| What is your background, in terms of agencies, accounts, and client-side experience? | |
|---|---|
| Jessica Dancewicz, VO Account | Agency-side, background in travel & tourism, food & bev, electronics, global brands, CPG, pro-bono work, with a focus on brand building and integrated marketing. Most recently at AMP, I've been focused on digital transformation work. |
| Alexa Wilcox, Business Development Coordinator | I started in performance media with a smaller agency and developed paid social/search ads for clients. I also contributed to performance reports. Now, I am involved in procuring new clients through outreach and calls. |
| Michael Dolan, Group Account Director | Past agencies: Burst Media, Connelly Partners Background: At Connelly Partners was predominately working on web/tech projects, first 5 years at AMP led more integrated, cross-disciplinary accounts, the last year has been back to a focus on Web/Tech clients. |
| Kate Andreeva, VP Advanced Analytics | 17 years of experience in agencies. Limited client-side experience. On the agency-side worked on multiple accounts, brands across many verticals |
| John DeGray, Creative Director | I've worked mostly in agencies or agency adjacent. Previous was at the trade association for advertising in Boston (The Ad Club), and prior to that I worked briefly in publication design. CLIENTS CPG - Virtue Labs, Veclro Brands, Aquaphor, Just For Men, Lavazza, Welch’s Fruit Snacks, Vagisil, Lavazza, Strivectin, La Prairie, Williams Hand Sanitizer, Blowfish, Skyn, Lifestyles, Hasbro, My Little Pony, Nerf, Agrino Rice, Apple & Eve, Banana Boat, OFF!, Barilla TECHNOLOGY - Amazon Connect RETAIL - Sunbrella, Boden EDUCATION - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt FINANCIAL SERVICES - PURE Insurance |
| Derek O'Rourke - Account Director | Background is in experiential, sports & entertainment sponsorship consulting and activation and BizDev. Agency-side exclusively. |
| Taylor Jordan Director, Programmatic & Data Strategy | I have worked on the agency side for 8 years focusing in TV for 1 year and programmatic for 7 working across many different clients & verticals. |
| Jen Herbert, Brand Strategy Director | My entire career has been agency side. For five years at a consumer insights agency, and now five years at AMP. |
| Julia Stern, Associate Director of Brand Strategy | Traditional full-service advertising agencies working mainly on a mix of CPG and healthcare |
| Christine Mooney, VP Business Development | I've been at AMP on the Business Development team for 6 years. Prior to joining AMP I was at another creative agency (Arnold) in the analytics department and supporting a variety of clients including Jack Daniels, Ocean Spray, Carnival Cruise, Huntington Bank, and more. |
| Tayla Egan - Media Director | I previously worked at a media-only agency (PGR media) for 6 years mostly on Fashion/Lifestyle and Luxury accounts (such as Keds, Sperry, J.Jill, Cole Haan, Frye, MCM, Harry Winston) and a few other categories (Celebrity Cruises, EmblemHealth). I've been at AMP for 4.5 years working on Stop & Shop, Spindrift, Chiquita, Maruchan, Panera CPG, Goliath Games, and a few others. |
| Laura Nelli, Senior Creative Director | I started my career working in PR for Macy's, leading to a Regional Marketing Manager role for IKEA. At that time, I left corporate life to launch my fashion accessory label (Nelle Handbags), which grew to 60 wholesale accounts, some of which was Henri Bendel & Anthropologie. In addition to the WS business, I ran a D2C e-commerce business and opened a brick-and-mortar 500 sq. ft. showroom. Growing Nelle has me pitching NYC editors, designing semi-annual collections, sourcing and manufacturing, entering into brand partnerships, crafting all strategies and social media campaigns, etc... At 31, I looked around and realized I'd accomplished all I wanted to with Nelle, and I set out to work in the Marketing and advertising industry. My first role was as Senior Editor on Bettycrocker.com, which involved story development, writing, art direction, prop-styling, editing, researching food trends, and developing recipe content with the Betty Crocker Kitchens. After my short time on Betty, I joined Zeus Jones as a Creative Lead, where I worked in a flat hierarchy on agile teams helping brands (Nestle brands, Apple Business, Friday's, 3M brands, General Mills brands, & Allina Health) reimagine their brands & businesses for the modern world - work consisted of production innovation (food), creative platform development, brand strategy & identity, & content development. Then I went to work for a Restaurant Group as their Creative Director, where I developed creative strategies for each of their ten restaurant concepts and then conceived and created ads, content, and in-restaurant comms that brought those strategies to life. I also helped the Founder develop and pitch new restaurant concepts to potential investors and developers. My career then brought me to SixSpeed, where I started as a Creative Director leading the BFGoodrich business; within six months, I was promoted to Executive Creative Director; in this role, I was in charge of increasing the quality of the product, developing existing creative & strategic talent, and bringing strategy and conceptual creativity to the predominantly production-based agency. To do this, I led the executive team through a brand repositioning project, which shifted how we approached the strategic & creative work and treated employees, and tried to change the dynamic between agency & client. I developed creative methodologies & the process to support them. I championed the need for creative briefs, leading to my leading in developing a people-first creative brief process. I was successful in some areas but failed in others. I'm now a Senior Creative Director at AMP, where I'm in leading the transition of the BFGoodrich business from SixSpeed to AMP. |
| Christine Campbell, Associate Creative Director (Copy) | Before AMP, I worked in-house doing PR & marketing for a restaurant group. I've been at agencies for the 11 years since: full-time at M80 within WPP and Big Fuel within Publicis, and freelance at Edelman and Iced Media. I've worked on Marriott, Aflac, COTY brands including Sally Hansen, Samsung, Weight Watchers, Walmart, StriVectin, SKYN & Lifestyles, Combe brands, LPQ, Lavazza, Aquaphor, Apple & Eve VELCRO Brand, Fujitsu. (And more that I'm probably forgetting!) |
| Molly Miloscia, Associate Director, Social Strategy | I've worked both client-side and agency in my career, but mostly agency. I've been at agencies for the past 5 years working on a wide variety of accounts from action sports/outdoor industry, higher ed, B2B tech, but now primarily focus on food and entertainment clients. |
| Laila Lynch, Group Account Director | 15 years of experience managing large consumer/enterprise clients and leading cross-functional teams at Medstar Health, MullenLowe US, AKQA and AMP Agency. Trusted client partner for brands across industries including CPG (Unilever, American Greetings, FAGE), Telecom (Verizon, CenturyLink), Retail (GORE-TEX, Fashionphile/Neiman Marcus), Healthcare (United Healthcare/Optum) and Technology (Zillow, Meta, Google, Fujitsu/Ricoh). |
| Jason Brown. Group Account Director | 23 years of agency account experience and 1.5 years on client-side. Lead a number of accounts over the years including AT&T, Dell, 7-11, Chick-fil-A, FedEx, Edward Jones, BFGoodrich & Zappos. |
| John Krochune - VP, Owned Media | I have over 20 years of online marketing experience with a search marketing focus. I have worked in-house for a few stints but I have been at AMP for 9 years. |
| Meg Lake, Associate Creative Director | Been in the agency world for 8 years. Accounts include Eastern Bank, Maruchan, MassMutual, McGraw Hill, Mission Foods, Hasbro, HBO, Stop & Shop, TCS World Travel, Zillow, Adidas, LEGO, SilverSneakers, Southwestern Health Resources, Wyndham Hotels, Goodyear, LifeStyles |
| Liz Furze, Creative Director | Prior to coming to AMP, I worked client-side in startups (Warby Parker and Karma, a tech hardware startup). I have extensive experience working in the beauty space (skincare/haircare), consumer tech, CPG, and travel. |
| Jennifer Carroll VP, PR & Influencer at AMP Agency | AMP Agency (4 years) - oversee PR and Influencer capabilities Curator PR (6 years) - lead retail/lifestyle accounts and team, including Simon Property Group, Dominos, WA Lottery, West Elm, etc. Seattle Storm (4 years) - oversaw team and corporate PR Seattle SuperSonics & Storm (4 years) - part of team and corporate PR team |
| Cara Moran, Account Director | Entire career agency-side (large & small sized) across pharma, retail and CPG clients. |
