Advertising: Who Cares? The Pros and...

Even maybe especially those inside the companies at the heart of the many criticisms around the industry arenamp8217t it seems happy with what the ad business has becomeTo balance things weamp8217ve had the usual expected pushbacks Weamp8217re just two old men harking back to the good old days weamp8217re dinosaurs weamp8217re anti online advertising weamp8217re anti agencies we donamp8217t understand the modern world we simply donamp8217t get social media data current systems DSPs SSPsAll of this is rather tiresome even if some of it is undeniably true amp8211 I am indeed oldThe point is that the ad business is in a mess Anyone who knows anything about it knows this to be the case but looks the other way This is hardly some sort of golden era for advertisingThe question is not whose fault this is but how best to fix itMaybe the agenciesamp8217 trade association the IPA 4A39s in the USAI have a long association with the IPA I served on many of their working groups represented the agency sector on several joint industry committees and was appointed a Fellow in 1983The IPA has always been a fine example of a trade body wellfunded and appreciated by its membersBut it looks to me as if today it is compromised Is it there to represent the best interests of its members including the holding company media agencies Or to promote and support the ad industryBecause right now those two things appear in conflictBoth the IPA and the 4A39s have decided that saying nothing is the best policyHow about the usually ohsovocal large media consultancies those who seek to amp8216do media betteramp8217 Not a word although a few individuals have joined us in a personal capacitySilence on these matters is not a good lookThe Who Cares movement has from the start all of one month ago been clear about one thing We are trying to make things better and the first thing to do towards that goal is to talk about things openly and honestly To shine a light where previously there have only been shadowsWe all know the problems there are plenty of articles blogs and podcasts doing a fine job Simply repeating them gets us nowhereNor does blaming anyone We all have our bogeymen and our pet theories as to where exactly the industry has gone wrong but thereamp8217s little point in having a crack at anyone or any sectorWhat is clear is that the issues faced by the ad business have an impact far beyond the ad business This isnamp8217t a little local issueThe media industry historically relied on advertising as a key source of revenue along with the price paid by consumers for the content deliveredToday that business model is shot Few are prepared to pay for news or content generally and ad revenue taken by the publishers is now measured in cents not dollarsThe giant platforms have done a wonderful job for their shareholders by refusing to be categorised as publishers amp8216publisheramp8217 means taking responsibility for content and have ripped apart the old ad revenue plus cover price modelOver time theyamp8217ve misused data Cambridge Analytica anyone hidden audience statistics inside walled gardens to avoid scrutiny and misstated audience numbersThe scale of the main players and their disdain for any advertising form not controlled by them are not good for any of usThis is not to say that advertising on FB YouTube etc doesnamp8217t have its place Clearly they reach loads of people and are enjoyed by manyThey are but the visible tip of an iceberg that siphons off so much money to unnecessary middlemen to ineffective MFA sites to tech that doesnamp8217t do what it says on the tin to ad fraud that the true advertising industry is left decimatedSince we broke cover we have had individuals from trade bodies advertisers agencies consultants publishers ad tech firms all ask to join us We seem to have hit a nerveGiven our backgrounds we naturally lean towards the ad business hence the original Advertising Who Cares titleBut whatamp8217s happening in advertising impacts far more than advertisingThe benefits of a flourishing diverse media with professional journalists seeking out the truth the huge influence of the amp8216oldfashionedamp8217 TV world the UK Post Office scandal brought to public attention not by Google nor by Facebook YouTube or TikTok but by ITV these things are threatened by ad revenue being divertedThis is nothing to do with harking back to some idyl it is all to do with true freedom of expression the importance and recognition of quality and the airing of sometimes uncomfortable truthsWho Cares is not against anything as such We are for creative thinking great and objective planning and successful agencies paid properly for the business and brand building work they doWe aim to shine a light on whatamp8217s going wrong whilst providing a space for discussion hopefully leading to improvement We really hope that all sides of the industry even those who are yet to comment take partWe strive for solutions not whingingWe are all pros no consPosted at MediaVillage through the Thought Leadership selfpublishing platformClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

Advertising: Who Cares? The Pros and...

Author

Publish date

Channel

Archived in

Brian Jacobs

We Are the Outliers - By Jack Myers

More Videos:

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

Advertising: Who Cares? The Pros and...

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Brian Jacobs

TAGS:

We Are the Outliers - By Jack Myers

Cookies