Ad Agency

The agency holding companies continue to find themselves the pariahs of the industry, implicated in dubious media-buying practices, non-transparent digital media processes — and now by murky advertising production practices as well.

Multidisciplinary brand culture and communications firm (add)ventures announced that it has been selected as the agency of record for AOC Latin America.

In an era of hyper-segmentation and personalization, can mainstream marketing still provide total relevance? The concept of mainstream is obsolete. It comes from a simpler time, when the U.S. population was less diverse. The overwhelming majority was non-Hispanic, White, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant, and, relatively speaking, the population was much more economically secure.

ANA, ever-faithful and aggressive on behalf of its advertiser members, struck a second blow to 4As this week — a right uppercut to the chin — with a new ANA study of advertising production practices.  The report detailed “a range of improper behavior, including allegations that some agencies have steered production contracts to their in-house production and post-production outfits by urging other companies to inflate their prices during the bidding process,” as reported in WSJ.  ANA’s first blow — a left to the head — was its 2016 media transparency report, which outlined improper media owner rebates and kickbacks to media agencies.  The combination 1-2 punch is sure to further undermine trust and lead to contract reviews and reductions in agency remuneration. 4As is taking it on the chin.  What can they do?  The fight is a mismatch.  ANA has the weight advantage — or does it?  By Michael Farmer – Madison Avenue Manslaughter Archives

BOTTOM LINE: Marketer trade group the ANA has released a detailed report on fee transparency issues in the commercial production ecosystem, which is the focus of a Department of Justice probe. While the report does not detail any specific agency or holding company’s wrong-doing, the description of practices and recommendations to marketers may add to the scrutiny marketers are increasingly applying to their agency and holding company contracts.  By Brian Wieser / Pivotal Research Group

Non-transparent production practices exist at multiple ad agencies and agency holding companies, according to a new study by the ANA (Association of National Advertisers).

Ad Blocking remains a hot industry issue based on its continued rise on desktop and mobile and it’s costing the online advertising industry billions of dollars annually. Kantar Millward Brown’s Duncan Southgate, in partnership with GroupM, explored who blocks ads and why, and recommends what advertisers, agencies and publishers can do to reduce ad blocking.

The agency refusal to cooperate infuriated procurement. As one exasperated executive told me in 2003, “Who the hell do they think they are, anyway? A bunch of prima donnas. I’m going to whack their fees by 10% — maybe that will send them a message.”  By Michael Farmer – Madison Avenue Manslaughter

Influencer Marketing has become a central focus of marketing strategies and budgets for 2017. According to Bloomberg, an estimated $255 million is now spent on influencer marketing every month. With a buy in like that, what’s the ROI? EMarketer reported that advertisers earned an average of $6.85 for every $1 they spent on influencer marketing.

The 4A’s, the leading trade association representing the advertising agency business, released updated hourly labor billing rate information, revealing that 2016 labor billing rates in the advertising industry are generally higher than those in 2014.

Casual lifestyle brand Panama Jack – known for its signature suncare products, eyewear, apparel, home furnishings and branded resorts – has selected Miami-based MARCA as its digital and social agency of record.

While labor-based fees are the No. 1 method preferred by agencies (45%), incentive methods were the top choice among marketers (40%).

On the one-year anniversary of the Association of National Advertisers’ landmark study and subsequent recommendations on media transparency, it’s time to review the issues in this ongoing debate and see where we stand today.  The issues raised in the transparency debate are complex and dominated the advertising industry’s discourse in 2016.

The issues raised in the subsequent transparency debate are complex, and if the allegations against the agencies are true, the behavior is reminiscent of past high-profile financial scandals.  By Bob Liodice and Doug Wood

Programmatic is certainly not going away, but I do think marketers are starting to smell it for what it really is.  It’s a cost-saving strategy, which attempts to create the same ROI for a fraction of the cost when compared to more “traditional” forms of advertising.  

Lehman Brothers, Tyco, Enron, Worldcom, step aside!  Media agencies and their owners belong in the same lineup as Bernie Madoff, Dick Fuld, Dennis Kozlowski, Ken Lay, Jeffrey Skilling and Bernie Ebbers!  By Michael Farmer

Republica announced the appointment of Bianca Ruiz as vice president, group account director and Tania Echevarria as senior manager, creative operations.

Last week saw an interesting piece by Mindshare’s Global CEO Nick Emery published in Campaign and widely circulated on social media.  It generated much praise from beyond GroupM and WPP.  Andrew Stephens from the independent agency Goodstuff along with your humble correspondent were amongst many tweeting their appreciation of an insightful look at the many challenges facing media agencies and the need for new operating models.  Here are two key thoughts behind Nick’s piece.

In a recent interview with Advertiser Perceptions, an organization that provides data-driven intelligence to marketers, I was asked, “Will the full-service agency model survive?”  As part of their survey, I was shown the results of how advertisers had thus far answered the question.  It was pretty close between those that said yes (42%) and those that said no (32%).  Twenty-six percent were not sure.

Marketing leaders and agencies are finding it increasingly difficult to keep pace with growing demands to localize and adapt their creative strategies. Facing a widening range of digital and physical channels that each require rapid adaptation in order to remain relevant to individual geographic, cultural and customer audiences, too many organizations are failing to take the necessary steps to improve their capacity and agility, according to a new study by the CMO Council.