4A's Hosts Strategy Festival and Jay Chiat Awards for Strategic Excellence

NEW YORK, Sept. 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The 4A's, the leading trade association representing the advertising agency business, today revealed the names of approximately 20 speakers who will participate in its Strategy Festival 2015, during which winners of the 19th edition of the Jay Chiat Awards will be announced. The Festival will take place in New York City, Sunday, Oct. 4 through Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015.

The focus of this year's Festival will be on inspiring today's planner and offering hands-on training in essential skills—hence the event's "Planning 3.0" tagline and workshops on subjects including brand planning, strategic speed, content marketing and the rise of the cultural strategist. Additionally, this year for the first time media planners are being programmed for and included in the event.

"The 4A's member agencies are the cream of the crop when it comes to strategic thinking, and StratFest is a great opportunity to bring these members together to discuss the evolution of the industry and how these changes impact creative thinking and strategic approach," said Mollie Rosen, EVP Agency Relations and Membership. "Engaging in these discussions with industry leaders will also help prepare planners for the future, as the industry continues to evolve."

The Festival has three distinct days of programming that include a leadership forum, keynote addresses and dozens of workshops with industry leaders. The conference will also celebrate inspiration from the strategy community with presentations of the winning cases from this year's Jay Chiat Awards.

Speakers include:

• Adam Ferrier, consumer psychologist and global chief strategy officer and partner at Cummins&Partners, who will share lessons from psychologists, criminals and cool people on how to change behaviors.
• Daniel Cherry III, chief marketing and innovation officer for the Prudential Center and the New Jersey Devils, who will provide an inside perspective on the business of creativity.
• Alexa Clay, founder of Wisdom Hackers and co-author of The Misfit Economy, who will discuss subculture and innovation from unlikely places.
• Venetia Taylor, strategist for Google, who will outline an engineering approach to brand planning.
• Barry Wacksman, EVP, global chief strategy officer for R/GA, who will be delivering the morning keynote on the final day of the Festival.

The winners of the 2015 Jay Chiat Awards for Strategic Excellence will be announced throughout the day on Oct. 5 and Oct. 6. Earlier this month, the 4A's released the short list of nominees, which includes 35 entries in six categories: Global Campaign, National, Nonprofit, Product Service/Creation, Regional, and Media Strategy—the latter of which is new in 2015.

"Marketing communications and media planning continue to evolve and multiply, but excellent strategy remains a cornerstone of impactful consumer engagements," says Bill Tucker, EVP of Media and Data for the 4A's. "Through our Strategy Festival and the Jay Chiat Awards, we recognize the best strategic thinking in our industry, and we do so with a specific intent—to get the entire industry to see that great strategies lead to ideas that engage us, move us to action and even change the way we see the world." 

The Strategy Festival will take place near the South Street Seaport at Convene at 32 Old Slip (between Water Street and FDR). Registration and ticket purchase are required for all attendees.

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 JWT, McKinney/New York, Firstborn, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, and numerous others.

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 19th 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 place at the right time to address the advertising industry's most critical business issues. We provide leadership, advocacy, guidance and community to our members and the industry at large, with proprietary access to the people, information and tools needed to make smarter management decisions. Our mission is to help agencies become more successful. Visit the 4A's at www.aaaa.org.

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