Our Marketing Talent … and Transparency

This remarkable engine could only have been created by the phenomenal talent in our industry We look back over decades of our growth and evolution and we see the wonderful contributions by many brilliant executives throughout the ecosystem We were blessed by talent that imagined created and manufactured the very best marketing to effectively capture consumers and customers Last week in Cannes we continued to showcase the excellence our talent offers to build our brands and grow our businessesBut are we losing the forest through the trees A few weeks ago ANA released the findings of the K2 study And the findings were not pretty The report concluded that there were pervasive transparency issues emanating from questionable media agency practices and less than stellar management practices by marketers That39s what the report said amp8230 in its most simplistic but eloquent terms It also said that this was a time that our talent was far less than extraordinarySo shouldn39t we be saying quotlet39s work to fix thisquot It39s eminently solvable There wasn39t anything in the K2 report that the great talent in our industry couldn39t repair In fact a reasonable person could believe that using the best talent in our industry we could unravel a lot of the issues that the K2 report conclusively identified as existing But to get those repairs underway we all need to accept that the findings are real Therein lies the problemNot long after the report was released the reactions came flooding in There were many supporters and advocates that applauded the study and its findings But there were also critics primarily from the agency community What was interesting was that fewamp160if any critics actually addressed the hardcore information and facts found in K2 Intelligence39s deeply researched reportamp160 The critics labeled the report quotonesidedquot and quotinconclusivequot while others laid the blame for the agencies39 nontransparency solely at the feet of the clientsamp160 Another suggested that ANA had lost sight of the quotbig picturequot and failed to acknowledge the substantial agency investment that helped marketers They derided the confidentiality granted to interviewees tacitly suggesting that anonymous sources had no credibility simply because they were not identified One news article even ludicrously suggested that ANA39s membership didn39t care what the report uncoveredamp160But I have yet to see anyone claimamp160with any degree of substance or credibility that the K2 Intelligence findings are in any way not accurate or real The following all of which are reproduced here verbatim from the K2 report identify practices taking place throughout the industry todayK2 identified evidence of several methods by which rebate deals are structured including financial incentives in the form of cash or free mediaK2 found evidence of nontransparent business practices in the US market arising from agencies holding equity stakes in media suppliersK2 found substantial evidence that the lack of transparency inherent in principal transactions enables agencies to engage in potentially problematic conduct ie conduct that may not be in the advertiser39s best interestThere are scores of additional examples but I think you understand my pointamp160There have been more than a few denials about nontransparent business practices in the US media ecosystem from a range of quarters but none of them have specifically and categorically denied or even challenged with any concrete evidence the findings of the K2 assessmentThe assessment speaks volumes as to the nontransparent practices impacting our industryamp160 It also speaks volumes to the talent in our industry amp8230 and to those that are considering a future career in marketing The simple message is quotWe can do betterquotThe first step to fix this serious problem is for all parties to recognize that the problem exists and acknowledge that the facts reported in the K2 assessment are accurate and need to be addressedamp160 It39s time to ownup to what is happening and to work cooperatively to fix a process that is clearly brokenThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers amp160amp160

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Our Marketing Talent … and Transparency

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Bob Liodice

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

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Our Marketing Talent … and Transparency

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Bob Liodice

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