Marketing Math Blog

Oct 03
Love0

3 Thoughts on Facebook’s Video “Watch Time” Issue

By Advertisers, Digital Media, Marketing Accountability, Media, Media Transparency No Comments

facebookFrom an advertiser’s perspective, there were three things that stood out in the wake of Facebook’s recent disclosure that it had mistakenly overstated average video watch times.

First and foremost, the miscalculation was not uncovered by the advertising agency community. Given the dollar volume being committed to Facebook, whose digital ad revenues will eclipse $6.0 billion, it would be fair to assume that ad agencies had a fiduciary duty to verify/investigate Facebook’s performance monitoring methodologies prior to investing their clients’ media dollars. The fact that Facebook had not embraced industry standards and asked the Media Rating Council (MRC) to accredit its performance metrics should have been the hot topic of conversation prior to Facebook’s disclosure, rather than after the fact. Ironically, in the wake of this disclosure, WPP stated that the mistake “further emphasizes the importance and need for third-party verification of all media — not only to verify trading terms but also to verify performance.” So if agencies truly felt this way, why wasn’t this standard not being applied here-to-for?

Secondly, it would appear as though the agency community is somewhat fearful of Facebook. Too many agency executives spoke to the trade media on the basis of anonymity rather than overtly stating their personal and or their company’s perspective on both the inflation of the viewing time metric and the need for accreditation. This seems an odd dynamic given the percentage of digital media spend represented by the “Big 4” agency holding companies. Advertisers might rightly expect that the scale of these entities would offer them some level of leverage and protection when interacting with media sellers. This is apparently not the case.

Thirdly, advertisers need to put a stake in the ground when it comes to media transparency and performance authentication. Self-reported performance indicators, such as Facebook’s average video watch time, cannot be the basis upon which they invest their media dollars. If a media seller has not had its delivery and performance metrics audited and accredited by an industry accepted resource such as the MRC, IAS, Nielsen or comScore for example, then they should be excluded from the media investment consideration equation.

The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) CEO, Bob Liodice appropriately addressed this issue when the ANA issued the following statement: “ANA does not believe there are any pragmatic reasons that a media company should not abide by the standards of accreditation and auditing” calling this important step “table stakes” for digital advertising.

The issue with the misstatement of the video ad watch times is not whether or to what extent the :03 second watch time threshold was utilized by ad agencies to assess Facebook’s performance. Quite simply, the issue is that self-reported performance metrics are unequivocally no substitute for independently audited outputs.

For anyone to suggest that the miscalculation is really no big deal, because it is a metric that is not utilized when considering the purchase of video advertising on Facebook, is misguided. The lack of transparency, further compounded by the media seller’s lack of adherence to industry standards when coupled with the self-reported inflated viewing times can and did wrongly influence agency and advertiser decisions. Thus, raising the all-important question: “Absent an independent audit, what portion of Facebook’s self-reported performance metrics can an advertiser trust?”

 

 

Sep 26
Love0

Is It Too Late for the 4A’s on the Topic of Transparency?

By Advertisers, Advertising Agencies, Client Agency Relationship Management, Marketing Accountability, Media Transparency No Comments

too lateEarlier this month, the 4A’s announced that it was pulling out of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) “Transparency” panel scheduled during Advertising Week in New York City.

In light of the organization’s decision to break from ANA / 4A’s joint media transparency initiative earlier this spring, ostensibly to chart its own course, this move comes as no surprise. However, it is nonetheless disappointing. After all, why wouldn’t the 4A’s and it member agencies want to share the stage with the ANA to address advertisers on the topic of transparency?

The quest for improved standards and performance related to transparency would benefit mightily from the involvement of the 4A’s. The ANA, advertisers and many within the agency community have sought the 4A’s cooperation on this issue and would welcome a united effort to address this topic.

Clearly a full-court press is necessary if the industry is going to improve both transparency and ultimately the level of trust between advertisers, agencies and publishers. Aside from the eye opening findings from ANA / K2 study on media transparency, there have been two recent announcements that certainly seem to bolster the results of this study. First, just this past week Facebook indicated that it had misrepresented average viewing times for video ads played on its site. Secondly, the global agency holding company Dentsu came forward and cited multiple instances where there were “failures of placement,” “false reporting” and “inappropriate operations” which impacted over 100 of their clients. Dentsu’s CEO, Tadashi Ishii issued a statement saying that there were “instances where our invoices did not reflect actual results, resulting in unjust, overcharged billings.”

