4A's Hosts 19th Annual Strategy Festival Celebrating Bold Ideas and Strategic Excellence

NEW YORK, Sept.13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The 4A's, the leading trade association representing the advertising agency business, will host its 19th annual Strategy Festival in NYC, Oct. 16-18. With this year's theme of "Big, Bold, Brave," the festival highlights how planners can separate risk from big ideas to help agencies and clients drive success.

This year's event includes three days of keynote speakers, workshops, panel discussions and case studies—beginning with the welcome reception and the Jay Chiat Awards presentation on Oct. 16.

"The 4A's Strategy Festival is a great opportunity for our member agencies to come together and celebrate the best strategic thinkers in our industry and the importance of the planning community," said Mollie Rosen, EVP, agency relations and membership. "We have some amazing speakers this year who will be able to share vastly different experiences—from 11-year-old Mikaila Ulmer of Me & the Bees to experienced innovators such as Gary Vaynerchuk."

Speakers include:

• Mikaila Ulmer, president and CEO of Me & the Bees Lemonade, launched her business on the show "Shark Tank" after landing a deal with Daymond John, and now the 11-year-old is a social entrepreneur on a mission to save the bees.
• Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of VaynerMedia, is a prolific angel investor and venture capitalist with one of the hottest social-first digital agencies focused on storytelling.
• Virginia Heffernan, writer for The New York Times, is author of the book "Magic and Loss: The Internet as Art," which explores the intersection of the internet, digital culture and creativity.
• Ben Jones, the creative director leading the Unskippable Labs team at Google, works with brands and their creative and media agencies to help them adapt to the digital age.
• Chloe Gottlieb, executive creative director at R/GA, specializes in creating connected experiences for clients and their customers by leading hundreds of multidisciplinary teams to create breakthrough services, products and communications for major global brands.
• Ken Muench, chief marketing strategy officer of Yum! Brands, spearheads marketing strategy globally for Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC. He recently helped reposition the Pizza Hut brand globally and launch Taco Bell breakfast, training dozens of marketing departments around the world.

The winners of the prestigious Jay Chiat Awards for Strategic Excellence, which recognize top strategic thinkers in the marketing, media and advertising industries around the world, will be announced on the opening night of the conference. This year, a People's Choice Award, voted on by the audience, will be awarded on Oct. 18, as will the Grand Prix Award. In September, the 4A's released the short list of nominees, which includes 34 entries in six categories: Global Strategy, Connection Strategy, National Strategy, Nonprofit, Product Service/Creation and Regional Strategy.

The Strategy Festival will take place at the Andaz Wall Street Hotel at 75 Wall Street (between Pearl St. and Water St.). To register, please visit: http://www.aaaa.org/event/4as-strategy-festival-2016/.

The conference was programmed by the 4A's Strategy Committee and chaired by Ed Cotton with Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners and senior strategy leaders from 4A's member agencies such as SapientNitro, R/GA, FCB Chicago, McCann, 360i, Maxus and MEC.

For further details, please visit: http://stratfest.aaaa.org/.

About the 4A's Strategy Festival
The 4A's Strategy Festival celebrates the strategist community inside agencies and is home to the 4A's Jay Chiat Awards. The festival examines the intersection of creative strategy and business opportunity, helping planners and strategists unlock their entrepreneurial spirit to innovate and grow with their advertising agencies and clients. The festival features notables from the periphery of the agency world—academics, researchers, marketers and authors—for inspiration that will help hone the core skills of creative executives and make them better at their craft. Additional information can be found at http://stratfest.aaaa.org/. Follow the conversation: #4AsStratFest.

About the 4A's Jay Chiat Awards for Strategic Excellence
Now in its 20th year, the Jay Chiat Awards are global awards recognizing the best strategic thinking in marketing, media and advertising around the world. Learn more about the Jay Chiat Awards here: http://stratfest.aaaa.org/jaychiats/.

About the 4A's
The 4A's is the catalyst for bringing together the right people in the right places at the right time to address the advertising industry's most critical business issues. It provides leadership, advocacy, guidance and community to its members and the industry at large, with proprietary access to the people, information and tools needed to make smarter management decisions. Its mission is to help agencies become more successful. Visit the 4A's at www.aaaa.org.

Contact:           Samantha Wolf
                        Havas PR
                        Tel. 646-515-3574
                        [email protected]

SOURCE 4A's

Related Links

http://www.aaaa.org