Media Malfeasance: Observations from the Front Lines - The Media Wailing Wall - Matthew Greene - MediaBizBloggers

Welcome Matt Greene our newest MediaBizBlogger.

Have you noticed the loud, soulful lamentations emanating from the Presidents and CEOs of major media agencies lately whenever empanelled at an industry conference, usually moderated by some high-profile media lord or lady?

I've more than noticed and have been taking notes in order to synthesize what I think may be the Top 3 'global' issues affecting, and distressing this august group.

Remember, these are simply my observations and I will not presume to tender solutions to these issues. Well, maybe in my next posting…

Media Fragmentation.Long the scourge of the media business, I remember those glorious days in the '80s when many agencies were practically paralyzedby the advent of cable TV and the intrusion of those weird programming blips called MTV, ESPN, Turner, et al. I bet many of us wish life was still that simple.

Now we have 1200+ broadcast and cable station options, the Internet, exchanges, mobile, digital radio, and an unrelenting march towards technological innovation theoretically designed to enhance media planning and buying decision making while automating the actual executional process. It's clear (to me at least) that the old ways and methodologies which guided the media industry in the latter half of the 20^th century can now comfortably be declared dead.

Ad agencies don't escape this fragmentation process either. And they too are lamenting the state of media, reminiscing about the 'good ol' days' and busily breaking up their companies into ever-smaller silos. Goodbye to the 'advertising agency' as it was. Hello to separate companies each focused exclusively on some aspect of what was the old agency potpourri: branding, traditional media (with further silos for print, broadcast, etc), digital media (again with separate divisions for SEM, SEO, display, social media), etc.

Agencies should be making it easier for clients to deal with fragmentation by giving them one cohesive company and overall strategy to work with. Now, not only do clients have to deal with thousands of media options, but also dozens of media companies.

Clients Don't Care About Us.Next on the list of ailments is the sentiment that clients are unsympathetic to the severe and escalating demands placed on agencies to uncover every new media opportunity and flavor. This especially factors into the digital realm where time and energy must be spent devising test and analysis scenarios to assess productivity and impact of newer media.

What irks agencies, apparently, is that clients are unwilling to pay for the talents and time investments needed to swarm over the options. In addition, everyone agrees that even if clients werewilling to pay for these services, the talent to pursue these opportunities doesn't exist.

There are so many emotional buttons inherent in this situation, I don't know how to start addressing these issues, other than to say, man up, figure it out, and get back to work. After all, haven't clients always wanted more for less?

We've Now Had to Become a Technology Company.Every major media agency is building, has built, or is expanding upon its own (mostly proprietary) technology platforms to better serve the requirements of the entire traditional and digital media planning, buying, reporting, optimizing and billing process.

Some sound really cool. Others, well, sound confusing to even the most seasoned.

An anecdote might work here. I know a really smart, senior-level person running marketing at a huge financial services company. He has been presented with an array of agencies and respective technology solutions that have had a cumulative negative impact on the way he's thinking about his business. Which is to say, he's busy thinking about all the cool dials and reporting gizmos each solution provides, sorting through the pros/cons of each, rather than saying to each agency, "How will this help my business?"

Seems to me that we all have front row seats to the impending big media agency technology wars, and like the fast-food burger wars of the '90's, the consumer, or in this case the client, will likely be the winner by having a plethora of value-priced solutions from which to choose. Again this should be an opportunity for agencies to offer further value to their clients—not make their lives more difficult.

There are definitely many challenges facing advertising agencies, but the agencies that can view them as opportunities for innovation are the ones that will win out in the end.

Matthew Greene has over twenty-five years of strategic advertising and marketing experience working with blue-chip companies. Matt can be reached at matthew.greene@blueribbondigital.com

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