyone in its member agencies .

Our Member Group events are all shown below:

New Business is vital for every successful and thriving agency and the people who take responsibility for generating opportunities for growth need to be constantly on top of their game. The Alliance New Business group meet every quarter to network and learn from experts and each other. Challenging existing processes and picking up knowledge, insights, and ideas to become even more effective in winning new business and growing existing clients. This group also benefits from the expert guidance from the team at JFDI.

When we ask CEOs what are the biggest challenges they face invariably the subject of talent is high on their list. No wonder there is always lots to talk about when the Talent Group meet every quarter. How do we attract new talent to the industry, how do we retain and develop this talent, how do we manage and get peak performance from our teams? What can we do to promote diversity? Collectively we can begin to find solutions and the sharing of knowledge accelerates the process. We also look at practical aspects like developing a Code of Conduct for Recruitment Agencies.

We prefer to call this group the Diversity & Inclusion Action Group because they are committed to taking actions that make a difference. They meet regularly to help us fulfil the vision that our Member Agencies have workforces that are truly representative of all sections of society and each employee feels respected and able to give their best. The Alliance is committed to optimising diversity and inclusion in our Member Agencies. We expect all member agencies to be fully committed to the D&I journey because we know it makes great business sense.

Members of our Future Leaders Group are committed to building their careers in the agency world. They want to be part of a network of like-minded people and wish to contribute to the wider community of independent marketing agencies. It is more a factor of attitude and mindset than age, experience, and knowledge. We learn so much from their enthusiasm and fresh perspectives and they have driven our programmes around Wellbeing and Sustainability.

We have created a programme for Commercial Directors to meet, learn, share, and debate important issues in the world of agency management. They get together, often with expert input, to cover critical topics like benchmarking trends in profitability, property strategies, remuneration models, negotiation, and budgeting. They are keenly aware of the key performance indicators in independent agencies and share thought leadership in successful approaches to problem solving.

Independent agencies are proud of the output from their creative teams and understand their unique ability to solve client problems in innovative and effective ways and with an agility that sets them aside. Our Creative Group meets to ensure they remain at the cutting edge of the communications process and cover topics as diverse as recruitment, training, idea generation and award-winning campaigns.

Our latest new group will meet quarterly to remain constantly informed of the latest tools and resources to assist them in their vital work of maintaining the wellbeing of their agency people. They share, discreetly, the issues they face and mentor each other in best practise. They provide vital input our the Alliance programme of support which includes the annual Festival of Happiness.

A chance for anybody in membership with a role in strategy and planning to form a community. If you’re a planner, strategy director or similar and could benefit from peer to peer interaction within your speciality then please come along.

It is a vital topic for agencies, and indeed the planet, and it is not only the right thing to have high on the agenda but is also a commercial imperative with an increased focus from enlightened brands and procurement to establish an agency’s credentials in this area.

Our Action Group intends to: –

  • Create awareness of the need to have Sustainability on the agenda.
  • Help agencies on their journey to become more environmentally friendly
  • Help agencies with accreditation in things like B Corp
  • Curate the latest thinking and thought leadership to share with members
  • Share experiences of successes and barriers

CEO Summits

The CEO Summits are one of the key events in the calendar for the Alliance that are both targeted at agency CEOs and are by invitation only.

The CEO Summits, that take place every quarter, is restricted to 20 invited guests for each event, who get together along with an invited expert in their topic, sit around one table and hold a single conversation/discussion for 90 minutes.

Previous topics have included Scaling Your Business at Speed, Selling your business or managing the mental health and wellbeing of your team, amongst many others that are relevant to that specific moment in time.

It is an open conversation, under Chatham House rules, and provides the opportunity for CEOs to discuss openly with their peers the big issues not only across the industry for independent agencies but also for those matters that are significant in the CEOs own agency. We look forward to inviting you to our next CEO Summits.

Network Events & Thought Leadership

Our members are independently, united.