| Samantha Thu, VP of Media | 11 years agency side (Hill Holliday, Boathouse, The Boston Group, MERGE), 2 years client side (Citizens Bank, Fidelity Investments), 2.5 years publisher side (TripAdvisor). Accounts have included the following: Financial Services/Insurance (MEFA, Fidelity, Citizens Bank, AAA Northeast, Chartis/AIG) Healthcare (Tufts Medical Center, University Hospitals, Partners Healthcare, Boston Children's Hospital, JCR) Communications (Frontier Communications, WBUR) Higher Education (MCPHS, MIT) Travel (TripAdvisor, AAA Northeast) Utilities (Eversource, EnergizeCT) Retail/CPG (Velcro, G-Star) Grocery (GIANT) Home Improvement (Sunbrella) |
| Julia DelValle, Account Director | Agencies: Definition 6 (entertainment focused), VML (now VMLY&R), Envoy, AMP Accounts: Disneyland, HBO, Barnes & Noble College, GLSEN, Random House, Cinemax, CentricTV, Kellogg's (Special K), LEGOLAND Florida, Ajinomoto North America, Arlo Technologies, Experian Health, NuFACE, Surfrider Foundation, LinkedIn, Waymo, Amway Client-side: started my career managing album releases for musicians at an independent record label & recording studio. |
| Maggie Galligan Group Director, Project Management | 10+ years agency experience, primarily digital. Accounts include Bank of America (financial), CenturyLink (telecom), SolarCity (solar energy), various pharma clients. |
| Sascha Lock - SVP, Media & Performance Analytics | 15 years of experience working on the agency side at Carat, Stellwerk3, Havas Media, Hill Holiday, and AMP Agency. Experience across multitude of accounts including Liberty Mutual, Fidelity, Avocados from Mexico, Just For Men, Philips, and Blue Cross Blue Shield |
| Eric Sutton, Creative Director | 20 years in Boston agencies: Fort Franklin, Connelly Partners, Relevant 24, AMP Agency. Have worked on accounts like ESPN, NHL, Burton, Samsonite, Titleist, Stowe Mountain Resort, Kellog's, Bear Naked Granola, Mattress Firm, New Era, Zillow, Meta and more |
| Guy Rancourt VP, GMD | Jordan, McGrath (NYC): 1993-1999 Hill Holliday (Bos): 1999-2018 AMP Agency (Bos): 2018 - present Financial, CPG, Retail, QSR... No Client-side |
| Tony Colafrancesco; Director, Paid Search | 11+ years agency experience, have working in DTC, retail, B2B, CPG, Travel, eComm, etc. |
| Andie Jewett SVP, Business Development | Worked in new business at AMP 8+ years. Was in an account role at another agency prior to that. Major pitches I have worked on: Zillow, Ahold Delhaize, Just for Men, Aquaphor, Velcro, McGraw Hill |
| Greer Pearce, SVP Brand & Innovation | Background in both client and agency side across strategic planning, social, and PR. Built AMP's strategic planning department from the ground up starting in 2016. In 2022 transitioned into an executive role overseeing capability excellence with Creative, Strategy, Social, PR, and XD departments under my purview. I participate heavily in pitches, leading and presenting strategy for pitch assignments. |
| Sam Nicholson, Associate Director Social Strategy | I have worked agency side for about 10 years primarily in strategy and creative departments. I worked on client-side for about a year for a telecommunications company. |
| Stephanie Twining, Group Director, Social Media | Agencies: AMP Agency: HBO, Levi Strauss & Co, Southwest Airlines, Amway, Maruchan, Zillow FleishmanHillard: AT&T, fine dining, travel & tourism industries Rachel Kay Public Relations: CPG, organic food and beverages industries JayRay: local healthcare and government industries In-House: REI: national and local social media marketing (organic and paid) |
| Paula Berkel, VP Media | Worked at agencies my whole career (nearly 20 years) in media. Have worked on a wide variety of clients in various industries and verticals and across just about every media channel |
| Jenna Clapp, Account Director | I've been at AMP for 5 years. Previously worked at agencies Arnold & ROKKAN. Prior to that worked at a small social start up and Universal McCann in media for a bit. |
| Kate Smith, Account Director | I've been working client-side at AMP for about 3.5 years, but prior to that I worked in-house as a marketing specialist offering client & sales support for about 4 years. |
| What format does your team primarily use to present the content of client presentations? | |
| Jessica Dancewicz, VO Account | Other |
| Alexa Wilcox, Business Development Coordinator | PowerPoint |
| Michael Dolan, Group Account Director | Other |
| Kate Andreeva, VP Advanced Analytics | PowerPoint |
| John DeGray, Creative Director | Digital collaboration tools |
| Derek O'Rourke - Account Director | PowerPoint |
| Taylor Jordan Director, Programmatic & Data Strategy | PowerPoint |
| Jen Herbert, Brand Strategy Director | Other |
| Julia Stern, Associate Director of Brand Strategy | Other |
| Christine Mooney, VP Business Development | Other |
| Tayla Egan - Media Director | PowerPoint |
| Laura Nelli, Senior Creative Director | Other |
| Christine Campbell, Associate Creative Director (Copy) | Other |
| Molly Miloscia, Associate Director, Social Strategy | Other |
| Laila Lynch, Group Account Director | Other |
| Jason Brown. Group Account Director | Other |
| John Krochune - VP, Owned Media | Digital collaboration tools |
| Meg Lake, Associate Creative Director | Other |
| Liz Furze, Creative Director | Other |
| Jennifer Carroll VP, PR & Influencer at AMP Agency | Digital collaboration tools |
| Cara Moran, Account Director | Digital collaboration tools |
| Samantha Thu, VP of Media | PowerPoint |
| Julia DelValle, Account Director | PowerPoint |
| Maggie Galligan Group Director, Project Management | PowerPoint |
| Sascha Lock - SVP, Media & Performance Analytics | Other |
| Eric Sutton, Creative Director | Other |
| Guy Rancourt VP, GMD | PowerPoint |
| Tony Colafrancesco; Director, Paid Search | Other |
| Andie Jewett SVP, Business Development | Other |
| Greer Pearce, SVP Brand & Innovation | Other |
| Sam Nicholson, Associate Director Social Strategy | Other |
| Stephanie Twining, Group Director, Social Media | Other |
| Paula Berkel, VP Media | Other |
| Jenna Clapp, Account Director | |
| Kate Smith, Account Director | Other |
| On a scale of 1-10, how well does the logic of your presentations set up the creative idea/concept/program with an irrefutable logic trail? (10 = "we're exceptionally strong at this") | |
| Jessica Dancewicz, VO Account | 8 |
| Alexa Wilcox, Business Development Coordinator | 6 |
| Michael Dolan, Group Account Director | 8 |
| Kate Andreeva, VP Advanced Analytics | 6 |
| John DeGray, Creative Director | 3 |
| Derek O'Rourke - Account Director | 8 |
| Taylor Jordan Director, Programmatic & Data Strategy | 6 |
| Jen Herbert, Brand Strategy Director | 6 |
| Julia Stern, Associate Director of Brand Strategy | 9 |
| Christine Mooney, VP Business Development | 9 |
| Tayla Egan - Media Director | 6 |
| Laura Nelli, Senior Creative Director | 10 |
| Christine Campbell, Associate Creative Director (Copy) | 8 |
| Molly Miloscia, Associate Director, Social Strategy | 6 |
| Laila Lynch, Group Account Director | 8 |
| Jason Brown. Group Account Director | 8 |
| John Krochune - VP, Owned Media | 7 |
| Meg Lake, Associate Creative Director | 5 |
| Liz Furze, Creative Director | 6 |
| Jennifer Carroll VP, PR & Influencer at AMP Agency | 5 |
| Cara Moran, Account Director | 7 |
| Samantha Thu, VP of Media | 7 |
| Julia DelValle, Account Director | 3 |
| Sascha Lock - SVP, Media & Performance Analytics | 7 |
| Eric Sutton, Creative Director | 8 |
| Guy Rancourt VP, GMD | 6 |
| Tony Colafrancesco; Director, Paid Search | 7 |
| Andie Jewett SVP, Business Development | 7 |
| Greer Pearce, SVP Brand & Innovation | 7 |
| Sam Nicholson, Associate Director Social Strategy | 9 |
| Stephanie Twining, Group Director, Social Media | 7 |
| Paula Berkel, VP Media | 6 |
| Jenna Clapp, Account Director | 6 |
| Kate Smith, Account Director | 7 |
| On a scale of 1-10, how well do your presentations provide a new and unexpected strategic insight vs. a predictable strategic insight? (10 = "we're exceptionally strong at this") | |
| Jessica Dancewicz, VO Account | 6 |
| Alexa Wilcox, Business Development Coordinator | 7 |
| Michael Dolan, Group Account Director | 9 |
| Kate Andreeva, VP Advanced Analytics | 4 |
| John DeGray, Creative Director | 3 |
| Derek O'Rourke - Account Director | 5 |
| Taylor Jordan Director, Programmatic & Data Strategy | 5 |
| Jen Herbert, Brand Strategy Director | 7 |
| Julia Stern, Associate Director of Brand Strategy | 8 |
| Christine Mooney, VP Business Development | 5 |
| Tayla Egan - Media Director | 6 |
| Laura Nelli, Senior Creative Director | 9 |
| Christine Campbell, Associate Creative Director (Copy) | 4 |
| Molly Miloscia, Associate Director, Social Strategy | 7 |
| Laila Lynch, Group Account Director | 8 |
| Jason Brown. Group Account Director | 6 |
| John Krochune - VP, Owned Media | 6 |
| Meg Lake, Associate Creative Director | 5 |
| Liz Furze, Creative Director | 4 |
| Jennifer Carroll VP, PR & Influencer at AMP Agency | 6 |
| Cara Moran, Account Director | 3 |
| Samantha Thu, VP of Media | 6 |
| Julia DelValle, Account Director | 3 |
| Sascha Lock - SVP, Media & Performance Analytics | 5 |
| Eric Sutton, Creative Director | 6 |
| Guy Rancourt VP, GMD | 7 |
| Tony Colafrancesco; Director, Paid Search | 6 |
