On this week’s #MediaSnack Tom and David reflect on ID Comms’ experiences in recent media pitches. They highlight the significant increase in the quality of media agency performances and the impressive level of commitment from participating agencies.
The result is that advertisers found it very hard to make a final decision in most cases, the sign of a great process because agencies are hungry, competitive and committed to win.
Tom and David emphasise the importance of good pitch preparation including a clear vision for the role of media agencies. Agency CEOs will compete hardest for the best-prepared pitch briefs because they lay out a vision the agency can work towards, they say, and these are far more fulfilling than a complex spreadsheet simply asking for cheaper media prices.
Such lessons could be critical in 2017 as recent US research suggests that 64% of US media spend is going to be reviewed next year. The maths is quite frightening – and questionable – as that means more than $120bn of media spend is going to be up for grabs compared to the $30bn that created a glut of pitches in 2015.
Next, Tom and David look at The Guardian’s recent experiment with its own inventory. Press reports reveal a test to purchase its own inventory in order to follow the supply chain. This allowed them to see how much money they get as a publisher from the investment they made as an advertiser.
The results of this experiment were fascinating, as according to their new Chief Revenue Officer, the worst case scenario was that The Guardian got just 30% of the initial investment. #MediaSnack encourages more media vendors and media publishers to conduct similar experiments to gain their own insights into media supply chain.
Finally, Tom and David review some great comments made by Ben Jankowski, global media director of MasterCard at Advertising Week, notably the need to invest in senior media talent.
