Talent

Hot Ad Agencies

Keeping A Watchful Eye on the Advertising Agency Landscape

If you’re searching for an ad agency (or in a great relationship but want to keep a watchful eye), you’ve come to the right spot to stay up to date with today’s hottest ad agencies.

In today’s marketing world, many brands are on the lookout for a fresh approach and new ideas to give them a competitive edge. As marketers evolve to meet the rapidly changing needs and preferences of consumers, ad agencies are also evolving to keep up the pace and become better partners to their clients.  With an eye on the landscape, you’ll be poised to see the leaders innovate and watch up close how agencies are structuring to do work that moves brands forward.

In this new fragmented and multi-channel world, many are ditching the outdated labels of “advertising agency” or “digital agency” and are taking the role of a trusted advisor that solves business problems by delivering innovative approaches. New models and disruptive forces are influencing ad agencies to forge new ground and blur the lines between strategy, creativity, marketing and technology.

If you want to stay up-to-date with the best industry practices and keep an eye on who’s out there leading the pack, then be sure to grab a copy by clicking the button below.

6 Types of Ad Agencies Featured

These are agencies that for one reason or another we keep our eye on, and would suggest that you do the same! Some of these agencies do great work for our clients that we see first-hand; others just do great work, and we would love to work for you as you work with them.  When you download the pdf, you’ll find links to each agency’s website, notable clients, and recent kudos — and the ad agencies listed are sorted into 6 various categories:

  • New Breed
  • Independent, and proud of it
  • Smaller(er) with a fresh approach
  • Digital roots
  • Media
  • B2B

“New Breed” Digital Agencies

The only thing these marketing agencies have in common is that they do things differently. It may be their approach, their world view, their way of doing business or just the combination of intangibles that makes them so uniquely who they are. They are not going to be right for everyone, and they are likely to put as much energy into determining whether you are the right fit for them as you would expect them to put into trying to prove that they are the right fit for you.

Independent, and proud of it

These agencies are staunchly independent and very proud not to be beholden to the oversight of large holding agency holding companies.

Small(er) with a fresh new approach

These ’boutique shops’ have specialized core competencies and more often they will tailor their offer to a particular industry or sector.  Despite their small size, they can pack a strong punch.  You’ll likely find that all of their talent is their top talent, so you’re working with key personnel every step along the way.

If you’re curious who these great agencies are…click the button below!

Hot Ad Agencies List

Understanding SAG: What Every Brand Manager Should Know

Understanding SAG: Live Webinar

This year brings new changes to the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) contract with the Joint Policy committee of the ANA/AAAA for all the marketers and agencies who use actors for advertising. The SAG negotiations started in February and the new contract, tentatively agreed upon on April 3rd, 2016, will run until March 31, 2019.

If you plan on doing any type of broadcast advertising – including TV, Cable, Internet, New Media – using members of the Screen Actors Guild union or even non-union talent you should be prepared for and up-to-date with all the new changes in the SAG contract.

With the rising demand for online digital videos, agencies are using more talent than ever. The new contract aims to adapt to these new demands and will bring new changes to the SAG commercial rate sheets (split into TV and online/new media), retroactive payments due to performers, working conditions, the signatory/non-signatory status, off-shore production rules and other non-economic issues like using non-union actors for your production.

Because MRA is committed to helping you through this process, we will hold a live webinar on April 20th at 2pm EST to help you anticipate and prepare for all the specific problems that might arise for you.

This webinar is designed to help you make more informed decisions when storyboards and budgets are submitted for approval, and while this webinar will be most valuable for TV advertisers who also create online videos, any company is more than welcome to attend if they plan on doing any broadcast advertising in the future.