| Andie Jewett SVP, Business Development | 6 |
| Greer Pearce, SVP Brand & Innovation | 7 |
| Sam Nicholson, Associate Director Social Strategy | 6 |
| Stephanie Twining, Group Director, Social Media | 7 |
| Paula Berkel, VP Media | 3 |
| Jenna Clapp, Account Director | 6 |
| Kate Smith, Account Director | 6 |
| On a scale of 1-10, how well do you demonstrate the business impact of your recommendation? (10 = "we're exceptionally strong at this") | |
| Jessica Dancewicz, VO Account | 8 |
| Alexa Wilcox, Business Development Coordinator | 8 |
| Michael Dolan, Group Account Director | 9 |
| Kate Andreeva, VP Advanced Analytics | 6 |
| John DeGray, Creative Director | 3 |
| Derek O'Rourke - Account Director | 5 |
| Taylor Jordan Director, Programmatic & Data Strategy | 9 |
| Jen Herbert, Brand Strategy Director | 6 |
| Julia Stern, Associate Director of Brand Strategy | 7 |
| Christine Mooney, VP Business Development | 6 |
| Tayla Egan - Media Director | 6 |
| Laura Nelli, Senior Creative Director | 3 |
| Christine Campbell, Associate Creative Director (Copy) | 5 |
| Molly Miloscia, Associate Director, Social Strategy | 5 |
| Laila Lynch, Group Account Director | 7 |
| Jason Brown. Group Account Director | 5 |
| John Krochune - VP, Owned Media | 4 |
| Meg Lake, Associate Creative Director | 5 |
| Liz Furze, Creative Director | 5 |
| Jennifer Carroll VP, PR & Influencer at AMP Agency | 6 |
| Cara Moran, Account Director | 6 |
| Samantha Thu, VP of Media | 5 |
| Julia DelValle, Account Director | 5 |
| Sascha Lock - SVP, Media & Performance Analytics | 3 |
| Eric Sutton, Creative Director | 6 |
| Guy Rancourt VP, GMD | 7 |
| Tony Colafrancesco; Director, Paid Search | 7 |
| Andie Jewett SVP, Business Development | 8 |
| Greer Pearce, SVP Brand & Innovation | 5 |
| Sam Nicholson, Associate Director Social Strategy | 6 |
| Stephanie Twining, Group Director, Social Media | 7 |
| Paula Berkel, VP Media | 4 |
| Jenna Clapp, Account Director | 6 |
| Kate Smith, Account Director | 8 |
| On a scale of 1-10, how strong is your team chemistry during a presentation? (10 = "we're exceptionally strong at this") | |
| Jessica Dancewicz, VO Account | 8 |
| Alexa Wilcox, Business Development Coordinator | 7 |
| Michael Dolan, Group Account Director | 7 |
| Kate Andreeva, VP Advanced Analytics | 6 |
| John DeGray, Creative Director | 8 |
| Derek O'Rourke - Account Director | 10 |
| Taylor Jordan Director, Programmatic & Data Strategy | 10 |
| Jen Herbert, Brand Strategy Director | 7 |
| Julia Stern, Associate Director of Brand Strategy | 9 |
| Christine Mooney, VP Business Development | 7 |
| Tayla Egan - Media Director | 6 |
| Laura Nelli, Senior Creative Director | 9 |
| Christine Campbell, Associate Creative Director (Copy) | 9 |
| Molly Miloscia, Associate Director, Social Strategy | 8 |
| Laila Lynch, Group Account Director | 7 |
| Jason Brown. Group Account Director | 8 |
| John Krochune - VP, Owned Media | 8 |
| Meg Lake, Associate Creative Director | 8 |
| Liz Furze, Creative Director | 8 |
| Jennifer Carroll VP, PR & Influencer at AMP Agency | 7 |
| Cara Moran, Account Director | 8 |
| Samantha Thu, VP of Media | 7 |
| Julia DelValle, Account Director | 8 |
| Sascha Lock - SVP, Media & Performance Analytics | 9 |
| Eric Sutton, Creative Director | 8 |
| Guy Rancourt VP, GMD | 8 |
| Tony Colafrancesco; Director, Paid Search | 7 |
| Andie Jewett SVP, Business Development | 6 |
| Greer Pearce, SVP Brand & Innovation | 6 |
| Sam Nicholson, Associate Director Social Strategy | 8 |
| Stephanie Twining, Group Director, Social Media | 9 |
| Paula Berkel, VP Media | 8 |
| Jenna Clapp, Account Director | 9 |
| Kate Smith, Account Director | 9 |
| On a scale of 1-10, how well do you rehearse presentations and practice handling questions from the client team? (10 = "we're exceptionally strong at this") | |
| Jessica Dancewicz, VO Account | 6 |
| Alexa Wilcox, Business Development Coordinator | 6 |
| Michael Dolan, Group Account Director | 8 |
| Kate Andreeva, VP Advanced Analytics | 6 |
| John DeGray, Creative Director | 5 |
| Derek O'Rourke - Account Director | 9 |
| Taylor Jordan Director, Programmatic & Data Strategy | 10 |
| Jen Herbert, Brand Strategy Director | 4 |
| Julia Stern, Associate Director of Brand Strategy | 8 |
| Christine Mooney, VP Business Development | 7 |
| Tayla Egan - Media Director | 5 |
| Laura Nelli, Senior Creative Director | 1 |
| Christine Campbell, Associate Creative Director (Copy) | 5 |
| Molly Miloscia, Associate Director, Social Strategy | 6 |
| Laila Lynch, Group Account Director | 6 |
| Jason Brown. Group Account Director | 1 |
| John Krochune - VP, Owned Media | 8 |
| Meg Lake, Associate Creative Director | 8 |
| Liz Furze, Creative Director | 3 |
| Jennifer Carroll VP, PR & Influencer at AMP Agency | 7 |
| Cara Moran, Account Director | 3 |
| Samantha Thu, VP of Media | 5 |
| Julia DelValle, Account Director | 5 |
| Sascha Lock - SVP, Media & Performance Analytics | 4 |
| Eric Sutton, Creative Director | 7 |
| Guy Rancourt VP, GMD | 6 |
| Tony Colafrancesco; Director, Paid Search | 5 |
| Andie Jewett SVP, Business Development | 7 |
| Greer Pearce, SVP Brand & Innovation | 2 |
| Sam Nicholson, Associate Director Social Strategy | 3 |
| Stephanie Twining, Group Director, Social Media | 5 |
| Paula Berkel, VP Media | 5 |
| Jenna Clapp, Account Director | 5 |
| Kate Smith, Account Director | 10 |
| How much interaction (dialogue) with the client do you typically have during the presentation? (10 = "very interactive, 50/50 dialogue") | |
| Jessica Dancewicz, VO Account | 8 |
| Alexa Wilcox, Business Development Coordinator | 7 |
| Michael Dolan, Group Account Director | 10 |
| Kate Andreeva, VP Advanced Analytics | 6 |
| John DeGray, Creative Director | 6 |
| Derek O'Rourke - Account Director | 7 |
| Taylor Jordan Director, Programmatic & Data Strategy | 7 |
| Jen Herbert, Brand Strategy Director | 5 |
| Julia Stern, Associate Director of Brand Strategy | 9 |
| Christine Mooney, VP Business Development | 5 |
| Tayla Egan - Media Director | 3 |
| Laura Nelli, Senior Creative Director | 6 |
| Christine Campbell, Associate Creative Director (Copy) | 7 |
| Molly Miloscia, Associate Director, Social Strategy | 5 |
| Laila Lynch, Group Account Director | 5 |
| Jason Brown. Group Account Director | 7 |
| John Krochune - VP, Owned Media | 8 |
| Meg Lake, Associate Creative Director | 8 |
| Liz Furze, Creative Director | 5 |
| Jennifer Carroll VP, PR & Influencer at AMP Agency | 7 |
| Cara Moran, Account Director | 6 |
| Samantha Thu, VP of Media | 9 |
| Julia DelValle, Account Director | 10 |
| Sascha Lock - SVP, Media & Performance Analytics | 4 |
| Eric Sutton, Creative Director | 8 |
| Guy Rancourt VP, GMD | 8 |
| Tony Colafrancesco; Director, Paid Search | 10 |
| Andie Jewett SVP, Business Development | 8 |
| Greer Pearce, SVP Brand & Innovation | 5 |
| Sam Nicholson, Associate Director Social Strategy | 7 |
| Stephanie Twining, Group Director, Social Media | 8 |
| Paula Berkel, VP Media | 5 |
| Jenna Clapp, Account Director | 6 |
| Kate Smith, Account Director | 6 |
| What most holds your teams back when creating and delivering effective client presentations? Consider your team’s preparation process, deck writing, presentation skills, etc. | |
| Jessica Dancewicz, VO Account | Sometimes we don't have time to do proper run-throughs. At times work can feel safe. I find that I try and go in to help shape the story (in partnership with strategists as well), so if the full team can learn to do this, it would go a long way. |
| Kate Andreeva, VP Advanced Analytics | client rapport, connecting on an emotional level through storytelling, effective presentation skills that capture and hold attention |
| John DeGray, Creative Director | Dedicated time to craft and hone. We tend not to be able to go heads down to craft our narratives together. |
| Derek O'Rourke - Account Director | Most of our intake client briefs are very prescriptive. I think our clients come to us at a very tactical level, and we usually don't have time to let strategy do their thing for a couple weeks to develop a strong strategic foundation before we build concepts. Our teams present well. I'd like to see more people play bigger roles and find their voices in client calls. |
| Taylor Jordan Director, Programmatic & Data Strategy | We tend to be chart heavy |
| Jen Herbert, Brand Strategy Director | I often feel we're not enthusiastic and confident enough in our ideas. We need to come across as believing our work "is the coolest thing ever" but often we're a little too apathetic in our presentation style. |
| Julia Stern, Associate Director of Brand Strategy | TIME! Often we'll have to squeeze sections or not have time needed to rehearse |
| Christine Mooney, VP Business Development | Clear delivery of key points on every slide. Captivating an audience with storytelling. Coming off as too junior. |
