Both sides are to blame. Marketers want more for less and their procurement departments have been squeezing media agencies’ margins for years. At the same time, agencies have turned to less transparent ways to make money such as rebates and acting as principal.

The widely accepted narrative is that media agencies have kept one step ahead of marketers, which is why ISBA and the Association of National Advertisers, the trade bodies for advertisers in the UK and the US, have urged members to tighten up their contracts with agencies. But marketers must accept some responsibility. It’s absurd that ISBA and the ANA, and their counterparts on the agency side, have barely been on speaking terms.

Read the full Campaign article here.