Our annual events programme provides a hub for innovation, connectivity and debate. We have teamed up with thought leaders and beyond, to offer a cutting edge, inclusive and dynamic programme

This includes:

  • Inspirational Talks
  • Panel Discussions
  • Workshops
  • Industry Update Sessions
  • Speed Networking

All of our events are open to a wide range of individuals from across the sector, at different levels of experience, and provide the opportunity to learn, debate and be inspired, while connecting with others. The Alliance Members receive priority access to all of our events.

Learning & Development

We connect independent minds with the best thinking in the business.

The Alliance Learning & Development programme has been designed through consultation with our members, trainers and industry leaders, providing relevant and timely interventions to meet the changing needs of our industry. We provide comprehensive training for the entire organisation.

The Learning & Development programme includes:

  • Half day workshops
  • Full Day Courses
  • Certifications
  • Qualifications
  • Bespoke Training
  • Online Training
  • Mental Health First Aid Champions (MHFA) – Certification
  • The Diploma in Integrated Marketing

GreenJam

GreenJam is a monthly event for young enthusiastic agency marketing professionals.

They are people typically with up to 3/4 years’ experience in the industry with a desire to learn more and grow. The event is held on the first Tuesday of every month

Raising Awareness & Championing Issues

On the issues that matter to you, your business and your people, we are always right by your side.

We work tirelessly to champion the work of the sector in order to protect and amplify the issues and challenges facing the industry.

The Debating Group

The Alliance are partners with The Debating Group who have been holding debates in the House of Commons since 1975 to discuss the contentious political issues which surround marketing. As a sponsoring organisation we host debates at the House of Commons and bring our members, marketers, politicians, journalists and the public together.

#timeTo

The Alliance are proud to have signed up to the Timeto Code and we are encouraging the Alliance members to also do so, so together we can successfully put an end to sexual harassment in the Industry.

Festival of Happiness.

Mental Health and Wellbeing is a subject that affects all industries. The Alliance have an annual event called The Festival of Happiness which is part of The Alliance’s Happiness Programme and takes place during Mental Health Awareness Week. This is a part of the Alliance’s Happiness Agenda which consists of training and events throughout the year.

Member of Ad Association Council

As a key UK trade association, the Alliance are also members of the Ad Association. The Ad Association is the Group that brings together all the marketing trade groups to promote, protect and support their collective interests to Government and the population at large.

The People Pulse

The People Pulse is a quarterly benchmarking survey that covers areas such as leadership, diversity & inclusion, security and purpose. All areas that impact the culture and performance of the agency and the happiness your staff.

With the world changing so quickly right now, we decided a shorter but more regular update would be more valuable to agency leaders than the traditional annual staff satisfaction report. It’s a simple 10 questions that will take just 3 minutes to complete and will be delivered quarterly.

Feel free to distribute the link internally, a minimum of 6 responses per agency qualifies to get results returned each quarter. Alliance members get the benchmarking report in addition to full results.

https://questions.questionandretain.co.uk/the-alliance-people-pulse

The people pulse is in partnership with Question & Retain

Question and Retain logo
Fortus logo

The Commercial Pulse

Being connected to a community to benchmark both your concerns and confidence around the commercial aspects of running an agency will help provide insights…or just a bit of relief that you’re not alone. we have teamed up with Fortus to launch a Commercial Pulse survey for Alliance members and friends. It’s a quick temperature check for agency leaders around key indicators from pressure on client fees, furlough and salaries to flexible working.

The people pulse is in partnership with Fortus

Additional Benefits

Legal Helpline

You can trust us to help on all legal and rights issues, always.

In partnership with Lee & Thompson we offer 30 minutes free full scale legal advice, including employment, contractual, IP.  Available per agency per month. Find out more here: Lee & Thompson Legal Advice

Pitch Protection

You come up with ideas, together we protect them.

Protecting your creativity is important.  We work with Lee & Thompson to provide Pitch Protection to deter clients from stealing your ideas. Find out more about the Alliance Pitch Protection

AGENCY PURCHASING POWER

We leverage collective agency buying power so member agencies can benefit from better prices delivering significant cost saving.

Monthly Newsletter

A monthly newsletter containing news, views and member profiles.

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