| Tayla Egan - Media Director | Building a strong, compelling, and unique story that ties all departments together; some people are strong at this (particularly on the Strategy team) and are able to bring a cross-dept-team together for a stronger output, but i don't think it's our norm. i also would love more training/resources on slide design - i feel like i personally both struggle with developing a compelling story, but then also how to visually bring it to life |
| Laura Nelli, Senior Creative Director | Time to fully develop the visual pagentry/showmanship of the deck. |
| Christine Campbell, Associate Creative Director (Copy) | I do think our decks tend to be very wordy, very lengthy, and take a long time to swiftly get to interesting or main points. I think having proper rehearsals would be helpful vs doing overviews of who is taking what. |
| Laila Lynch, Group Account Director | Time to explore different presentation formats, provide more options and/or rehearse |
| Jason Brown. Group Account Director | Providing the "so what" or "why" behind our creative and strategic recommendations. Making sure the client clients walk away with a strong understand of the objective. |
| John Krochune - VP, Owned Media | Time allotted. Unified message. |
| Meg Lake, Associate Creative Director | Prepration time |
| Liz Furze, Creative Director | Decks are often finished last minute without time to rehearse. We also struggle with meaningful storytelling - decks are copy-heavy and don't leave room for a ton of dynamic embellishment or romance. |
| Jennifer Carroll VP, PR & Influencer at AMP Agency | Deck writing, strategic insights, confidence in presenting |
| Cara Moran, Account Director | Making sure we have actionable takeaways and ONE point on each slide. Often we can get stuck trying to say too many things in a single slide. Also just general deck design -- how to visual the information to make it feel digestible. |
| Samantha Thu, VP of Media | Deck writing, high level strategic approach vs. tactical details |
| Julia DelValle, Account Director | Lack of storytelling & strategic insights to set up the work. Also could have better wrap ups! |
| Sascha Lock - SVP, Media & Performance Analytics | Sometimes, too many cooks in the kitchen with ideas on the story/strategy that we end up redoing the story many times. Lack of clear process on roles and responsibilities for each section. Lack of training on presentation with impact, and how to create powerful compelling stories. We tend to get too 'tactical' and often miss the larger business context and challenge. |
| Eric Sutton, Creative Director | Need a stronger strategy presence and/or collaboration with the creative team. Although, not all of our projects require breakthrough strategy. Sometimes the ask is more straightforward and the client is looking for efficiency over breakthrough strategy. |
| Guy Rancourt VP, GMD | Workloads & time management across accounts |
| Tony Colafrancesco; Director, Paid Search | Deck writing, effective visualizations, articulating points clearly |
| Andie Jewett SVP, Business Development | I run the new business team so my direct reports are very good at this, but its other disciplines we have challenges with. Many do not understand how to storytell or identify the key point of a slide so it leave my team to do all the work. |
| Greer Pearce, SVP Brand & Innovation | Poor information design, unpolished or non-engaging delivery due to low preparation and low-energy delivery |
| Sam Nicholson, Associate Director Social Strategy | Better connecting different departments in a single presentation, sometimes will feel disjointed. |
| Stephanie Twining, Group Director, Social Media | Having enough time to prepare and practice; making sure the content is well organized and easy to follow and not "tactic soup" as can be a problem for social media ideas; making sure social strategies ladder up to brand strategy and business objectives; |
| Paula Berkel, VP Media | Finding the time to collaborate and work on them with other day to day tasks, |
| Jenna Clapp, Account Director | Depends on the team. Making sure we're clear up front on who is handling what in as much advanced time as possible is helpful so that we are all aligned with goals and help to put together the best recommendation and presentation for clients. When that doesn't always happen and we're not aligned, can lead to issues. |
| Kate Smith, Account Director | We've come a long, long way since I first started in 2019, but naturally still hit bumps in the road due to team turnover, murky client requests, etc. I think the biggest issue that holds us back in writing strong, strategic decks is a lack of clarity in the division of labor (e.g. where does strategy's role end, where does media need to chime in, etc.). |
| What role do you play in “day-to-day negotiations” with clients (i.e., approvals of estimates, proposals, scopes, MSAs, etc.)? Also, please indicate other team members who may be involved in the process. | |
| Jessica Dancewicz, VO Account | I am very involved in scope renewals, MSAs. I am accountable and informed on estimates/quotes depending on how large they are. For smaller projects, my GAD, AD, or Account Sups help with that (again, depending on the size) |
| Michael Dolan, Group Account Director | Lead role |
| Kate Andreeva, VP Advanced Analytics | Limited day-to-day negotiations. Mostly perform as an SME to provide scope for estimates |
| Derek O'Rourke - Account Director | I tend to run these processes with the help of my boss, but I do the majority of the heavy lifting. I involve my team members so they'll understand the processes and be ready to take on that role when the time comes. |
| Taylor Jordan Director, Programmatic & Data Strategy | Approvals of programmatic rate card along side Samantha Weiss |
| Jen Herbert, Brand Strategy Director | I develop proposals and cost estimations for brand strategy projects & deliverables. I also review SOWs that others have written, particularly the strategy sections. |
| Julia Stern, Associate Director of Brand Strategy | Partial |
| Christine Mooney, VP Business Development | The business development team is heavily involved in initial pricing proposal development, scoping, upsell, etc. We work with account, project management and discipline leads to gather input and present the most compelling proposal possible. |
| Tayla Egan - Media Director | I am responsible for these all, with support of my VP (Sam Thu) -- I work with the clients, but then negotiate internally with all other media and analytics teams for their respective hours (analytics, social, search, etc.) |
| Laura Nelli, Senior Creative Director | minimal |
| Christine Campbell, Associate Creative Director (Copy) | I do not participate in these types of client-facing negotiations. I do internally review/approve scopes/staffing proposals that the PM and account teams put together. |
| Molly Miloscia, Associate Director, Social Strategy | Not client facing - but developing estimates, SOWs, staffing plans behind the scenes, Our account interface with the clients. |
| Laila Lynch, Group Account Director | Responsible for authoring, approving, stakeholdering and negotiating. |
| Jason Brown. Group Account Director | I work with my senior VPs to help define all scopes, estimates, etc. |
| John Krochune - VP, Owned Media | I lead negotiations with my team's contracts. Doug Grumet signs contracts. |
| Meg Lake, Associate Creative Director | moderate involvement, as a creative i don't approve estimates, but i do work with producers to help accurately gauge costs |
| Jennifer Carroll VP, PR & Influencer at AMP Agency | I lead the creation of PR specific negotiations. I play more of a supportive role on the influencer side of our business because there is a Director of Influencer at AMP who leads these efforts. |
| Cara Moran, Account Director | Lead SOW development with our clients, and any projects that involve agency fee/resources. Although I do with department leads to help estimate hours for their teams based on the deliverables. Ultimately I am the one having budget/scope conversations with the client. Separately, I work with a producer who owns production/pass-thru estimates, but I am the final reviewer and sharer with the client for all financials related to the account. Our media director manages working media budgets, plus service fees. Although production & working media are usually hard costs with less room for negotiation. |
| Samantha Thu, VP of Media | Directly responsible for development and approving |
| Julia DelValle, Account Director | I am responsible for the “day-to-day negotiations” with clients and spend a good chunk of my time preparing them (w/project management and team leads), then selling them in. |
| Sascha Lock - SVP, Media & Performance Analytics | I lead negotiations with prospective new business clients, and support (in the background) our media & analytics department leads in negotiations for scopes and proposals for existing clients. Those dept. leads are Sam Thu, Paula Berkel, Tony Colafrancesco, Daniella Klammer, Sam Weiss, and Guy Rancourt |
