97% of Agencies Say Creativity Fuels Business Impact Amid COVID-19

The American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s), a membership-based U.S. trade association for the advertising and marketing communications industry, today revealed the results of its 2021 Impact of Advertising Survey which shows that creativity positively impacted most member agencies’ business outcomes and relationships with clients.

“The findings from our 2021 Impact of Advertising Survey show that creative thinking is impacting every aspect of agency business for the better,” said Marla Kaplowitz, President & CEO of the 4A’s. “From campaign work, to gaining market share, to strengthening client-agency relationships – this prolonged time of crisis has posed its challenges as well as opportunities to learn how to work smarter and make a real impact.”

Conducted among 4A’s agency members, the survey reported that 97% of respondents find that their agency’s work helped their top clients gain market share during 2020.

In addition, the 2021 Impact of Advertising Survey found that:

•     92% of respondents rated the health of their top agency/client relationships as healthy or very healthy.
•     Close to 71% of respondents believe their agency campaigns and programs are closely linked to all or the majority of their top clients’ business outcomes.
•     65% of respondents also reported that their agency campaigns and programs helped the majority of their top clients adapt to doing busines during the challenges of 2020.
•     Over 70% of agencies believe their top clients recognize and acknowledge their contributions to their clients’ businesses.

“Seeing a boost in client market share during the past year goes hand in hand with how instrumental agency campaigns have become in supporting business outcomes, a trend that gained significant traction as result of the need for brands to respond to the pandemic,” said Kaplowitz.