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Ad agencies may have been funneling work to their in-house production units by pressuring independent production companies to bow out of contract bids, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The US Department of Justice is investigating the allegations, which, if true, would be violations of American antitrust law.
Read More Campaign US: Latest Agency Bid-rigging Scandal Centers On In-house Production
In March 2015, former Mediacom USA CEO Jon Mandel dropped a bomb at the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) conference, stating that media agencies and their holding companies were significantly involved in what, at best, could be described as “questionable” trading practices across all media.
Read More MediaPost: Media Trading Transparency: Where There’s Smoke…
Ad industry titan Irwin Gotlieb, global chairman of GroupM, on Thursday blasted the ANA’s report on agency transparency released earlier this year as an attempt by “auditors” and “forensic investigation firms” to drum up business.
Read More MediaPost: Gotlieb Slams ANA Report On Transparency
Advertisers and agencies have been told to follow much stricter rules when entering into contracts under a new landmark code of conduct designed to restore market confidence in a sector hit by a series of scandals.
Read More The Australian Business Review: New code of conduct for marketing industry
In the wake of the Association of National Advertisers much-publicized report about agency media-buying practices in the U.S. this summer, marketers seem to finally be waking up to the issue of transparency. Several brands — including J.P. Morgan Chase, General Electric and Sears — are reportedly halting media budgets and conducting outside audits, as reported by Business Insider and the Wall Street Journal.
Dentsu Aegis’ local operation has sought to distance itself from the scandal engulfing its Japanese parent company as 200,000 digital transactions are investigated for evidence of overcharging clients.
Read More The Australian Business Review: Aegis Dentsu hit by overchargingclaims in Japan
Dentsu Inc. said it will pay an estimated ¥230 million back to customers, including Toyota Motor Corp., that it overcharged for internet advertisements in a case likely to stoke concern that digital media transactions have lacked transparency.
Read More The Japan Times: Dentsu to repay ¥230 million in advertising overcharges
JPMorgan Chase & Co., GE, Sears Holdings and Nationwide are among the big brands that have recently initiated audits of their ad buyers, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. While JPMorgan has gone so far as to freeze its annual $250 million ad buying account, other companies like Heineken, Allstate and Fidelity Investments are allegedly vying for stronger auditing rights and tighter contracts with agents.
Read More MarketingDIVE: Agencies hit with audits as transparency issue strains brand relationships
JP Morgan has paused its $250m annual ad-buying account in the face of a supposedly widespread undisclosed rebates from media suppliers.
Read More The Drum: JP Morgan pauses ad spend amid agency rebate row
Dentsu Inc. handled internet advertisements inappropriately and overcharged customers an estimated ¥230 million ($2.3 million) in a case that may stoke concern about the transparency of digital media transactions.
Read More The Japan Times: Dentsu internal probe reveals ad overcharges going back to 2012