| Eric Sutton, Creative Director | I weigh in on scopes & schedules from a creative POV |
| Guy Rancourt VP, GMD | We are always trying to broker approvals on media direction with our clients to gain approval on budgets and strategic direction. |
| Tony Colafrancesco; Director, Paid Search | I'm usually involved in the creation or providing direction on how to execute. |
| Andie Jewett SVP, Business Development | I only support initial scopes in new business settings. |
| Greer Pearce, SVP Brand & Innovation | At this point I primarily play a role creating and approving scope language and estimates. I also lead negotiations with third party vendors and partners. Our Account team typically handles the bulk of day-to-day client negotiations and proposal development. |
| Stephanie Twining, Group Director, Social Media | I must approve all organic social/social strategy estimates, proposals, staffing plans and SOWs I'm currently overseeing the same for brand strategy, in partnership with Jen Herbert |
| Paula Berkel, VP Media | Involved in staff plans and SOW builds for media only clients and for the media portions of integrated accounts. Working with channel teams and account leads as necessary. For my clients the renegotiation tends to happen only ~ 1 or maybe 2 times per year vs regularly. Most "day to day" negotiations are more smaller scale - eg project timelines and prioritizations |
| Jenna Clapp, Account Director | Work closely with clients on scopes/etc. I typically have worked closely with VP of account as well as all key team leads across Creative, Strat, Media, and Analytics. |
| Kate Smith, Account Director | I lead day-to-day negotiations with clients and develop all proposals and SOWs in partnership with the VP of Account, Liz Chapin. |
| What client-side roles and seniority do you typically deal with in day-to-day negotiations (i.e. marketing, digital, communications, procurement + seniority)? | |
| Jessica Dancewicz, VO Account | I typically deal with the Senior leads on the client side, but also like maintain relationships across all levels with my clients - especially those guiding the work |
| Michael Dolan, Group Account Director | VPs, Directors |
| Kate Andreeva, VP Advanced Analytics | Typically deal with mid-level management in marketing and data science |
| Derek O'Rourke - Account Director | We deal with brand teams primarily across a broad spectrum of seniority. |
| Taylor Jordan Director, Programmatic & Data Strategy | Working with vendors on rates, minimums, etc |
| Jen Herbert, Brand Strategy Director | Senior + Director level, occasionally C-level: Marketing, Sales & Marketing, Brand Managers, Category Managers, Digital, Social |
| Julia Stern, Associate Director of Brand Strategy | Marketing leads |
| Christine Mooney, VP Business Development | Our main point of contact varies from pitch to pitch, but could include outside consultants, client procurement teams, director-and-above marketing team members, even the CMO. |
| Tayla Egan - Media Director | Marketing (Director, VP, CMO) or Media-Lead (Director), and sometimes Procurement |
| Laura Nelli, Senior Creative Director | I sell strategy and creative and primarily step in when the client is swirling to move work along and gain approvals. I am the one that's called to problem solve creative/strategy collaboratively with the client. |
| Christine Campbell, Associate Creative Director (Copy) | I present creative work to clients and discuss feedback live with them on calls and work through their suggestions and concerns. My team's work falls under the digital, social, 360 creative campaign umbrella. |
| Molly Miloscia, Associate Director, Social Strategy | strategy + senior |
| Laila Lynch, Group Account Director | Consumer/B2B Marketing, Communication Strategy, Creative, PMO, Lifecycle, Social, Media, Partnerships, Product Marketing - seniority ranges from Director to SVP |
| Jason Brown. Group Account Director | Marketing & procurement |
| John Krochune - VP, Owned Media | Marketing managers |
| Meg Lake, Associate Creative Director | Marketing and Creative |
| Jennifer Carroll VP, PR & Influencer at AMP Agency | Director and above in communications and marketing |
| Cara Moran, Account Director | Mostly marketing managers and VP's. Also procurement sometimes. |
| Samantha Thu, VP of Media | Marketing, Senior Manager through CMO |
| Julia DelValle, Account Director | The client-side roles I typically interface with are: brand managers, digital marketers, creative leads and procurement. Typically my client counterparts are at the manager or director level. |
| Sascha Lock - SVP, Media & Performance Analytics | With day-to-day, it's typically marketing/media or procurement |
| Eric Sutton, Creative Director | I typically weigh in on the AMP side, but am not directly involved in negotiations with the client |
| Guy Rancourt VP, GMD | I have exposure to all media, marketing and brand clients. |
| Tony Colafrancesco; Director, Paid Search | Marketing, digital |
| Andie Jewett SVP, Business Development | Since I work on initial SOWs, typically I work with CMO or someone senior |
| Greer Pearce, SVP Brand & Innovation | Marketing - CMOs, Marketing Directors/VPs, Brand Directors/VPs |
| Stephanie Twining, Group Director, Social Media | Head of Social, Social/Digital Marketing leads |
| Paula Berkel, VP Media | Marketing or media teams, generally day to day clients (varying levels from Director to VP or SVP usually) and sometimes their boss as well |
| Jenna Clapp, Account Director | I've worked with Brand Managers/Directors as well as procurement on negotiations for productions and scoping. |
| Kate Smith, Account Director | General Manager, Marketing Manager, & VP of Sales/Marketing |
| Reviewing the options in the dropdown below, what is your comfort level when handling day-to-day negotiations with clients? | |
| Jessica Dancewicz, VO Account | 4. Solid: I'm comfortable with client negotiations and confident in my ability to represent and achieve a good outcome for the agency. |
| Michael Dolan, Group Account Director | 4. Solid: I'm comfortable with client negotiations and confident in my ability to represent and achieve a good outcome for the agency. |
| Kate Andreeva, VP Advanced Analytics | 2. Dislike: It's not my strong suit -- I can do it, but I need support from my agency team in these conversations. |
| Derek O'Rourke - Account Director | 4. Solid: I'm comfortable with client negotiations and confident in my ability to represent and achieve a good outcome for the agency. |
| Taylor Jordan Director, Programmatic & Data Strategy | 4. Solid: I'm comfortable with client negotiations and confident in my ability to represent and achieve a good outcome for the agency. |
| Jen Herbert, Brand Strategy Director | 2. Dislike: It's not my strong suit -- I can do it, but I need support from my agency team in these conversations. |
| Julia Stern, Associate Director of Brand Strategy | 3. Neutral: It's simply a necessary part of the job (but maybe not a favorite part of the job). |
| Christine Mooney, VP Business Development | 3. Neutral: It's simply a necessary part of the job (but maybe not a favorite part of the job). |
| Tayla Egan - Media Director | 3. Neutral: It's simply a necessary part of the job (but maybe not a favorite part of the job). |
| Laura Nelli, Senior Creative Director | 2. Dislike: It's not my strong suit -- I can do it, but I need support from my agency team in these conversations. |
| Christine Campbell, Associate Creative Director (Copy) | 4. Solid: I'm comfortable with client negotiations and confident in my ability to represent and achieve a good outcome for the agency. |
| Molly Miloscia, Associate Director, Social Strategy | 4. Solid: I'm comfortable with client negotiations and confident in my ability to represent and achieve a good outcome for the agency. |
| Laila Lynch, Group Account Director | 5. Love: I genuinely enjoy negotiations -- testing my ability to persuade and overcome client objections is fun for me. |
| Jason Brown. Group Account Director | 4. Solid: I'm comfortable with client negotiations and confident in my ability to represent and achieve a good outcome for the agency. |
| John Krochune - VP, Owned Media | 3. Neutral: It's simply a necessary part of the job (but maybe not a favorite part of the job). |
| Meg Lake, Associate Creative Director | 3. Neutral: It's simply a necessary part of the job (but maybe not a favorite part of the job). |
| Jennifer Carroll VP, PR & Influencer at AMP Agency | 3. Neutral: It's simply a necessary part of the job (but maybe not a favorite part of the job). |
| Cara Moran, Account Director | 4. Solid: I'm comfortable with client negotiations and confident in my ability to represent and achieve a good outcome for the agency. |
| Samantha Thu, VP of Media | 5. Love: I genuinely enjoy negotiations -- testing my ability to persuade and overcome client objections is fun for me. |