In fact, the impact of the 4a’s decision has resulted in two agencies, Empower and Mediasmith, pulling out of the 4A’s citing the associations failure to take a more progressive stance when it comes to working more closely with the ANA to resolve the issue of media transparency.

From the perspective of advertisers, they are rightly concerned about the issue of transparency and are taking matters into their own hands. Consider the September 23rd article in the Wall Street Journal; “Major Marketers Audit Agencies“ in which firms such as J.P. Morgan, General Electric Nationwide Mutual Insurance and Sears Holdings Corp. indicated that they “had hired outside counsel” to conduct audits, due in part to the ANA study. Additionally, the article identified more than a half-dozen other firms that are “trying to get more liberal auditing rights” to improve the protections afforded them under their Client/ Agency agreements.

Given the importance of transparency and full-disclosure in establishing productive, long-term relationships between advertisers and agencies it is unclear what the 4A’S hopes to gain with its current approach. While the 4A’s has issued transparency guidelines of their own, advertisers and many industry observers have indicated unequivocally that these guidelines are inherently biased in favor of the agency holding companies and that they simply don’t go far enough to address advertiser transparency concerns.

The very fact that many agencies are deriving non-transparent revenue from the budgetary dollars entrusted to them by advertisers is an affront to a principal-agent relationship. And even if, as some agency leaders have suggested, not all client / agency contracts espouse a principal-agent relationship, it is simply not a good practice (and promotes distrust) for an agency to leverage an advertiser’s funds for its financial benefit without its knowledge. This is particularly true when such gains undermine the notion of “objectivity” when it comes to the media investment counsel being provided by these agencies to their clients.

Noted novelist, Thomas Hardy once said that; “The resolution to avoid an evil is seldom framed till the evil is so far advanced as to make avoidance impossible.” One might argue that as an industry, when it comes to transparency, trust and their impact on client / agency relationships the point in time to frame a resolution is long past due. Sadly, for the 4A’s, change is afoot and the organization’s actions may render it as an observer rather than a co-author of a doctrine for positive change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aug 26
Love0

Funding Accountability Initiatives

By Advertisers, Advertising Agency Audits, advertising legal, Client Agency Relationship Management, Contract Compliance Auditing, Internal Audit, Marketing Accountability, Marketing Agency Network, Marketing Procurement No Comments

 

fundingThe desire on the part of many advertisers to extend their organization’s accountability initiative to marketing is high. This is due to the fact that marketing is both one of the largest indirect expense categories within an organization and, for those that believe in its ability to drive strategic outcomes, critical in driving brand value and demand generation.

One of the key challenges for Internal Audit and Procurement professionals in implementing accountability programs is that they typically do not have a budget to fund the projects. Rather, they are reliant on their peers in Marketing to “buy in” to the concept and to underwrite the investment associated with analyzing contract compliance, financial management and in-market performance across their agency networks. This dynamic can create a loggerhead that delays or prevents corporate scrutiny into marketing and advertising spending and its resulting business impact.

The irony is that relative to the millions of dollars invested in marketing, the cost of implementing an accountability program for this corporate function is much less than one-percent of total spend. As we know, applying the skills and capabilities of audit and procurement teams and outside consultants typically results in improved controls that mitigate financial and legal risks to the organization. Further, these efforts often uncover historical errors and overbillings, and always generate future savings and improved marketing return-on-investment opportunities that more than offset the cost of the program.

It has always been a mystery as to why more advertisers simply don’t formalize and legislate the marketing accountability program and establish the requisite budget to be administered by the CFO / Finance organization. A minority of our clients operate in this manner, but clearly a “win, win” situation is created where internal audit and procurement provide their support and apply their resources pro-actively and marketing doesn’t feel as though funding is coming at the expense of critical business building programs within their budgets.

From our perspective, the source of funding for extending a corporate accountability initiative to marketing is the last hurdle. The reason is that we have seen marketing’s appreciation for accountability support grow along with their respect for the audit and procurement functions and a recognition that such programs can improve the efficiency and efficacy of the organization’s marketing spend.

