The GMA Group, Inc: Trusted Advisor

Consider this: The primary mission of an agency is to produce memorable campaigns to positively reinforce the selling message of its client.

The primary mission of The GMA Group Inc. is to generate maximum value for its client from each production dollar spent producing those campaigns, whether for consumer based or business-to-business advertising.

We provide timely cost and technical information allowing our clients to make educated, actionable decisions that yield quantifiable results.  In today's pay-for-performance culture, financial accountability and transparency of a complicated and frustrating process is not an option, it's essential.

The GMA Group Inc. difference: It's on the Line.  With over 20 years experience in broadcast, print, collateral, shows and exhibits, electronic media, and agency operations, The GMA Group and its team of production and advertising financial professionals clearly understand the "hows and whys" of the production process from inception to final invoice.

We evaluate the entire advertising production sequence including work flow, the actual production processes used by your agencies, and financials on a line item basis. We develop systems and procedures that reduce client and agency staff time, and maximize resource utilization. Why?

SARBNES-OXLEY! While each company we work with is different in how it manages its marketing spend, we've found that:

• Finance management often perceives marketing as the department with the weakest financial and operational controls.
• The relationship between marketing and finance is often strained, at best
• Many companies don't have formal production procedures
• Finance often doesn't understand how market, advertising (and media) operate
• Oftentimes marketers are unclear about how their agencies manage production
• Some marketers are loathe to "disrupt" their relationships by auditing their agencies and associated vendors

Here's an example. Many agencies have internal profit centers (e.g. print, artwork, retouching, typesetting) that bill the internal "customer" separately. They charge what the market can bear and billing varies from agency to agency. There are business standards and price points for each; and we know them. It's complicated, but always subject to negotiation.

Added-Value, more than the bottom line. It's the things in between... Many CMOs are making the conscious decision to turn an internal SOX review into an oft-needed but seldom performed opportunity for a process and systems review. The GMA Group, Inc can:

• Help determine and document the processes and procedures for performing the various functions of your marketing department
• Determine that adequate approvals and systems are in place for developing the marketing budget
• Ensure that invoices are accurate and have appropriate support
• Ensure that financial reports to management are correct
• Identify and correct opportunities for potential "overspend"
• Ensure the client is "getting what is paid for"
• Identify any deficiencies, and help implement best practices

The GMA Group's ultimate goal is to bring back intuition, increase productivity, and make the advertising production process easier to understand. We provide an objective, knowledgeable and informative point of view and become a valuable addition to your advertising team. It's exposure and experience. Some of our clients like to call it "seasoning."

Our objective is to provide a total cost-saving solution in a fair and unbiased manner.

It's what sets us apart from the competition.