| Julia DelValle, Account Director | 4. Solid: I'm comfortable with client negotiations and confident in my ability to represent and achieve a good outcome for the agency. |
| Sascha Lock - SVP, Media & Performance Analytics | 4. Solid: I'm comfortable with client negotiations and confident in my ability to represent and achieve a good outcome for the agency. |
| Eric Sutton, Creative Director | 3. Neutral: It's simply a necessary part of the job (but maybe not a favorite part of the job). |
| Guy Rancourt VP, GMD | 5. Love: I genuinely enjoy negotiations -- testing my ability to persuade and overcome client objections is fun for me. |
| Tony Colafrancesco; Director, Paid Search | 4. Solid: I'm comfortable with client negotiations and confident in my ability to represent and achieve a good outcome for the agency. |
| Andie Jewett SVP, Business Development | 5. Love: I genuinely enjoy negotiations -- testing my ability to persuade and overcome client objections is fun for me. |
| Greer Pearce, SVP Brand & Innovation | 3. Neutral: It's simply a necessary part of the job (but maybe not a favorite part of the job). |
| Stephanie Twining, Group Director, Social Media | 4. Solid: I'm comfortable with client negotiations and confident in my ability to represent and achieve a good outcome for the agency. |
| Paula Berkel, VP Media | 2. Dislike: It's not my strong suit -- I can do it, but I need support from my agency team in these conversations. |
| Jenna Clapp, Account Director | 2. Dislike: It's not my strong suit -- I can do it, but I need support from my agency team in these conversations. |
| Kate Smith, Account Director | 4. Solid: I'm comfortable with client negotiations and confident in my ability to represent and achieve a good outcome for the agency. |
| What are the biggest challenges you personally experience in your day-to-day negotiations with clients? | |
| Jessica Dancewicz, VO Account | Some clients are very transparent with me - which I strive for with all of my relationships. I find when we both feel comfortable being open/honest, the process goes smoother. However, some can be cagey and hold this tight to the chest. At times it's their personality, and at other times I think they may act that way because they don't have all of the information. That is when surprises can happen. Negotiations with Procurement can be slow and challenging at times as well. It's hard when the person you interact with on that end constantly changes and you don't have a relationship with them. |
| Michael Dolan, Group Account Director | Inarticulate or vague feedback, inconsistency in client stakeholders, additional rounds of feedback affecting timeline/budget, inheriting poorly written SOWs that leave grey area. |
| Kate Andreeva, VP Advanced Analytics | NA |
| Derek O'Rourke - Account Director | I don't think our clients have a strong understanding of what it takes to deliver for them, and what part they play in what can often turn into an inefficient process. They blow through deadlines, and many of them do not respect our time as much as I wish they did. |
| Taylor Jordan Director, Programmatic & Data Strategy | Ensuring the team stays within scope guidelines |
| Jen Herbert, Brand Strategy Director | From a brand strategy standpoint, it's often difficult to get on the same page with clients about what is needed and the deliverables we'd provide, as the verbiage in the brand strategy practice area ("positioning," "value prop," "comms plan," "territory," etc.) are vague and often different agencies & companies use them differently. |
| Julia Stern, Associate Director of Brand Strategy | Getting clients to understand the context outside their company and walking them back from irrational decisions that may make sense internally in their specific work culture |
| Christine Mooney, VP Business Development | Client not providing sense of budget for us to work off of. |
| Tayla Egan - Media Director | Difficulty navigating a standstill - where we want/need more fee to complete a given project but the client has a budget set in mind - just navigating difficult client situations in general |
| Laura Nelli, Senior Creative Director | Guiding/gaining approval from multiple stakeholders who may not be in the initial presentation |
| Christine Campbell, Associate Creative Director (Copy) | It's particularly challenging when a client doesn't know what they want. That tends to send the team in a spiral, as it's difficult to create compelling work without certain guardrails in place. |
| Laila Lynch, Group Account Director | Lack of planning inputs from the client, delayed feedback, shifting priorities/planning parameters |
| Jason Brown. Group Account Director | Dealing with a lot of red tape on the client side. |
| John Krochune - VP, Owned Media | Day to day negotiations are fine. End of year contract negotiations can go better. |
| Meg Lake, Associate Creative Director | n/a |
| Jennifer Carroll VP, PR & Influencer at AMP Agency | Lack of budget |
| Cara Moran, Account Director | Lack of education around resources and time it takes to produce their deliverables. |
| Samantha Thu, VP of Media | Expressing the value of a dedicated team/adequate staffing and resources to handle ad hoc requests; on paper many things do not seem necessary until we are in the thick of it and they want it. |
| Julia DelValle, Account Director | 1. For one client, specifically, they often don't have alignment on deliverables and/or they add/edit scopes multiple times, which creates swirl on our end. 2. Speed. We often take days to return a proposal back to a client and I would prefer to get numbers back more quickly (within 72 hrs) to strike while the iron is hot. |
| Sascha Lock - SVP, Media & Performance Analytics | Inability to successfully get to a favorable outcome for our agency. The clients hold most of the power, and budgets, in our industry, and agencies can be viewed as commodities in which competition is strong. This creates an unfair balance in which we're compelled to oblige and often take reductions on fee/staffing. |
| Eric Sutton, Creative Director | Sometimes expectations and reality don't meet and solutions are unclear – in terms of how much work will be realistically required vs how much budget is available |
| Guy Rancourt VP, GMD | Resistance to potentially positive media solutions. Client s oftentimes are reluctant to take chances & rock the boat even when presented with a clear path to opportunity. |
| Tony Colafrancesco; Director, Paid Search | Not having tools or processes pre-built, which often requires things to be custom built for each client/situation |
| Andie Jewett SVP, Business Development | Internal motivations - I want to close deals/win new business whereas others are concerned about getting the hours their team deserves, etc. |
| Greer Pearce, SVP Brand & Innovation | Feeling we must dilute our quality of output to accommodate low client budgets and timeline demands. |
| Stephanie Twining, Group Director, Social Media | Social can often be seen as an "add on" or something that clients might not want to pay for. A social media specific challenge is making sure clients fully understand what social service they are getting and that its most impactful (from a results perspective) and seamless (from a process perspective) when services are combined. |
| Paula Berkel, VP Media | Feeling unempowered to make decisions when necessary and needing approval before offering discounts or scopes. Again, this is on the bigger negotiations vs the smaller day to day ones |
| Jenna Clapp, Account Director | Knowing where we can have the flexibility to come down in price OR where that is not feasible. Being reasonable and helping to ensure the client is getting what they need while not compromising too much and loosing $$. Also when there simply has been too much asked from the client that is not reasonable within the budget they are asking for and it isn't worth it for us to go any further. |
| Kate Smith, Account Director | While I'm comfortable with developing proposals on the agency side, the clients I typically deal with are pretty reserved in negotiations unless we're in a one-on-one conversation. This is mostly due to cultural differences on the client side, but it's been the biggest hurdle for me when trying to get everyone on the same page in the planning/negotiation stage. |
| What are the biggest challenges the agency experiences overall with day-to-day client negotiations? | |
| Jessica Dancewicz, VO Account | We give in and provide things for free at times. I think we can do better at holding firm and being confident in our stance. I think we can do a better job building a case for our pricing and our staffing structures. |
| Michael Dolan, Group Account Director | Client delays, the balancing act between AMP resourcing and client expectations, having to start projects as soon as we're awarded a new biz win despite potential resource issues. |
| Kate Andreeva, VP Advanced Analytics | NA |
