4A’s Insights, Initiatives and Guidance to Empower Agencies
In January, 4A’s president and CEO Marla Kaplowitz noted in the 4A’s 2024 Look Ahead: “In some areas of our industry, like DEIB and federal data privacy legislation, change is moving too slowly. Here, we must accelerate advocacy efforts and be even more proactive. Then there are areas where an open-minded yet cautious approach is imperative given the rapid pace of change and far-reaching impact. (Hello, GenAI!) We strive to equip members with the right tools to make informed decisions. While change is a certainty, the type, scale and impact are often unforeseeable.”
Five months in, here’s a look at some of the initiatives–guidance, resources and thought-leadership–the 4A’s has delivered since January to empower agencies to navigate opportunities and curveballs with well-informed strategies.
Emerging Trends, AI - Bookmark and visit the 4A’s AI Hub for the latest updates.
The AI Index, an initiative sponsored by Stanford University, recently released its 2024 AI Index Report, a comprehensive guide to the state of AI across nine different dimensions including technical performance, responsible AI and impact on the economy, public opinion and beyond. The 4A’s has crafted a high-level summary of key themes and implications as a handy reference for advertising agencies.
A team of 4A’s SMEs walked CES 2024 to help sift through thousands of innovations and identify significant implications for agencies as they adopt new technologies and innovations. Even though CES was in January (the equivalent of a few eons in the AI world), it’s likely many attendees returned overwhelmed and overstimulated with information, not entirely clear where to start in terms of application. The 4A’s recap helps agencies sort out the reality from the hype, especially with respect to AI/GenAI and determine actionable next steps. Download the recap.
Ongoing, curated weekly updates on the latest and noteworthy GenAI news will be posted on the 4A’s LinkedIn page.
Healthcare Marketing
Member-Exclusive: Navigating the Health Data Privacy Landscape
The 4A's and Coalition for Healthcare Communication (CHC) released a first-of-its-kind industry guidance designed to help agencies better understand health data privacy compliance given the new wave of laws and regulations cropping up in the US. It provides an overview of the state-level laws, recent federal regulatory changes and enforcement actions, best practices for agencies and counsel around HIPAA compliance including HIPAA-compliance software vendors and certification.
Log in to get the guide (4A’s Members only)
Media, Tech, Data
Decisions 2024 conference hosted in Los Angeles, CA on Feb 7th and Kansas City, MO on March 20 brought attendees a global perspective on Building for Sustained Growth with media, tech and data topics tailored for regional relevance. Advertising, business and technology thought-leaders connected to explore the latest developments and pragmatic approaches while learning to navigate new opportunities and risks. Topics discussed included AI, data privacy, measurement, operations, emerging technologies and more.
Multi-Currency National TV Demo Base Ratings - Not Ready for Prime Time
While agencies are assessing alternative currency initiatives, the 4A’s Measurement Committee believes that the advertising industry is not yet prepared to move to multi-currency national TV demo-based ratings in 2024. This 4A’s guidance paper provides an overview of short-term and long-term concerns in a multi-currency environment that don’t yet have clear solutions, an evaluation framework for agencies and key considerations to take into account before transitioning towards multicurrency.
4A’s Election Brand Safety and Suitability Playbook
The 4A’s Advertiser Protection Bureau works to keep member agencies up to date on all things related to brand safety and suitability. With this being an election year, we put together an Election Brand Safety & Suitability Platform Playbook with information and resources from social media platforms and ad verification companies to help agencies plan for the occasion and to inform them of the endeavours to protect their advertisers.
Talent
Talent specialists, HR decision-makers, managers, and leaders joined us in March for Advancing Talent, a virtual event where we unlocked the key to exceptional work. The sessions were eye-opening with plenty of actionable takeaways on implementing AI in talent transformation, strategies to prioritise mental health, DEIB initiatives, building and leading multigenerational teams, the role of empathy and more.
On-Demand Sessions - FREE for attendees; $25 for purchase
Business Transformation
Decoding Compensation Models and Implementing the Right Model Toolkit and 2024 Compensation Methodologies Survey Report
The 4A’s and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) jointly crafted a toolkit offering insights on compensation models for the marketing industry. This executive-level guide explores alternative compensation models that focus on better outcomes for both brands and their agencies. The toolkit outlines commonly used compensation models, provides foundational knowledge, definitions, best practices, and an analysis of pros and cons for each model. It also offers a framework enabling both agencies and advertisers to determine the right model for their engagement and strategies for successful transition or implementation.
In Q1 2024, 4A’s members participated in a Compensation Methodology study which surveyed the eight most common in-use agency compensation models on project-based and AOR/Retainer-based engagements. The resulting report identifies the most prevalent compensation methodologies across various agency types and sizes within the advertising industry, and is available for purchase.
Paired with the toolkit, the report offers insights into the current compensation landscape and serves as a useful tool for industry leaders, aiding in strategic decisions and enabling agencies to optimise their compensation methodologies in-line with industry trends.
Government Relations/Legislation
On April 23rd, 2024, the Department of Labor released a new rule that increases the minimum salary threshold for white-collar workers to qualify for overtime pay. According to agency estimates, the rule will extend mandatory overtime pay to an estimated four million more salaried workers and will cost US employers more than $803 million over 10 years.
The rule takes effect in two stages:
- Starting July 1st, 2024, salaried employees earning less than $43,888 annually will be eligible for overtime. This threshold jumps to $58,656 on January 1st, 2025.
- Highly compensated employees will also see a rise in the exemption threshold. It goes up to $132,964 on July 1st, 2024, and then to $151,164 on January 1st, 2025.
The threshold increases are even higher than what was originally proposed, and they represent a significant jump from the current salary levels of $35,568 annually. Some state and municipal imposed salary thresholds are also usurped by this new federal standard.
While legal challenges to the rule are all but certain, agencies are urged to promptly initiate pay analyses, policy modifications, implementation processes, and employee communications that are necessary to comply with the updated DOL overtime pay rules.
—
While some of this guidance is accessible to everyone, 4A’s members benefit from exclusive members-only content, consultation and services offered by our team of SMEs. Our depth of industry experience and partnership with other industry organizations makes a wealth of resources available to our members empowering them to differentiate and stay competitive. Learn more.
