#MediaSnack

On this week's #MediaSnack we are talking about training, knowledge and skills in media. In the last of 7 episodes dedicated to looking at the impact of the 2016 Media Transparency Report from the ANA we pick up on one of the ANA's biggest recommendations: Advertisers should plug gaps in media knowledge. Tom and David discuss the types of training they have been delivering to major advertisers and members of the major advertising trade bodies. We've seen some good progress in this area, especially amongst procurement stakeholders keen to better understand the processes around media, where the opportunities are for improvement and particularly the technical language and concepts of media. Tom has just completed learning of his own on the Marketing MBA with Prof Mark Ritson and shares that it highlights a big gap across the industry that many in the more executional (and more modern) disciplines like Social and programmatic often don't have basic understanding of strategic marketing principles. ID Comms published a report into Global Media Training last year, you can download the report for free here:https://blog.idcomms.com/brands-failing-to-provide-quality-training-in-media-skills

On this week's #MediaSnack - we review The Wall Street Journal reporting that the hotly anticipated report by the ANA into US media rebate practice will be published "imminently". On this week's #MediaSnack - we review The Wall Street Journal reporting that the hotly anticipated report by the ANA into US media rebate practice will be published "imminently". We discuss the likely fall out and some implications of the report. We share what we think US Media Directors should be thinking and preparing for including carefully managing the message internally and seeking a mandate from their boards on a considered and strategic view on how to apply better governance to media investments in the future. Next we review Tom's perspectives of the Media360 conference which touched on many of the same themes, notably Media Transparency, media agency business models and the so-called "Talent Tsunami". One of the highlights of the conference was a panel which debated the pros and cons of splitting media planning duties from media buying scope. One of the panellists from Mars, Marc Zander highlighted how their splitting of planing and buying globally had given them the benefit of greater transparency and worked for them. Finally we remind you that the ID Comms Media Talent survey closes today so please take 5 minutes to complete it if you haven't done so already. 

On this week's #MediaSnack we meet with Pete Mitchell who is amongst the world’s most experienced and well-traveled media professionals. For the last couple of years, Pete has been part of Mondelez' highly respected global media team under the stewardship of Chief Media Officer Bonin Bough (now departed to a new career as a TV presenter) and the legendary CMO Dana Anderson. Pete has been based in Europe, Asia and the US over the years but is now back in London. We got together to discuss three main themes:What does Pete think about the much discussed Chief Media Officer role, what does it look like, what skills are needed to succeed?How likely are brands going to be bringing media capabilities into their organisation, what talent and resources is going to be required within brands? And how does this potentially change brands' relationships with media agencies?What is required for brands to move to a content rather than paid media strategy and is it realistic to aim to monetize brand content, making marketing a profit centre rather than a cost? At Mondelez, Bonin also had oversight of eCommerce, is this a trend likely to be repeated elsewhere?The Chief Media Officer role was one recommended by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) in their Media Transparency Guidelines this year as a way brands should look to see media as an investment in growth rather than a cost to be managed downward. The ANA highlighted serious gaps in capability within brands to properly oversee media investments. The summary from our conversation with Pete is that the Media Officer role is a broad and complex one. But, is it too much for one person?

On this week's #MediaSnack we first discuss a fascinating "confession" made on Digiday.com by an unnamed CEO of an agency about the state of the digital display market. His or her claim is that display is a waste of money and advertisers generally have been spending in display for years without seeing any meaningful results. It's an explosive admission / confession in itself and worth a read, just for entertainment purposes even if you don't believe the statement. This is part of a long "confessions" series by Digiday. Next up we review a new campaign by Pre-roll superstars Geico.com - you may recall their "Unskippable" activity from last year which won awards everywhere, notably at Cannes. To raise the bar further they've come out with a new format called Fast-Forward which shows more intelligent use of YouTube's TrueView functionality. Links below to watch the films, great insight really well executed. It shows a brand and agency (The Martin Agency) really on their game and understanding how content, context and connection work together. We quickly mention that the ID Comms 2016 Transparency Survey closes today, please check out the links below to participate if you haven't already. Results to be published end of March. Finally we take a look at some impressive results coming out of Havas Group and consider behind the numbers what is driving the recent strong performance of this marketing services group. 

Media For Business Growth - #MediaSnack 160 by ID Comms

In this week’s #Mediasnack Tom and David discuss the rise of the consultants and ask where do they go next in the battle against the holding companies.They look at the latest Ad Age analysis of the advertising market. The figures show the speed at which the management consultants have gained revenue from marketing services. In just five years, they have moved from 0.6% share to a 12% share.The management consultancies are also growing significantly faster than the holding companies so would expect to continue to gain share in the year to come.Tom and David point out that this growth comes entirely from strategic thinking and creativity, arguably commercialising an area where the holding companies have failed.These numbers come out at the same time as the big holding companies announce their Q1 results. By contrast, they are a mixed bag with an average 1.7% organic growth year on year. Sir Martin Sorrell warned that competitors had been making commitments to advertisers that were unrealistic.The next step for the consultancies is to start buying media. Tom and David argue that they are likely to come up with a smart and more transparent offer than what is currently on offer from the holding companies.However, they will have to address some perceived conflicts. Tom and David believe that their current business of auditing is unlikely to be commercially attractive enough to stop them making the decision to move towards buying.The result of all this change, they argue, is more choice for CMOs. The challenge for brands will be to be much clearer about their scope of work and the way they chose to stress test new and old entrants to the market.Ultimately, the holding companies will have to raise their game because the rules and the competitive set are changing dramatically.