Join us on Wednesday, April 20th to learn more about:

• The Screen Actors Guild, who they are and what is their jurisdiction
• The SAG contract, and how to find out if you are a signatory
• Is it ever possible for SAG signatories to use non-union talent?
• Arbitration: What are your chances of winning
• The experimental Coverage Waiver for ‘Made For Internet and Made For New Media’ commercials

SAG Webinar Registration

Presenter: The webinar is authored and will be presented by MRA’s own Jerry Rice

Who is Jerry Rice?

Jerry Rice has been a Senior Production Manager at Procter & Gamble, an agency producer and a production company owner. Jerry has considerable expertise in advertising production and has served on numerous industry committees, most important being the ANA Production Management Committee and as the Vice Chairman of the Joint Policy Committee of the ANA/AAAA, which negotiates the SAG contract on behalf of the industry.

Jerry has been through four SAG contract negotiations so far and will provide you with special insight into this process to help you smoothly navigate through the changes.

In addition to helping clients capture significant savings, Jerry also brings a wealth of insight and perspective regarding best practices, production business models, trends and innovation.

Click here to reserve your seat!

The New SAG Contract: 5 Things You Should Know

The current contract between the Screen Actors Guild and the Joint Policy committee of the ANA/AAAA which sets terms and conditions for all union talent appearing in broadcast advertising (TV, Cable, Internet, New Media) expires on March 31, 2016.  Negotiations are now underway for the new contract, which will run until March 31, 2019.  Here are 5 considerations to help you anticipate, participate and prepare for the changes to come.

  1. Contract Terms

The current contract terms will remain in force if the two sides are unable to reach a ratified agreement by March 31st.  However, any advertising produced after March 31st will retroactively be aligned to the new contract once it is ratified.  In other words, you will have to pay the difference in pay for session fees, holding fees and Pension & Health, assuming the new cost is higher.  Because of this, you may want to consider producing any currently approved or pending advertising prior to the March 31st end date to take advantage of what will most probably be more favorable terms of payment.

If, for any reason, you are considering rescinding your signatory status with either the Screen Actors Guild, or your authorization of the Joint Policy Committee (JPC) which binds you as a signatory, please understand that any commercials produced during the current contract period of 4/1/2013-3/31/2016 will still be bound by the terms of the current contract if you decide to continue their exhibition.

  1. Signatory Status

If you are unsure of your company’s status as a signatory, you can contact Kim Stevens, Director of Industry Relations of the JPC, at kstevens@jointpolicycommittee.org or (212) 549-0324.  Her mailing address is 599 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022.  She will be able to determine if you are or are not a signatory.

Besides your company being a direct signatory, if your agency of record is a signatory (and most large agencies are) then any work they produce for you comes under the SAG contract.

  1. Off-Shore Productions

Production shot off-shore is exempt, but be aware, the contract forbids taking a commercial outside of the U.S. for the purpose of avoiding SAG payments.  Your reason must be for savings in the cost of production, or because it is a commercial to be used by multiple regions on the globe, or its essential location is a foreign country.  Contact us here at MRA for specific guidance in this matter.

  1. “Hot” Issues

The 2013 contract included some advantageous defining of what was covered and not covered by SAG in terms of contests and “man on the street” commercials, and was ratified after only 2 weeks or so of negotiation.  The anticipation for this year’s negotiation is for a more typically contentious collective bargaining process.  “Hot” issues include: new media, ad agencies using third party sources to utilize SAG talent while not signing the SAG contract themselves, and off shore production.

  1. MRA’s Promise

MRA stands at the ready to help you through this process, both in terms of planning, budgeting and getting your voice heard by the JPC if there are issues that are a priority for you.  Our newest consultant, Jerry Rice, was the vice chairman of the JPC from 2004-2015. He has been through 4 contract negotiations and brings special insight to this process.

As the negotiations progress we will update you on all the progress as well as any issues that might crop up, as your complete production partners.  It’s the MRA Way.

If you’re not yet a client of MRA, we’d like to learn about your business.  Give us a call at 513-354-3833 or email Stacey St. John at sstjohn@mraservices.com.