Consultant Gives Clients Free Advice Following Media Transparency Reports!

Thatamp8217s right your media agency is your business partner That is the essence of the Media Transparency report issued by the ANA ebiquity and Firm Decisions which followed the K2 Media Transparency Report Taking you to lunch or even giving you Super Bowl tickets does not make them your friend It is all about your business It has always been all about your business And as a business partner your media agency is entitled to generate profits using any means allowable by law while adhering to your contractual agreement If that concept is not crystal clear please reread this paragraph If you already knew this but took the easy road down the same path as your predecessors you are excused but you are on notice As Bob Dylan wrote more than 50 years ago amp8220the times they are a changingamp8217amp8221 This in fact is the fundamental takeaway from the Media Transparency reportThe report echoes the call by Bill Duggan of the ANA for clients to establish a Chief Media Officer position Dugganamp8217s suggestion was partially due to the amp8220increasing complexity and fragmentation of the media environmentamp8221 But in fact media has always been complex and fragmented as compared to the tools available for their analytics One might think it was easy to be a media specialist when there were only three TV networks to compare before cable but back in the day media professionals had to do it with calculators Network by network Show by show Night by night Demographic by demographicComplex Try comparing the male demographics on Tuesday at 9 pm on CBS in the first second and fourth quarters Then evaluate how HUTs trended over the three years prior Then include competitive programming and the trends by genre Then do it again for every time period in prime time Be sure all the NTI pocket pieces are available and there are fresh batteries in that calculatorOf course as noted in the ANA ebiquity Firm Decisions Transparency Report the evolution of digital as a meaningful tool has indeed added a layer of complexity to mediaamp8217s role in the marketing process But advertisersamp8217 DNA seemingly has never included the willingness to embrace mediaamp8217s natural evolution with a better and deeper understanding of new or emerging channels For example if new retail sales channels were on the horizon online etailing for example most clients would be all over it learning how to maximize sales and profits and beating the competition But itamp8217s just media so advertisers expect their agencies to be the experts and act in their best interest Clients have always relied heavily on business partners to process evaluate recommend and implement media investments Most marketers never really understood cableamp8217s impact on TV viewing when that was the new medium Nor did they truly understand its impact on their media spend The business partner took care of that Many clients feared that asking too many questions in a meeting with their agency or with their own management might reveal how little they actually understood Besides clients didnamp8217t like seeing their friends on the agency media team squirming under challenging questions If you are comfortable with the status quo please read the latest Media Transparency report or see the Bob Dylan quote aboveBill Duggan is correct in calling for marketers to pay closer attention to the media function as they should have all along But they donamp8217t necessarily need a Chief Media Officer What they clearly do need is a knowledgeable experienced and smart Client Media Advocate Many large clients with internal media departments believe their media specialists have the high level insights and experience necessary to know and ask their business partners the right questions and comprehend their answers While that may be true in some instances client media teams more often spend their time putting out fires and shifting inventory to ensure individual brand weight goals are met They have little time for the transparency revealed by more probing questions such as amp8220Why is my agency recommending a new cable network Why is my agency adding a new mobile platform Why is my agency recommending a media element that is counterintuitive or new or old or one we used unsuccessfully in the past Whyamp8221Over the years advertisers have allowed even encouraged the clientagency interaction to be led by the agency amp8220Not Iamp8221 say you Mr or Ms Client Well did you really understand all the elements of the cross platform schedule you just approved How and why each piece was included and its relationship to each other and your strategy Iamp8217m certain there are some clients who rose to high enough levels at their former agencies so that they have a deep enough background to fully steward their media investments well Others not so much Remember your agency contacts are sometimes doing the bidding of their superiors who may be offshore with entirely different goalsLet me just ask the simplest questions of every large advertiser represented by any holding company media agency Why are your network TV upfronts negotiated on a increase or decrease from the prior year How does your agency use your spending power to leverage their smaller clients Is that a value to the agency or you What do you get from that If advertisers are rushing in droves to shift their budgets away from tv to digital why are your TV CPMs increasing by double digit percentages this year Didnamp8217t they always say it was about supply and demand If your media agency is so big with all that clout why canamp8217t they fix what doesnamp8217t work for you if indeed they consider your best interests before their ownWhile the most recent Transparency Report teases out many of the specific actions clients and agencies should address in order to resolve this very basic piece of a business relationship the foundational question is How did it come to this And the short answer is We allowed it because we thought it made our jobs easier After all itamp8217s just mediaAs we know client marketers rightly commit an inordinate amount of time and effort to seek out and then work closely with the agencies they determine will best help them achieve their goals Oftentimes that is the end of the due diligence when it should be the beginning It is up to the client to regularly monitor and measure the performance of their business partners to ensure that their very significant media investments result in true brand benefits This revelation was alluded to in K2amp8217s Media Transparency Report and followed up with specific recommendations from the ANA ebiquity Firm Decisions report Historically it has escaped the clientagency media process since forever Think about it If your truly awful brand new TV commercial aired this week in amp8220Americaamp8217s Got Talentamp8221 your YouTube channel and your website homepage see Nationwide Insuranceamp8217s Super Bowl fiasco you will surely have an unpleasant email from your management awaiting you at the very least On the other hand if your media agency overpaid for those placements by 100000 who would know Camp8217mon be honest Would you even knowMy free advice includes the recommendation that you pay close attention to the media part of your business That you understand your media strategy the alternatives and why the agencyamp8217s recommendations do or do not make sense That is your obligation to your brand and your company That is true transparencyNo charge Youamp8217re welcomeThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet management or associated bloggersamp160

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Consultant Gives Clients Free Advice Following Media Transparency Reports!

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Allan Linderman

AARP and the Ad Council Encourage People in Their “Pretirement” Years to Take Key Steps Toward Saving - Ad Council InSites

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Click to Make Your 2025 Contribution to Support the MediaVillage Education Foundation

Consultant Gives Clients Free Advice Following Media Transparency Reports!

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Allan Linderman

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