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The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) is seeking to address the “profound disagreement” about non-transparent practices in media buying by inviting senior leaders from the 4A’s (American Association of Advertising Agencies) to meet in October.
K2 Intelligence and Ebiquity — the two firms commissioned earlier this year by the National Association of Advertisers to examine the practices of media agencies — are now separately trying to turn that one-off project into ongoing revenue streams.
Read More MediaPost: K2, Ebiquity Form Separate Transparency Practices
Among advertisers and agencies alike, many hoped the June release of “An Independent Study of Media Transparency in the U.S. Advertising Industry,” a report prepared for the ANA by K2 Intelligence, would deliver the coup de grace in a controversy that’s been worsening for at least five years. Such was not to be the case, however.
Last week Nancy Hill, president and CEO of the 4A’s, issued a statement rejecting guidelines that were developed by the ANA in conjunction with Ebiquity, an independent marketing analytics specialist, and its subsidiary, FirmDecisions.
Read More Shoot: 4A’s Rejects ANA/Ebiquity Guidelines On Agency-Client Relationships
It appears advertisers and their agencies are not on the same page when it comes to transparency. The American Association of Advertising Agencies has rejected the Association of National Advertisers’ media transparency initiative, a set of guidelines released in mid-July by the ANA, Ebiquity and FirmDecisions.
Read More Media Life: 4A’s on ANA’s transparency guidelines – Nope
The 4As has rejected the guidelines issued last week by the ANA and Ebiquity on how to proceed in business relationships with media agencies. Instead, the 4As is urging its members to rely on the guidelines it issued earlier this year, which the ANA has already rejected.
Read More MediaPost: 4As Rejects ANA/Ebiquity Recommendations
Ebiquity’s subsidiary Firm Decisions has been summoned into court by Group M, WPP’s media buying agency. And WPP CEO Martin Sorrell argues that Ebiquity, the media auditor working with the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and K2 Intelligence on the U.S. media transparency report, is ”heavily conflicted” because its subsidiary, FirmDecisions “audits whether agencies have complied with their contracts with advertisers while other parts of the business manage pitches for clients, advise them how to ‘secure better prices’ and audit media spend,” according to Gideon Spanier, writing on US Campaign.
Read More MediaPost: Creating Distraction From The Real Media Transparency Issues
Marketers are being urged to re-evaluate the role of media auditors amid concerns over a potential conflict of interest, with WPP CEO Martin Sorrell advising them to use one of the “Big Four” global accountancy firms to vet how agencies spend their clients’ money.
Read More Campaign: ‘Conflicted’ Media Auditors Come Under Fire from Sorrell
In its legal claim, filed in London’s High Court, Group M said that FirmDecisions had given a “wholly inadequate” assurance that it had deleted all trace of the “four or five” different, confidential documents, which are thought to include details of clients’ media spend.
Read More Campaign: Group M Sues Ebiquity Over ‘Misuse’ of Confidential Documents