| Derek O'Rourke - Account Director | Bad budgets. No sense of urgency. Little respect for deadlines and timelines. Unreasonable expectations driven by those elements. |
| Taylor Jordan Director, Programmatic & Data Strategy | Ensuring the team stays within scope guidelines as well as increasing rates when needed |
| Julia Stern, Associate Director of Brand Strategy | There is often a hesitance to push back in favor of "keeping clients happy" |
| Christine Mooney, VP Business Development | Presenting a competitive offer to the client without compromising the level of dedication/hours from the team. |
| Tayla Egan - Media Director | Maintaining fees that are aligned with the actual work needed to complete a project; when other depts own scope writing and fees, understanding media's actual needs and consulting with us |
| Laura Nelli, Senior Creative Director | N/A |
| Christine Campbell, Associate Creative Director (Copy) | Not having clear and locked-in creative briefs have proven problematic. The creative team works most efficiently and effectively when we have all of the information we need and are not receiving piecemeal requests throughout the duration of a project. |
| Laila Lynch, Group Account Director | We hear feedback that our rates are high which makes it challenging to up-sell/cross-sell. AMP also isn't largely known as a full-service creative agency, clients often focus on niche services / focus areas more often than considering us for integrated services. |
| Jason Brown. Group Account Director | Pulling together estimates/SOWs easily and not over-thinking what we are trying to do. |
| John Krochune - VP, Owned Media | Promising too much too soon without asking the delivery teams what is possible/necessary. |
| Meg Lake, Associate Creative Director | n/a |
| Jennifer Carroll VP, PR & Influencer at AMP Agency | Lack of budget |
| Cara Moran, Account Director | Perceived high cost/fees. |
| Samantha Thu, VP of Media | We often drop our fees/allocations lower than we know it actually takes to get the work done. |
| Julia DelValle, Account Director | Bandwidth to design thoughtful engagements for our clients. |
| Sascha Lock - SVP, Media & Performance Analytics | Limited / sparce negotiation skill across our agency horizontally; strong negotiators are typically the senior employees who are good at it and feel comfortable working with a client through negotiation (although this may be a byproduct of them feeling empowered in their role) |
| Eric Sutton, Creative Director | How to balance efficiency + quality. Reality vs client expectations. |
| Guy Rancourt VP, GMD | Securing approvals of media budgets |
| Tony Colafrancesco; Director, Paid Search | Same as above |
| Andie Jewett SVP, Business Development | Everyone staffs/prices in silos and doesn't think holistically/bigger picture. |
| Greer Pearce, SVP Brand & Innovation | Scope creep and standing firm on our strategic and creative recommendations |
| Stephanie Twining, Group Director, Social Media | A challenge would be making sure we're getting paid what our work is worth but not pricing ourselves out of the work. |
| Paula Berkel, VP Media | In scoping, I think it's that as part of the negotiations we'll include discounted or reduced services that ultimately are needed to run the day to day business so then it becomes an ongoing negotiation of what is needed to deliver on the campaign against the scope and hours that were provided |
| Jenna Clapp, Account Director | I feel like it defers across accounts - but again I'd say being aligned on exactly how much we can bring costs down, or what can be removed/adjusted to make things work within the budget the client has. |
| Kate Smith, Account Director | I personally think a lack of consistency in pricing and roles across accounts makes it very difficult to feel completely confident in client negotiations. I'm comfortable when negotiating with my usual client contacts, but any new accounts I've worked on have felt totally different on the agency side. |
| Personally, what do you consider to be your deck writing and presentation skills strengths? | |
| Jessica Dancewicz, VO Account | I think I am good at deck flow and organizing content in a way that is easy to understand. We have some really smart people here at AMP, and I think I add value by making sure what we are presenting is digestible and comprehendible and clearly maps out where we are in a process. |
| Alexa Wilcox, Business Development Coordinator | I am good at maintaining eye contact and an assertive tone when I present. I am also quick on my feet, so I can improvise to lift any moments of dullness. I also am good at paraphrasing/adding to slides instead of reading off of them |
| Michael Dolan, Group Account Director | Storytelling, understanding the client's POV so we can carefully word things to elicit a positive response or show that we have been listening. |
| Kate Andreeva, VP Advanced Analytics | Strive to bubble up the findings and present them in a clear and concise format. |
| John DeGray, Creative Director | Linear narrative and susynced communications. Having watched so many people create presentations for conferences I found most presentations were stronger when only the required information was onscreen. Allowed the viewer to focus their attention on the presenter vs reading. |
| Derek O'Rourke - Account Director | I'm a good writer. I'm not a great deck designer. I think I'm a very good presenter. I prefer light decks with few words where the recipient is dependent on us to deliver the information. To be frank, I'm sick and tired of ppt decks, and I think a lot of people are, but we've not developed a better way. |
| Jen Herbert, Brand Strategy Director | All of my story is backed up by data – I'm a super thorough researcher. I also think I'm good at synthesizing the takeaways and then weaving that into a story. I'm an OK slide designer. I also have a great attention to detail, which helps make decks consistent and polished. As for presentation skills, I think I come across as confident and engaging. I do a lot of prep work ahead of time before I have to present. |
| Christine Mooney, VP Business Development | Creating a compelling narrative that extends from the beginning to the end of the presentation. Pushing teams to think about the points we're trying to make as a whole in our presentation as well as on each slide. Designing information to be easier for the viewer to understand. |
| Laura Nelli, Senior Creative Director | I keep it light, I keep it strategic, I keep it human, and I challenge perceptions and illuminate what's possible - and I make heads nod. Likable & capable w/ great energy. |
| Christine Campbell, Associate Creative Director (Copy) | I always write presentation notes down in advance of a meeting, which helps me stay focused. I think I have a knack at connecting with clients on a personal level when presenting and injecting humor/lightheartedness when appropriate. I am a copywriter, so my writing skills are both clear and compelling. |
| Molly Miloscia, Associate Director, Social Strategy | Oral storytelling, visually clear and organized decks |
| Laila Lynch, Group Account Director | I consider myself a big picture thinker, able to establish a vision and executional plan. My role is to represent our clients business and establish a strategy to help them accomplish their goals. I partner closely with discipline leads to define the narrative and ensure our recommendations demonstrate business impact. I believe a strength of mine is helping to inspire, build, refine and collaborate. I'm confident leading and stewarding the team. |
| Jason Brown. Group Account Director | I'm very comfortable in conversational presentations where I can feed off of responses |
| John Krochune - VP, Owned Media | Explaining technical information plainly |
| Meg Lake, Associate Creative Director | personality, good in a room. can create a good, easy-to-follow flow. |
| Liz Furze, Creative Director | I'm very strong in verbal presentation, thinking on my feet, and answering difficult client questions on the spot. I have a dramatic background and am able to strongly present scripts and concepts confidently and offer a "wow factor" for the client. |
| Jennifer Carroll VP, PR & Influencer at AMP Agency | I am personable and good at connecting with clients. Regarding deck writing, I know what I want to say or the point I want to make, but struggle with getting there. |
| Samantha Thu, VP of Media | Presentation Skills - not reading off the slides, summarizing |
| Julia DelValle, Account Director | Organization & being buttoned up. |
| Sascha Lock - SVP, Media & Performance Analytics | Presenting with confidence conviction, passion, and clarity. Deck/story organization by starting with an outline that addresses the needs, and deck writing by hitting on few key points on each slide. |
| Eric Sutton, Creative Director | Crafting a creative story. Dialing up the entertainment value when needed (eg. a pitch) |
| Tony Colafrancesco; Director, Paid Search | Identifying valuable information/insights |
