| Letter from AAF Chairman 2009 |
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A LETTER FROM AAF CHAIRMAN MURRAY GAYLORDHi all, First, I would like to wish you all a very happy and healthy new year. I am writing you again this month because I have now completed one and a half years of my two-year chairmanship of the American Advertising Federation, and I want to take the opportunity to update you on the progress on my goals for the organization as well as to again share some of my overall observations as to what makes the AAF—and its 40,000 members—such a vital and relevant organization in the advertising industry. I do hope you will take a few minutes to read this, and I certainly welcome your feedback. (My e-mail address is at the end of this document.) Clearly, 2008 was an extraordinary year on many levels, ranging from a historic presidential election to the worst economic collapse in most of our lives. The economy, of course, is already having profound impact on the advertising community as historically ad budgets are the first thing to be cut during a recession. And to exacerbate the situation further, there are already discussions going on in D.C. about the government taxing advertising and regulating Internet ad targeting. In spite of the above, 2008 was a very good year for the American Advertising Federation, and there are a plethora of initiatives underway—in concert with the Council of Governors—aimed at enhancing the value of your membership in the AAF organization. You may recall, when I was elected AAF chairman, I outlined three major initiatives that came out of a major research study among AAF members. These goals for the AAF are: (1) Optimizing the ADDY Awards, (2) Adding value to AAF members, and (3) Launching the "AAF Knowledge Center." Below is an update on each: 1. The ADDY Awards. The ADDY is a highly regarded award in our industry, with close to 60,000 entries from all across the country, and significant revenue to both the local clubs and districts. And yet, many of you have told me you believe it is not perceived as the best of the best.Throughout the year, the ADDY Task Force, chaired by Rick Carpenter, ADDYs Branding Committee chair, and Stacy McCullough, National ADDYs Committee chair, has been actively working on this initiative to see what—if any—changes might make sense, recognizing that any changes in the ADDYs must protect... and hopefully build... current revenues. To date, two key programs have been identified and approved by the Council of Governors and the AAF Executive Committee. First, DDB worked with the task force in developing a positioning for the ADDYs that reflects the key three-tiered value proposition of the award: Great Ideas Can Come From Anywhere. I hope you have seen the advertising—also developed by DDB—that has been running during the year in Campaign Magazine and other publications. Secondly, the task force uncovered some valuable opportunities on how to enhance the second round of judging. The Council of Governors is now working with the various regions to develop programs to increase awareness, understanding and appeal of the second and top tiers of the ADDYs. I am happy to say that the task force has signed up for another year and is continuing to look at additional ways to enhance the ADDY Awards, build the ADDY brand and increase revenue to the clubs and districts. 2. Add Value to AAF Members. One of the key insights from the 2007 research study conducted by Erdos and Morgan, was the clear finding that too many AAF members did not see or understand the value that AAF provides them personally or professionally. I found this disturbing because as a longtime member I am convinced that the AAF does provide great value to our industry. But I also understand that perception is reality, and therefore the AAF has to do a better job of (a) communicating the value of the organization, and (b) creating even more value to ensure we are seen as a good—or great—value for the money. So... what makes AAF valuable today? Below is my Top Ten list outlining why I believe the AAF is valuable to each and every member. (These are not in any particular order.) 1. The AAF is the industry's premier organization in preparing young people to enter the advertising industry. Programs include the National Student Advertising Competition, the Mosaic Career Fairs and other corporate recruiting opportunities, all of which will keep the advertising talent pool thriving.2. The AAF is a community. It is a unique organization focused on collaboration. Clients, agencies, research media and all of the local resources and suppliers that support them collaborating, bringing them "together under one umbrella." National and local organizations collaborating. Students and professionals collaborating. The AAF isn't exclusionary; it's unifying and inclusive. The organization provides a true support structure that is inclusive of everyone—the clients, the small, local agencies, the giants in the industry and the media companies, including online platforms. No issue is too daunting or too trivial to address. What that means for members is that it opens up networking and business relationships exponentially. The result offers a greater understanding of industry issues and opportunities. 