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 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 . Below you will find a short description for each group and below that a form where you can sign up to the groups which are relevant to you.
Group Descriptions
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.
This is a closed group by invite only as we have a set 10 participants a year – 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.
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.
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
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.