All agencies are complaining of a 'TALENT CRISIS'
So what's causing this and how is it affecting advertisers?
Here's the #MediaSnack alternative perspective on the causes and implications plus we share THREE GREAT TIPS for advertisers on how to protect your best agency talent and keep your competitive advantage.

#MediaForGrowth

#MediaSnack is brought to you by ID Comms, the award-winning growth consultancy specializing in media and advertising. Advisors to the world's most ambitious brands.

In this week's episode of #MediaSnack David and Tom discuss the #MediaChange rallying cry issued by P&G's Marc Pritchard on the IAB Annual Leadership Marketing conference.Change is coming to the digital ad market. That much can be assured in 2017 because Procter & Gamble has decreed that it will no longer put up with the ecosystem as it works today.CMO Marc Pritchard recently told the US IAB Media Leadership conference that he and his company were calling time on current practices. Anyone who wanted P&G money would have to make radical changes by the end of the year.Central to his critique of how the industry works was the need to deliver transparency, reform supply chains, adopt common standards on viewability and open up to third party metrics.He accepted that advertisers had to take some of the responsibility for the current situation – even P&G had accepted these compromises in the race for digital firsts – and most had demanded cheap media and lowered fees.The message was powerful not just because it was delivered at the IAB – around a third of total ad spend goes on digital – but also because of the way it was delivered. The tone was calm, considered but also exasperated and defiant. The challenge was put into the context of the fundamentals of marketing and the challenges for P&G to drive a business outcome. Pritchard’s words carry great weight, not only is he the CMO of the world’s biggest-spending advertiser but he’s also just taken over as president of the US ANA. Many marketers across the US were looking for leadership following 2016’s media transparency bombshells.Some are confused by the sheer complexity of the challenge and don’t know where to start. P&G’s public roadmap helps them identify the first wins on the journey to a better relationship.While this a P&G initiative it's also a call to action for the industry. Other companies now have an obligation to act – and many already are quietly making changes to the way they operate.His willingness to accept some of the blame for the current situation was welcome but he called out agencies acting as principal and when challenged but admitting that they had to do so because the “fee doesn’t cover your expenses”. Agencies may have been acting in within the wording of the contract but that doesn't mean they should have behaved in this way.The question the industry needs to answer is how other marketers should respond, particularly those that don’t have the resources and budget leverage to make the likes of Facebook and Google behave differently.ID Comms has been promoting the notion of 2017 as a year of #mediachange and invites everyone to participate with their own thoughts and comments. Future editions of #mediasnack will address those contributions.Central to Pritchard’s manifesto was the wider notion that brands needed to change their agency or change their contract to ensure new behaviours become established – while some will pitch their account, others might go down the renegotiation route.Marketers also need to look in the mirror and consider not just their contract rights but also their behaviours as a client to the agency. CMOs need to ask themselves: “am I clear about my KPIs, the scope of work and am I paying the agency fairly for the value they create?” True #mediachange is about more than just negotiating new terms, marketers need to consider their media governance model, and whether they view media as an investment in growth or a cost to be managed downwards. It’s also worth noting that while Pritchard’s comments were broad, they were especially focused on the digital media business and the supply chain. The ANA’s own research said that bad practice was pervasive across TV, Print and Outdoor, not just digital.The right answers for P&G won’t be right for all advertisers but Pritchard has said the previously unsayable and every CMO should consider his words carefully.

The Association of National Advertisers recently published the 'first look' of their study into the programmatic media supply chain.

On this special episode of #MediaSnack LIVE, host Tom Denford welcomes guests Bill Duggan from the ANA and Tom Triscari, one of the architects of the report, to discuss:
- Key findings
- Reactions from CMOs/ANA Members
- Potential impact
- Sensible next steps
- Need for individual advertiser strategies

We give listeners some tips on different routes you can take to improve your programmatic performance and reduce waste, depending on what type of programmatic advertiser you are. 

Recorded on July 28, 2023.

At ID Comms, we believe that Brands Deserve Better Media. Find out more at www.idcomms.com

On this week's #MediaSnack we get rather excited by Alexandra Bruell’s most recent article from AdAge in New York. In it she brings attention to principal-based media buying approaches, its well worth reading if you currently (or ever intend to) invest any money in media in the US. The piece highlights (the perfectly legitimate and legal) practices by media agency groups buying media inventory at their own risk, in advance of client requirements and then selling it on to clients for an undisclosed profit. The client has to typically sign away rights of transparency in order to gain potentially cheaper media inventory. We consider the implications of this practice, how it blurs the lines further of what an agency is (as per Irwin Gottlieb’s comments at ANA’s Advertising Financial Management Conference in 2015) and how it might lead to significant changes within agencies as they decide how transparent they are going to be for clients. We look ahead to this year’s Advertising Financial Management Conference which takes place in two weeks time. Next we discuss that last week CNBC launched in-house agency called Catalyst under the leadership of Max Raven the SVP of CNBC Internatioal. We had a chance to attended the launch event where CNBC also announced a new TV series called "Marketing. Media. Money." which will feature industry leaders discussing current trends and issues of the marketing business. Launches 5 May. Finally, this week we are pleased to hear about a new media agency global network comprising independent agencies into one force. Local Planet is a network of local media agencies. We consider the benefits, opportunity and challenges of such a business and why it's a welcome addition to a heavily consolidated agency landscape.