3. The AAF promotes diversity in advertising by encouraging the recruitment of people of diverse cultures. No industry group has made a more conscientious effort in programs to celebrate diversity in the advertising business. The Mosaic Center on Multiculturalism, the Mosaic Awards and the Mosaic Vendor Fair are just a few examples.4. Government Affairs is not unlike insurance. You don't think about it until you need it. And the AAF does a great job of promoting and protecting advertising at all levels of government through its grassroots activities. With privacy and ad taxes on the horizon, this will become an extremely important resource for this industry in 2009.5. The AAF honors excellence in our industry, via the Advertising Hall of Fame, the Advertising Hall of Achievement, the ADDY Awards, and the Mosaic Awards. These programs are relevant to all AAF members as each program recognizes AAF members' peers and role models who have had an effect on many of our careers. 6. The AAF SmartBrief is an opt-in e-news service available free to AAF members that delivers the most essential advertising news of the day (www.smartbrief.com/aaf).7. The AAF is an important resource for local ad club members providing assistance with club recruitment and retention and awards programs and speakers. The organization has also expanded its member discounts to industry conferences including ad:tech, the Advertising Research Foundation and eMarketing Association events, in addition to subscription and service discounts for The New York Times, FedEx, Advertising Age, Mediaweek and more. 8. The AAF Job Bank is a great resource for both employees looking for a job in advertising or for employers looking for qualified prospects or even interns. (Check it out at www.aaf.org/jobs).9. The AAF National Conference provides outstanding opportunities to learn about the latest trends in advertising, marketing, media and government issues. If you have not attended the event, I urge you to do so. It is stimulating and a chance to network with other AAF members from local clubs and large corporations. 10. The AAF is a great 100-plus-year-old brand. It is highly respected from New England to Silicon Valley and everywhere in between. The AAF brand can open doors for local ad clubs to bring in large corporate members. The AAF brand can provide traction in securing top industry speakers to keynote a successful luncheon meeting. The AAF brand can galvanize the entire industry to fight a local ad tax. (On a personal note, I am thrilled to see that at last count, 105 clubs and districts have voluntarily made, or are in the process of rebranding, the club name to "AAF (location)." I do hope others will follow as I do believe it makes for a stronger organization overall.) 3. My third goal stems from the number-one request from members, which was for AAF to provide professional development programs. I am happy to say that the AAF Knowledge Center was launched in 2008. The vision is to create a Web-based curriculum aimed at educating and enlightening AAF members in all aspects of the extraordinary changes occurring in advertising, media, marketing, public relations and more. All webcasts would be archived on the AAF site and available for all members any time. The first phase of the program is the From the Source Web Seminar Series, which was launched in the fall. Be on the lookout for new webinars this year. Special thanks go to Matt Harlow for chairing this initiative and to the members of the Academic Committee, clubs, Council of Governors and corporate members who have given their time and insights to make this possible. As I hope you can see from above, there are a lot of great things happening on all levels of the AAF. Before I wind up, I want to highlight what is perhaps the biggest change of all. As you all know, Wally Snyder retired late last year after serving as president and CEO of the AAF for 16 years. He was a visionary leader who added great value to the organization, not the least of which was making the AAF the leader in embracing diversity in advertising. In June, the AAF board of directors unanimously voted James Edmund Datri to be the third president and CEO of the AAF. I am 100 percent convinced that Jim is the perfect person to lead this organization going forward. He has the Washington, D.C., experience to navigate the challenges we are facing. He has worked with the organization for over a decade and understands what the AAF is all about. And most importantly, like Wally Snyder and Howard Bell before him, he is a wonderful human being who loves the value of advertising to society and the contributions that every one of you are making across the country. I hope the above update was informative and helpful. As we all know so well, the advertising business is going through the most intense disruption since the dawn of television in the early 1950s. I continue to believe the AAF is well-positioned in this time of change. Because of our unique membership and our unique approach to our industry, affiliation with the AAF enables all of us to be better informed, better positioned and better equipped to deal with the tough issues that are going to shape the future of our industry. Together, we have the opportunity to help redefine how advertising and marketing are going to help us build brands, engage customers in new ways and sell more products and services. How fun is that! Thank you and all the best for 2009.
S. Murray Gaylord 1101 Vermont Avenue NW, Suite 500 | Washington, DC 20005 (202) 898-0089 | Fax: (202) 898-0159 | www.aaf.org |
