• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, February 28, 2017

Not even officially in her new position as President of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, Marla Kaplowitz, currently CEO of GroupM's MEC, believes the most pressing issue her organization must take on is the mending of fences between the 4A's and its marketer counterpart, the Association of National Advertisers.

The relationship between the two organizations has been tenuous of late after the two could not come to agreement on issues surrounding agency transparency as it relates to agency kickbacks. Kaplowitz thinks that rift is counterproductive and fixing it has "got to happen this year."

Speaking to AdExchanger, Kaplowitz said: “The most important thing looking forward is to focus in on the common ground and make sure that everyone is aligned on trying to help clients grow their business and have strong client-agency partnerships.”

Of working with her new counterpart at the ANA, Marc Pritchard, Kaplowitz added: “Marc has been pretty clear that the negative narrative against agencies needs to stop. I’m really looking forward to building those bridges and re-establishing that partnership.”

You mean the end of agencies and clients bitching about one another and actually working together toward a common goal? Sheesh, where's the fun in that? Sounds totally boring!