| Andie Jewett SVP, Business Development | Capturing an audience, not spending too long on a point, weaving points together to form a story, lightening the mood of a room, playing "emcee" |
| Greer Pearce, SVP Brand & Innovation | I have confident, energetic delivery |
| Sam Nicholson, Associate Director Social Strategy | Cohesive story throughout the deck, building and proving points |
| Paula Berkel, VP Media | I think I've improved a lot in my presenting skills through practice and rehearsing. I prefer more casual presentations than very formal ones |
| Kate Smith, Account Director | Once we have an outline in place, I'm very comfortable with proofreading/writing, formatting, and ensuring there's a cohesive story in the client presentation. |
| In contrast, what do personally find to be most challenging? | |
| Jessica Dancewicz, VO Account | Getting all of the pieces together quickly. Finding the time to actually work on presentations. Finding the time to practice (both on my own and as a group). |
| Alexa Wilcox, Business Development Coordinator | My main challenges are developing a deck's story |
| Kate Andreeva, VP Advanced Analytics | Connecting with the client on an emotional level through captivating storytelling and engaging presentation |
| John DeGray, Creative Director | Slowing the pace down. I often move too quickly. And may get wordy if i fall off cue. |
| Derek O'Rourke - Account Director | Design is my biggest challenge, but we have people who contribute there. |
| Jen Herbert, Brand Strategy Director | I can work on my simplicity and tailoring the level of information I share in a deck to the type of client & presentation. I could also get better at fielding questions on the fly that I wasn't able to prepare for – this can sometimes shake me. |
| Christine Mooney, VP Business Development | Very few people at this agency think through the lens of storytelling and presentations designed to sell. They are very smart and capable individuals, but tend to focus efforts on being very tactical and creating slides that are hard to look at / interpret. My role on the business development team is to coach people to think about what we're selling, but this often comes with a lot of hand holding, workshopping and "taking the wheel" (ie. changing slides myself) instead of having teams be able to own their aspects of the process. |
| Laura Nelli, Senior Creative Director | Closed minds and clients that don't understand overarching strategy and instead are tacticians. |
| Christine Campbell, Associate Creative Director (Copy) | I do have a tendency to get nervous in bigger presentations with a lot at stake and with senior leaders present (pitches in particular), so being able to not let my nerves get in the way of communicating when the stakes are high is something I continually work at. |
| Molly Miloscia, Associate Director, Social Strategy | conciseness |
| Laila Lynch, Group Account Director | I find it personally challenging to start from a blank slate. I can contextualize frameworks, refine case studies, adopt models but am less confident in authoring presentations and thought pieces from scratch. I'm more comfortable leading and stewarding. |
| Jason Brown. Group Account Director | Keeping the conversation on task and not spinning off in different directions of our goals |
| John Krochune - VP, Owned Media | Being persuasive. Convincing we're better than the other agencies they are evaluating. |
| Meg Lake, Associate Creative Director | removing fluff, timing. |
| Liz Furze, Creative Director | I struggle with building a cohesive story in decks and letting the work shine—I need help figuring out how to push back on strategy to let creative come forward and speak the loudest. |
| Jennifer Carroll VP, PR & Influencer at AMP Agency | I need to improve my deck writing skills as I tend to write more than I present. Also, I think I take too much time getting to the point. Regarding my presentation skills,I need to work on exuding more confidence when presenting. |
| Samantha Thu, VP of Media | Tend to rush, perhaps too much text per slide |
| Julia DelValle, Account Director | Creating a strategic setup, especially if there are no insights available. |
| Sascha Lock - SVP, Media & Performance Analytics | With presenting, finding the balance of when I script vs. free-flow to hit on the key points. I tend to do really well with free-flow (vs. scripting) as I come off more genuine, but fear that when doing so, I will miss key points that we need to communicate |
| Eric Sutton, Creative Director | Avoiding throwing too much in. Figuring out what to cut to keep it focused. |
| Tony Colafrancesco; Director, Paid Search | Articulating insights in laymen terms and having effective visualizations |
| Andie Jewett SVP, Business Development | Coaching team members to hit their points, coaching them to story tell and be self aware when they are losing the audience |
| Greer Pearce, SVP Brand & Innovation | Deck development. I am stronger than many of my teammates here, but still struggle to nail the most impactful narrative and it can take a long time to get there. |
| Sam Nicholson, Associate Director Social Strategy | Creative style, especially in a digital presentation environment |
| Paula Berkel, VP Media | Clearly communicating all points visually and without a lot of words, but still getting the point across. Still get nervous which can throw me off |
| Kate Smith, Account Director | The most challenging part of deck writing to me is figuring out how to divide and conquer, and where certain departments' roles start and end, especially when dealing with high-visibility decks like annual planning. |
| Any final thoughts for us as we prepare to lead you through the training program? Overall, what do you think the agency most has to do in order to improve its presentations? | |
| Jessica Dancewicz, VO Account | I think we are all a little rusty since Covid, so looking forward to this jump starting us all again! |
| Kate Andreeva, VP Advanced Analytics | strong presenters that exhibit authority and confidence, able to lead the conversation and engage the client in dialogue, quickly adjusting to the flow of the presentation |
| John DeGray, Creative Director | Create the narrative sooner and allow key players time to own the presentation. |
| Derek O'Rourke - Account Director | I think we need more people with stronger voices driving the process. Our process tends to be; accounts introduces everyone and sets it up, then creative presents concepts for the bulk of the time. I'd like to see more players play bigger roles so our presentations are more ensemble and less monologue. |
| Christine Mooney, VP Business Development | Getting our team members to think about the headline of the slide / what they want the client to take away from it instead of the content on the slide. |
| Laura Nelli, Senior Creative Director | I have no idea as I am new to both AMP & Upshot |
| Christine Campbell, Associate Creative Director (Copy) | Tightening up our decks would be really great. And, in general, giving the team the tools we needs to feel not only confident but truly engage and compel clients would be wildly beneficial. |
| Jason Brown. Group Account Director | Clean and digestible content in presentations. Reminding our clients why they work with us. |
| Meg Lake, Associate Creative Director | trainings like this |
| Liz Furze, Creative Director | We need everyone to be on the same page about what makes for a strong presentation, we need stronger storytelling capabilities, and we need help with learning what elements help best sell work. Of course the work itself needs to be strong, but i think we lack confidence in what works to present the work in the best light. |
| Julia DelValle, Account Director | The agency could benefit from thinking about presentations as client deliverables. |
| Sascha Lock - SVP, Media & Performance Analytics | Our agency needs to understand (1) what a compelling story/solid presentation is, and the process of making one and (2) how to present it well as a team, that comes off as experienced vs. junior/inexperienced. |
| Eric Sutton, Creative Director | The challenge is to do more with less. Be more surprising & impactful but not over explain. |
| Tony Colafrancesco; Director, Paid Search | Training both senior and junior staff |
| Andie Jewett SVP, Business Development | Feedback we have received on pitches that kills me: "tactic vomit," "Creative was not memorable," "You have phd level content that you are presenting at an undergrad level" |
| Greer Pearce, SVP Brand & Innovation | Get trained on some basic principles and then hold ourselves accountable to practice, practice, practice delivery. |
| Paula Berkel, VP Media | Looking forward to hearing ideas to improve! |
| Kate Smith, Account Director | I think a standardized workflow and more clearly outlined roles & responsibilities across the organization would help streamline processes for deck creation/presentations and beyond. |