A Certain Age

Probably both are true to a greater or lesser extentLast week Channel 4 in the UK screened an excellent documentary called Mad Women This took as its premise the rise of women particularly in creative roles in what used to be maledominated ad agencies The program started in the 197039s and ran through to the present daySetting aside the whole point of the piece the rise to prominence of ad women as a byproduct the program reestablished that ads could be fun The old Ad Association finding that more people preferred the ads to the programs was wheeled out but regardless of that and of the undeniable fact that there was a load of dross along with the occasional sparks of brilliance there were some great adsFurthermore campaigns did effect change Dove39s quotCurvesquot campaign aka quotThe Campaign for Real Beautyquot did change the way women were portrayed at least some of the timeThere were more modern examples of women leading the conversation on display too Maltesers for oneAnd Dove has continued to set a high bar with its quotselfesteemquot workI watch films like this and feel proud that the marketing industry spends on such themes and that the ad business can still produce emotional stirring filmsThe Channel 4 film mainly featured creatives although a good case could be made for a sisterepisode on the media agency worldAlthough a quotwomen in mediaquot discussion could build a strong story around the rise of women to leadership positions in media agencies it would struggle to make the point that there has been a parallel change in the output that the public seesThis is obvious consumers don39t see media plans they see ads But there is still a point to be made even if it39s less about the rise of women and more to do with the way media agencies are fundedOur excessive use of social media the communication channel where ads are most disliked and resented by those exposed to them could be moderated by an honest assessment of the available research by the media agency worldAgencies are there to advise clients to offer their best unbiased objective advice Instead they go with the flow support the easier option They donamp8217t push the unpopular line even if itamp8217s supported by the evidence Why else would they continue to ignore ad fraud Why else promote social media channels who make up audience dataMedia people have drifted away from the ad business Theyamp8217ve drifted away from ads Look at the holding companies Did WPP start Mindshare or acquire The Media Business from which emerged MediaCom to improve the advertising They did notHolding company media operations are about one thing and one thing only moneyIt39s an open secret that it39s the likes of Zenith and Starcom that keep Publicis profitable That GroupM makes far higher margins than any other WPP opco That OMG in effect underwrites the Omnicom creative agenciesThereamp8217s nothing inherently wrong with making money or high margins but where I part company with my friends in the holding company media operations is that in my world you do a great job for your client justify a high fee and invest in your peopleFor this I am called naamp239ve but the evidence is out there that clients will pay higher fees if they can be convinced that they achieve greater real value for money We are just rubbish at making that case so we carry on charging lower fees in the surefire knowledge that we can make up the shortfall elsewhereAfter all itamp8217s a lot easier to say quotweamp8217ll charge you lessquot than to explain that quality costs moneyDespite the hit from the transparency movement the emergence of adtech has saved the agenciesamp8217 financial bacon and delivered a whole new area of complexity where most clients know little including how to pay for what they get So the large agencies cozy up to the adtech businesses and continue to make money from any number of sources besides and beyond the end client whilst running the business on a mix of cheap juniors and staff quotborrowedquot from the likes of GoogleThere are exceptions amongst the independent media specialists like the7stars Craft and December 19 but the industry ultimately is judged by the actions of the largestAnd there are pockets of excellence within the networks too But as a wise consultant one told me itamp8217s all about the showgirls attracting you into the casino The real business is done in the windowless back office away from the prying eyes of customersAwards books conference speeches aside at its core the media agency business is not about clients and ads and is about technology hidden deals and marginI find that dishonest And sad But then I am quotof a certain agequotPosted at MediaVillage through the Thought Leadership selfpublishing platformClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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