Through the looking glass

Eighteen months ago, the media buying industry came under the blowtorch after a leading marketer opened fire at the “murky and fraudulent” practices employed by many at the coalface. In calling out the imbalance between clients and the agencies acting on their behalf, P&G’s (Procter and Gamble) chief brand officer Marc Pritchard lifted the lid on the lack of transparency within the sector – a mandate he clearly intends to pursue following his latest tirade, where he demanded an end to the “archaic Mad Men model” and vowed to destroy the “maze of complexity” he believes exists within the agency structure. Despite the fact that Pritchard’s original concerns were aimed at digital media players, the comments by the brand custodian of the world’s biggest advertiser have had a profound effect on all facets of the sector.

Agencies have been put on notice after other brands – including fellow FMCG giant Unilever – began questioning the effectiveness of their media investments in light of big organisations being exposed and the discovery of hidden fees and charges levied by their agency as part of the media buy. An example was the case in 2016 between Toyota with Dentsu in Japan, which reports suggested led to the identification of over 600 suspected cases of ‘overcharging’ affecting over 100 clients. Estimates have indicated that anything between 40 and 90 cents in theaddress concerns around the issues of fraud, brand safety, viewability and transparency, while also calling media owners such as Facebook to account.