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In an effort to put more teeth into its so-called media “transparency” initiatives, the 4As today called on its members to put the association’s principles into practice, not just treat them as recommendations for best practices. Additionally, the 4As unveiled plans to conduct a series of member meetings to discuss how to put the principles into practice.
4A’s President-CEO Nancy Hill is no longer scheduled to speak during Advertising Week in New York next week during a session called “Trust Forum: Transparency,” along with members of the Association of National Advertisers. It’s the latest sign that the rift between the agency groups is far from healing.
Read More AdAdge: 4A’s Won’t Participate in ‘Trust Panel’ With ANA at Advertising Week
Deutsche Telekom is two years into a massive digital transformation project. The goal: to take control of its media-buying practice and ensure it’s getting the transparency it wants on digital-media trading, a strategy driven by the continuing process of arbitrage. That’s fundamentally changed how it works with its agencies. DT has built an in-house ad tech stack, chooses its own tech providers, and controls its data.
Read More Digiday UK: Deutsche Telekom media chief: ‘Attitudes to rebates are changing in Europe’
In June, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) dropped a bombshell report that shined a light on the darker underbelly of media trading. The same report delivered some truths about sketchy ad tech deals, showing how some ad tech firms have contributed to the rebate issue, non-transparent practices in general and the “black-box” deals.
Read More Digiday: Confessions of an ad tech veteran: ‘Publishers need to audit their exchanges’
Guidelines published by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) in the States last month sent heads spinning across the industry in their recommendation that brands hire a chief media officer to police transparency and ensure media accountability. But isn’t this what the media agency is supposed to do? Do brands really need this role, and why?
The fundamental issue which lies at the heart of the ANA’s recent Media Transparency Report is this: media agencies have failed to manage conflicts of interest which have arisen by virtue of their position in the media value chain.
We may never know what Dentsu Aegis Network paid to acquire independent agency trading desk Accordant this week, but whatever the price was, its Tokyo-based parent Dentsu will likely need to depreciate a significant part of it because they have effectively lost one of Accordant’s key assets: independence. At least that was one of the core positions the Accordant team sold to differentiate themselves in the market versus the big agency holding companies they competed with, including Dentsu Aegis’ Amnet, which Accordant is being folded into.
The Guardian has disclosed for the first time in its accounts that it makes “cash payments” and gives “free advertising space” in rebates to agencies in return for certain levels of spend.
Read More Campaign: End the secrecy and open up the rebate debate
The rise of media rebates in the United States has put agencies under a harsh spotlight, thanks in part to the Association of National Advertisers’ June agency transparency report. But relatively little attention has been paid to the role of media sellers in driving the practice.
Read More AdExchanger: Inside Google’s US Media Rebate Program
Jon Mandel has been described as the most hated man in advertising. In March 2015, the former CEO of the WPP-owned media agency Mediacom in the US, made a blistering address to a conference organised by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) in Florida.
Read More Independent.ie: John McGee: Clients must wake up to the real value of advertising