For Network Agencies, 2019 Is Off to a Dreadful Start

Setting aside for a moment that this isn39t Publicis39 money but money invested on behalf of their clients who wins in a dispute like thisamp160 Clearly not Channel 4amp160 Not those planners at the Publicis agencies who have to explain to their clients why that brilliant strategy built around C439s exciting contextual research program is now actually a terrible idea because their buyers say soamp160 Not the Publicis Media clients who have had access to a major TV channel denied themOuchamp160 According to some basic Nielsen analyses there are a number of PM clients including Samsung Mercedes and KFC who spend ahead of C439s natural share of TV revenues estimated at 26 on the channelamp160 Presumably this skew means the planning agencies considered C4 to be an important part of a number of their clients39 plans until someone and I bet the someone was not client facing decided otherwiseEven Publicis Media doesn39t winamp160 They39re fighting an oldstyle battle in public while the rest of the business is involved in the great transparency debateThe only winners will be the independent agencies like the7stars and Goodstuff who have not for the first time seen their clientfirst policies amplified by the behaviors of a network agency peeramp160 Their new business teams will have had a busy Christmas and New Year breakIt really doesn39t matter whether the C4 PM dispute is around price the structure of the agency39s deal or whether the quality of biscuits served in the Upfront meeting wasn39t up to scratchamp160 These agency deals are bad for the industryamp160 Agencies are there to do a job for each and every one of their clients individually to write creative and engaging plans and to deliver those plans through imaginative buying and placementsIt would be interesting to know how many PM clients were consulted before the agency pulled quottheirquot cash from C4amp160 To save any PM executive replying I imagine they will say quotall of themquotamp160 SureThis dispute and others like it will have consequencesamp160 It adds fuel to the argument for inhousingamp160 Procter and Gamble a PM client for one has its own C4 deal and is thus not affectedamp160 Why wouldn39t other clients strike direct deals with major vendors to take back control over their own media spendingC439s Chief Commercial Officer Jonathan Allan has apparently written to every client affectedamp160 I wonder what he might be offering themWhy doesn39t Publicis Media use its muscle against those media vendors who don39t work within joint industry committees on audience measurement and whose respect for data privacy is lackingBut then Facebook is rather larger than C4 and has any number of direct client dealsWith that in mind it was encouraging to read that Mat Baxter Initiative39s Global CEO was according to the WSJ quotadvisingquot his clients not to spend on FB quotto protest what he described as the socialnetworking company39s 39egregious behavior39quotPublicis Media might like to note Mat39s use of the word quotadvisequotamp160 Less encouraging was his parent company IPG39s responseamp160 quotMr Baxter39s comments were his own and not an official position from the network or companyquotThanks for the support chapsEven less encouragingly both IPG CEO Michael Roth and Carolyn Everson Vice President of Global Marketing Solutions at FB are quoted in the WSJ articleamp160 FB clearly went to the top to stifle any unpleasantnessCoincidentally no doubt IPG was an early stage investor in FacebookNo wonder the network media agencies get such a bad pressamp160 Even when they try to do the right thing they get dumped on by their holding companiesTruly 2019 is off to a dreadful startClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers amp160

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For Network Agencies, 2019 Is Off to a Dreadful Start

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Brian Jacobs

Don’t’ Back Down; Double Down on DEI Investments - By Jack Myers

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For Network Agencies, 2019 Is Off to a Dreadful Start

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