• Meet a Member: Wade Franks

    December 09, 2013

    Wade Franks leads Torque Creative—the 62-person internal agency at TTI Group, an international company that designs, manufactures and markets power tools and household appliances for brands ranging from Ryobi and Craftsman to Hoover and Oreck. Torque Creative was recently honored as a finalist for 2 …

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  • Four Keys to Effective Leadership

    December 04, 2013

    Nothing serves an organization better…than leadership that knows what it wants, communicates those intentions, positions itself correctly, and empowers its workforce. —Warren Bennis, Author

    I came across this quote early in my study of leadership. In one form or another it has guided my work as a …

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  • Valentine vs. Farrell: Leadership Lessons from the Boston Red Sox

    November 25, 2013

    This month at IHAF, we’re focusing on Leadership. And if you can forgive this Bostonian for drawing on the recent World Series victory for a lesson in leadership, I think even those who don’t follow baseball will be intrigued at how a dramatic change in managerial style enabled the Red Sox to make …

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  • Student Program Helps Discover Retain Top Talent

    November 18, 2013

    The challenges associated with recruiting, hiring and retaining top talent are seemingly constant for in-house agency leaders. That’s why I was delighted to learn about a program that our friends at Discover, an IHAF member company, developed to pipeline top talent.

    Discover’s Marketing Leadership …

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  • Onboarding: Essential to Hiring Success

    November 06, 2013

    Companies are spending more time than ever interviewing potential new hires. In fact, it’s fairly common for a candidate to interview with 8-10 people, prepare formal presentations, and then wait months for a decision. While a thorough interviewing process is prudent, the effort to assess …

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  • Retaining Top Talent

    October 28, 2013

    The recent IHAF conference demonstrated just how important talent is to the success of an in-house agency. All of the speakers noted how important it is to continuously challenge and stimulate the intellectual curiosity and creativity of their teams. Retaining top employees is a key to the success …

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  • An Outside Perspective on an In-House Partner

    October 14, 2013

    Great relationships are based on trust, and working as part of a team is no different. It takes serious foundational effort to build trust in a group setting—and it doesn’t happen overnight. But it’s necessary before any meaningful exchange of ideas or collaboration is possible. It’s one thing to …

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  • Partnership Principles

    September 30, 2013

    Partner has become quite a buzz word in the ad business. The big news last week was that Twitter added CBS and the NFL to its “stable of advertising partners.” The 10th annual Advertising Week conference also took place last week in NYC, with a featured session on client/agency creative partners. …

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  • I Saw It All

    September 18, 2013

    The IHAF Awards Show judging event took place last week. For a full day, six judges gathered to evaluate and assess, calculate and debate—selecting category winners and one Best of Show. Here’s what Will Burns had say about the day.

    “I saw sharks. I saw bugs. I saw boxing gloves, and almost used …

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  • Power Up!

    August 14, 2013

    As a Creative Director for one of the nation’s leading retailers, I’m always looking for ways to keep our team inspired. What I’ve found is that summer is a great time to recharge creative batteries and build camaraderie among the group. Here are five ways to energize your team this summer: …

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