A view from Staff

IPA Adaptathon focuses on alliances

Leading figures from the client, agency and intermediary sides of the advertising industry gathered at Altitude, London on 3rd October 2013 for the first in a series of five IPA- led Adaptathons that will take place over the next eighteen months.

Adaptathons are part of IPA President Ian Priest’s long-term agenda to drive commercial creativity through a series of cross-industry initiatives, starting with better relationships and including diversification, agility, profit and talent.

The day focused on ‘Alliances’; the relationships between clients and agencies and how they could be improved for greater commercial gain. Says Priest; "Relationships are the high road to collaboration. The better the relationship; the greater the results".

Delegates came together to listen to a series of speakers including Julie Hay, John Kieron and client agency partnerships such as John Lewis’s Craig Inglis and Adam and Eve DDB’s James Murphy – who described their pairing as "happily disfunctional".

After lunch, delegates took part in ‘hackathon-style’ ADAPTlabs to explore how their relationships could be improved. The buzz and momentum of the day was ably managed by BBC TV and Radio 4 presenter, Evan Davis.