Is Media Agency Management Blind to Changing Client Priorities?

There39s a fine line between harking back to quotthe good old daysquot whilst sucking on a pipe and criticizing those who39ve come later and referencing the past with the aim of avoiding making the same mistakes again For example it39s become rather fashionable to believe that many of the problems facing the advertising industry today started with the breakup of the oldstyle fullservice agencies Those of us who worked in fullservice agencies and there are one or two of us left believe it or not don39t agreeCertainly it39s easier to work in an integrated fashion when you39re all in the same space but the distance between certain media people and certain creatives had less to do with physical distance and more to do with attitudes and states of mindAt the same time the best media people today have no problem working closely with the best creatives regardless of where both sitSome like MullenLowe39s MediaHub and VCCP Media have finetuned the old model and made it fit for purpose in today39s world Others will no doubt copy themMedia agencies started and flourished because those running fullservice agencies in the majority of cases account people undervalued the media department39s contribution and growing importanceAgency managements didn39t spot the coming storm and to the great surprise of account people everywhere advertisers did Hence the massive media agency business of todayIgnoring something because it doesn39t fit your own narrow narrative is dangerous Account people saw themselves as guardians of the client39s business I could fill a book with examples of arrogance condescension threats and worseThe account guys saw themselves as running the business Everyone else was there to do the coloringinClients even then wanted access to those doing the coloringinToday media agency managements are in danger of making the same mistake when it comes to planning and researchIn the era dominated by deals and trading media planning became a frontofhouse irrelevance to many management teams crucial at pitch time but to be subsumed into agency deals the rest of the timeNow that we39re in the data era there is an equally dangerous focus on automated tools often at the expense of creative human thoughtThe clue is in the word quottoolsquot The best media strategies and plans mix creativity with data data is accessed by tools It39s dangerous to pick up a tool without knowing what it can and can39t doYou may not know how it39s constructed but you have to know what it39s forAudience measurement is a key tool You can39t do your job without it but if you pick up the bargain pack from the basket by the till the odds are you39ll find it39s the wrong thing for the taskAnyone who39s tried to bash in a nail with a screwdriver will know what I meanAudience measurement might be arcane and complicated and the people responsible for it don39t exactly make the subject accessible but it is the bedrock of so much of what media agencies doMedia agency managements don39t need to understand the ins and outs of measurement but they do need to encourage and provide support and leadership to those who doIf they don39t do this and most haven39t and aren39t then they give up the right to complain that the tool created doesn39t meet their needs In the vernacular they become ruletakers not rulemakersToo many media agency managers are like the account men of the fullservice era They39re blind to changes in their clients39 priorities believing that above all else what he or she wants is the old model The only question is what color they would like it inClients want integrated thinking across communication forms and disciplines This used to be so obvious a statement as to be unnecessary does anyone else remember YampampR39s quotwhole eggquot approach or Leo Burnett39s ICS but today39s oversiloed industry needs reminding of its importanceAt this point we can cue every conference speech ever given or trade press article written by a media agency CEO over the last five years Everyone loves talking about integration but what many don39t enjoy quite so much is explaining how they intend to go about achieving itA crossmedia approach to audience measurement plays a vital role in the delivery of integrationIt might sound arcane and complicated and to an extent it is but try building a house without the right toolsThe early media agency entrepreneurs were helped to succeed by a lack of vision from fullservice agency managements combined with the foresight of their clients It would be ironic if their successors made the same errorCharlie Brown never grew up of course His creator just shuffled off to that great pumpkin patch in the skyPhoto credit Clay LeConeyUnsplashClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc 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Is Media Agency Management Blind to Changing Client Priorities?

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Brian Jacobs

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