It’s not just Hillary Clinton who seems to think “Stronger Together” is a good idea.

In his opening remarks at the Association of National Advertisers annual Masters of Marketing Conference in Orlando this week, organization president and CEO Bob Liodice announced its new “Masters Circle” initiative, designed to address the increasing challenges faced by marketers every day. 

“Marketers command the marketing decision-making process, but they’re not engaged or leading the industry’s agenda,” Liodice said. “It’s abundantly clear that marketers must take their industry back. CMOs can no longer let others do the heavy lifting. If they want something, they have to lead the way.”

To meet those challenges, Liodice said it is imperative that chief marketing officers come together to aggressively pursue an aligned agenda designed to establish new parameters of leadership that will allow them to “take back the industry.”

The group’s mission is fourfold. First, it will “lead the way” to call for a strong, transparent and fraud-free ad supply that is viewable, measurable, accountable and is centered around data and analytics by taking leadership roles in industry programs such as the Trustworthy Accountability Group and Making Measurement Make Sense. 

The group will also work to support issues such as gender equality, multicultural marketing and diversity and social responsibility, and serve as “fervent advocates” for media and marketing supply chain constituents by participating in the Digital Advertising Alliance and the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council and “support organization that push back against overreach from the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission.” It will also work to develop talent through industry organizations and within individual company marketing departments, with a particular focus on digital communications and technological advancements. 

“As an industry, we need to get out of our own way and refocus ourselves on driving growth and innovation,” Liodice said. “We are on the right track, but we need CMOs to turn up the leadership dial. We cannot leave this to others to do. We must get involved and take the action we need — to build our brands and drive our business results. When CMOs do that, everyone wins.”