Dear Friend of MAAG

Welcome to the MAAG News Bulletin. This is the place to be for MAAG news, community conversation and where you can catch up on events.

Please go on to the MAAG Website to view all upcoming events and training or look out for the monthly events email where you can view more details on our MAAG events programme.

If any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Jo Chappell
Director of Communications
MAAG
[email protected]
0207 535 3550

Don't forget to book your tickets for the Festival of Happiness.

A day dedicated to mental health and wellbeing

to support the Marketing Agency Community, taking place during

"Mental Health Awareness Week".

Wednesday 15th May

*MAAG Member discounted tickets Day Passes still available click here*

*Mental Health First Aid certification training click here *

Welcome to the MAAG Community

to our 3 new Members!

Diploma Graduation - A night to remember!

An unforgettable night for 15 talented agency people who were awarded MAAG Diploma's after completing the six-month programme and presenting an integrated campaign in response to a real client brief. A night too when one of the industry’s great personalities was remembered when the top student was presented with the Mike Spicer Award, sponsored by Opia Risk.

Representatives from Cirkle, ignis, NDL, The Marketing Store, Think Jam and Wasserman completed the MAAG Diploma in Integrated Marketing with flying colours. The top student was Amy Reed of Think Jam and she picked up her trophy, travel prize and will nominate a student for next year’s Diploma course to maintain the Mike Spicer legacy.

Celebration's continued at the

'Diploma Graduation After Party'

3 Successful Group Events

Commercial Group:

'Clients want agencies to make profit'

The MAAG group of Commercial Directors met to discuss progressive pricing strategies and invited two senior Client Procurement Directors, and a Procurement Consultant to join the discussions. It produced an insightful and valuable session. So, what were the key take outs? Clients want agencies to make profit and want agencies to share issues so that they can understand them. Regular meetings with the procurement teams can help, especially if they also include better management information. Value based pricing, whilst desirable in principle, is hard for procurement to analyse – they need solid, dependable data to make decisions. The good news is that there is a consensus that nimble independent agencies will be cheaper and more efficient than large network agencies built on outdated models.

New Business Group:

'Do you always have a pitch winning strategy?'

Asking ‘What have we got to do to win this pitch?’ is one of the key aspects of successful pitching. That’s just one piece of advice that Mark Clark of JFDI gave the MAAG New Business Group when they met recently. That pitch winning strategy is not only about the quality of the work that you will be presenting, that’s a given. It’s about what happens before and after the pitch itself and how you make sure your unique advantages are played to the full. And always get objective feedback after a pitch to learn vital lessons – why did we win, why did we lose? Don’t settle for coming a close second – you learn nothing from that feedback.

Talent Group:

'Annual Performance Reviews are Redundant'

Talent Group Speaker - Bobby Nagle, Culture Amp

'Annual performance reviews are redundant' was the conclusion of our recent Talent Group meeting attendees. Instead we should be creating a culture of continuous feedback and more formal meetings every quarter. Reviews need to cover both performance- have objectives been met- and development – what skills are required to move forward - and feedback needs to be constructive rather than just positive. In an ideal world business goals should cascade down to the individual level so that employees can see how they fit into the bigger picture of the agency ambitions. There are lots of online tools available which we will be exploring.

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GreenJam

'Keeping the Client Fire Alive'

Sponsored by

thumbnail_OPI1386_Opia+Sub+Branding_final+logo_CMYK

Winning new clients takes a lot of energy and enthusiasm, but keeping clients is the basis of a successful business. It is a commonly held belief that strong partnerships produce the best work and lead to better business results. So, why is it that the average length of a client/agency relationship, even when a longer term relationship is intended, is less than three years.

April’s GreenJam ‘Keeping the Client Fire Alive’ was sponsored by Opia Risk welcomed a rich panel of Agencies and Clients which included Richard Robinson, Managing Partner, Econsulting, Ajay Joshi, Former BT, Jess MacGillivray, Senior Account Director, Sense, Emily Taylor, Consumer Marketing, Zipcar Uk and Paul Griffiths, Founder, Client Advocates.

Commenting on the evening, Emily Taylor, Consumer Marketing, ZipCar said: “GreenJam event reinforced why having a good a client agency relationship is vital for ongoing business success – especially in the marketing sphere. An agency’s biggest asset is their people, so having a solid relationship built on trust, communication and agreed expectations sets a client agency partnership in the best stead to produce the best results. Both parties understanding each other as businesses, but also as people, is essential to creating clear and honest lines of communication.”

“Ultimately, it’s about being human,” said Jess MacGillivray, Senior Account Director, Sense. “Relationships are built on emotion. If a client likes you they’ll keep you, so get to know them well by giving them plenty of face time. This will enable you to be sensitive to their wants and needs, such as knowing when to put forward new ideas and when to hold back.”“I can’t emphasise enough how important it is to invest time and effort in developing strong client relationships, both in terms of retaining and nurturing long-term business, but also for creating better campaigns. It really is a win-win for both agencies and their clients.”

April’s GreenJam Panel spoke to a packed crowd of marketing professionals from over 21 Agencies and shared their insight and experience on building strong client relationships, they themselves being a great example.

GreenJam is MAAG's monthly event for young marketing professionals who have a desire to learn and grow. The events are typically informal and fun learning for peers to share experiences in a relaxed protected environment.

To view interviews from April's GreenJam click on

MAAG's YouTube channel below