 | | Media Buyer & Planner Today | | | | | | | | | #1 Media Rebates to Agencies Still Alive | | Three years after former MediaCom CEO Jon Mandel alleged widespread media rebates to agencies in exchange for business, and the ad industry pledged to stop the practice, very little has changed, according to a report by McKinsey & Co. Ad Age reports the firm found that while media accounts have been reviewed by clients, audits of media agencies have skyrocketed and contracts rewritten, rebates and other forms of "non-transparent" incentives from media companies to agencies remain common. Sarah Armstrong, former Coca-Cola executive now at McKinsey, says, "This is a topic that never goes away," adding that rebates to agencies now take harder-to-track forms. She says even the most dogged client is unlikely to get all the incentives they may be due. And in the report, one unnamed executive says, "it feels like we're back to business as usual in the industry." | | WHY THIS MATTERS: While the McKinsey report presents the situation in the worst possible light for marketers, both the American Association of Advertising Agencies and the Association of National Advertisers insist progress has been made. Marla Kaplowitz, CEO of the 4A's is skeptical of reports like the one from McKinsey that cite unnamed sources. While ANA executive VP Bill Duggan says, "increasingly, clients are taking back control of their media investments via greater supervision of their agencies, and also moving certain types of work in house." So, the debate continues. | | A Take: Ad Age | | | | #2 Digital Agencies Face Pressure to Expand Services | | Once the fastest-growing upstarts, stealing business away from traditional full-service agencies, digital agencies are now a greater risk of slipping in relevance themselves in the fast-changing ad marketplace, Digiday reports. Many digital agencies are now scrambling to add other services like strategy, consulting and even media in order to keep up revenue levels and lure in more clients. Digital agency revenue is being negatively impacted much like that of traditional agencies – as marketers take more digital capabilities in-house and as more management consultancies begin focusing on digital services. Particularly at risk are smaller digital agencies whose niche has been virtually eliminated. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Competition is not only coming from consultancies. Full-service agencies like Droga5 and 72andSunny are also making digital the centerpiece of their businesses. It's become imperative for digital agencies to adapt to the new realities or perish. Digital agencies that do not expand services in the areas of strategy and media planning are going to be in trouble competing for new business. Barry Wacksman, global chief strategy officer at R/GA, says consulting is now the fastest-growing and most profitable part of his agency's business. | | A Take: Digiday | | | | #3 Twitter May Let Publishers Sell Pre-Roll Video Ads | | The social media platform is pondering the possibility of allowing publishers to sell pre-roll video ads that run at the start of their video clips, The Wall Street Journal reports. Right now, Twitter sells the pre-roll video ads on its platform through its Twitter Amplify tool. If Twitter does give publishers the ability to sell their own ads, the financial split will remain the same as it is currently, with publishers getting 70% of the revenue from ads sold against their content, and Twitter getting the other 30%. The Journal says allowing publishers to sell the ads themselves would give them the control and ability to sell Amplify advertising as part of wider-ranging ad-sales packages. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: The move by Twitter is aimed at establishing a closer working relationship with its publisher partners. Video ads now account for more than half of Twitter's revenue, so finding ways to bring in more video ads is key to the financial future of the platform. A Twitter spokesperson said the company is "always listening to the needs of our partners and exploring turnkey solutions to help publishers grow their business and audiences." | | A Take: WSJ | |
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| | 26 | | Percentage of the total U.S. population that listens to podcasts monthly, according to data from Edison Research and Triton Digital. That equals about 73 million people. Some 30% are between the ages of 12-24 and 32% are between the ages of 25-54. Some 27% are male and 24% are female. In 2018, it is expected that marketers will spent some $326 million on podcast advertising, according to Bridge Ratings | – Reported by eMarketer
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| | NBC Wins With Growing 'Voice' | by Michael Malone
NBC easily won the Monday ratings derby, The Voice leading the network to a 1.4 score in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 6 share. That beat the 0.9/4 that ABC put up.
The Voice ticked up 7% to 1.6 from 8 to 10 p.m., before Good Girls rated a flat 0.9.
ABC had the Dancing With the Stars—Athletes opener at 1.1 from 8 to 10; the fall Dancing finale did a 1.3. Drama The Crossing fell 29% to 0.5.
CBS and Fox were both at 0.7/3. For CBS, Kevin Can Wait slipped 11% to a 0.8 and Man With a Plan rated a flat 0.8. Superior Donuts fell 13% to 0.7 and was followed by a Big Bang Theory repeat. The season premiere of Elementary did a 0.6, up a tenth of a point from its closer last spring.
For Fox, Lucifer was down 14% at 0.6 and The Resident was a level 0.8.
Univision rated a 0.5/2 and Telemundo a 0.4/2.
The CW was at 0.3/1. Supergirl climbed 25% to 0.5 and iZombie posted a flat 0.2. | |
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| • LIZ BLACKER was named senior VP of branded content revenue at Univision Communications. She was most recently executive VP, multicultural at HeartMedia. She has also served as chief revenue officer at Terra USA, chief marketing officer at One Economy Corp., executive director of Yahoo U.S. Hispanic, VP of global sales and marketing at StarMedia Network, and director of sales, U.S. and Latin America at Fortune.
• BEN CRONIN was promoted to global lead of the Publicis Media Sport and Entertainment practice. He was previously global lead of network client solutions. In his new role, he succeeds Robin Clarke. Prior to joining Publicis, Cronin was manager director, UK Sports at SMG.
• JAN KOUM is leaving his position as chief executive of Facebook-owned WhatsApp, which he co-founder and which was acquired by Facebook in 2014. While he gave no reason for his departure, a Wall Street Journal report mentioned possible friction over Facebook's desire to sell advertising on WhatsApp. • SCOTT THALER was named chief marketing officer at Mattress Firm. He was most recently chief integration officer at Zimmerman Advertising.
• Saturday Night Live cast members COLIN JOST and MICHAEL CHE, who anchor the show's Weekend Update segment and also co-head its writing crew, will co-host the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards telecast on NBC on Monday, Sept 17 at 8 p.m. The telecast will be executive produced by Saturday Night Live creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels.
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