Anthony Romano | Source | CEO at Laughlin Constable

Anthony - CEO of Laughlin Constable, an AdAge 2024 Small Agency of the Year, has operated at the center of creativity, data and technology for over 30 years, driving growth for some of the world’s most iconic brands like Porsche, Harley-Davidson, Samsung, Pepsi, Hershey’s, Best Buy, MasterCard, Loews Hotels, Citibank, Braun, Verizon and Ralph Lauren. He was named to Campaign’s Digital 40 Over 40 list in recognition of a career rooted in digital marketing innovation. He’s the former CEO at BBH NY, US Chief of Client Services at R/GA, when the agency earned Agency of the Year, and the former President of Wunderman Thompson’s Midwest region. Anthony graduated from NYU, where he studied marketing, communications, studio art, and played Division III basketball.

Just some of the topics of interest for Anthony to discuss or speak on include:

* The Agency-Client Relationship of The Future. The headlines often read, “What does the agency of the future look like?” But that’s only half the question. We almost never see the inverse, “What does the client of the future look like?” One of the most common phrases we hear when chatting about failed client-agency relationships is, “Clients get the agencies they deserve.” It may sound one sided, but that reality plays out consistently. Just as there’s a formula to being “a good agency”, there’s a formula for being “a good client”. Effective CMO leaders already work hard to get the most out of their own internal teams, so how can they apply that same logic to their agency partners? As someone who’s been on both sides of the client-agency equation, Anthony has developed his 7 commandments for Marketers on how to build long-standing client-agency relationships in this Connected Age.

* Personal Experience Brands. Brands are either ‘making it personal’ or the making themselves obsolete. The other words, the most relevant, modern brands today are what we call, “Personal Experience Brands” (or PXBs). Those brands do 5 things really well. They authentically stand for something bigger than what they sell. They connect to culture in truly meaningful ways. They’re human-centered with their use of data. They’re innovative in their uses of media and technology. And they’re in a constant state of experimentation. In this vein, we’ve created a proprietary research study called “The PXB Factor”, which measures a brand’s relevance and impact on the heart and minds of consumers, relative to other brands in its category and to the most elite brands in the world. Anthony will share his take on PXBs and why it’s an important benchmark for all brands.

* Agencies Should Think Like a Modern CMO. The role of the CMO has been constantly evolving and getting more complex over the past decade. They not only oversee every aspect of marketing, including branding, media, and customer experience, but many have also taken the reins over revenue, data, innovation and technology practices. The outcome of this pace of evolution has driven CMO tenure to be at its lowest level in over a decade (just 39 months according to the latest annual Spencer Stuart study). It might seem presumptuous, but agencies can play a vital role in helping their CMO partners to be more successful and extend their lifespan. Anthony shares his 5 key actions agency people can apply every day to think and attack their jobs through a CMO’s lens to help fuel the CMO’s momentum, effectiveness and longevity.

* Leadership in a New World Model. After 30 years in the marketing and advertising business, inside various agency and client-side models, working for almost every major advertising holding company in the industry, serving as a CEO and president roles over regional offices, and working under some of the most iconic and awarded leaders in the agency business, Anthony has formulated his views, beliefs and philosophies on leadership in today’s new generation of hybrid work, in a creatively-driven business.