The advertising industry is a complex; rapidly changing, technology-driven sector fraught with opacity challenges and risks such as digital media fraud and non-transparent revenue practices employed by agencies, ad tech providers, ad exchanges and media sellers. In light of these dynamics, organizations truly understand the benefit of monitoring the disposition of their marketing investment and the performance of their advertising agencies and third-party vendors.

It has been over 140 years since Philadelphia merchant John Wanamaker offered the following perspective on his ad spend:

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.”

Yet, with the passage of time it would be difficult for the industry to suggest that much has changed with regard to a marketers ability to accurately assess the efficacy of their advertising spend.

There is no time like the present to proactively develop; implement and fund transformative accountability programs that can optimize planned business outcomes, while safeguarding marketing spend at every level of the advertising investment cycle.

Interested in learning more about marketing accountability programs? Contact Cliff Campeau, Principal at Advertising Audit & Risk Management| AARM at ccampeau@aarmusa.com for a complimentary consultation on the topic.

 

Aug 14
Love0

Key to Media ROI: Chief Media Officer or Compliance Auditing Support?

By Advertisers, Advertising Agency Audits, Client Agency Relationship Management, Contract Compliance Auditing, Marketing Accountability, Media No Comments

accountabilityIn the wake of this spring’s Association of National Advertisers (ANA) “Media Transparency” study, conducted by K2, many in the industry have suggested that advertisers add a Chief Media Officer to staff to assist them in navigating what is clearly a complex, rapidly changing industry. For those advertisers that have the financial wherewithal to support such a position, the benefits could be significant when it comes to strategy development, planning and stewardship of their media agencies and extended supplier base.

That said, the dynamics which impact media return-on-investment require resources that go well beyond the reach, and sometimes knowledge, of a Chief Media Officer and create an entirely different set of challenges even for those organization’s that do have the luxury of adding a seasoned, media executive to their staff.

The findings of the ANA/K2 study dealt with non-transparent media agency practices effecting advertisers such as: rebates taken at the agency holding company level and not passed through to advertisers, media arbitrage, value banks, related party transactions and inappropriate mark-up on both media and non-media expenses. The economic and relationship impact of these practices, and the continued adverse effects of digital ad fraud and viewability challenges besetting the industry, all serve to greatly reduce the efficacy of an advertiser’s media investment.

Experience suggests that the key to resolving these issues is more likely rooted in the development of a sound, broad reaching media accountability program. One which focuses on improving client/agency contract language, client/ agency focused communications, financial and legal controls and enhancing advertiser transparency rights that allow clarity into the disposition of their funds at each stage of the media investment cycle.

This is not an easy task in an industry still largely reliant on an estimated billing model, with inordinately long campaign closing/reconciliation processes and multiple third-party vendors and middlemen, which all serve to negatively impact working media ratios.

Add to this the fact that the C-Suite within many advertiser organizations simply doesn’t pay much attention to media, in spite of the materiality of spend in this important area. Consider the results from a July ANA study, conducted by Advertiser Perceptions, following the release of the ANA/ K2 study:

Only one-quarter (25%) of advertisers surveyed were aware of the ANA’s media transparency study.

We believe that advertisers do care about how their media funds are being managed. However, we also know that very few organizations know what happens to their money, once an agency invoice has been paid.

It is for this reason that we believe strongly in the vast benefits that a structured, agency compliance and financial management auditing program. One that can also assist advertisers by providing a context for understanding the scope of the risks they face when it comes to building mitigating controls to optimize their media investment.

At present, few advertisers undertake such testing and even fewer have the requisite industry experience and specific media-based accounting, auditing and fraud examination experience represented in-house. Additionally, we have yet to evidence a client organization that has implemented the requisite software in their media function capable of processing and catching media billing discrepancies and performing other detailed financial analysis on their media investment.

We have learned over the years that the implementation of such controls yields tangible value far in excess of the cost to support such efforts.

The combination of financial loss related to approved but unspent media funds, earned but unprocessed credits and rebates, billing errors, unreconciled pass-through expenses and related party transparency issues can range between 2.0% and 5.0% of total agency billings. Once aware of the causes, savings are realized year-over-year by implementing improved process changes and treasury management.

With this as a backdrop, imagine an organization investing tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars on media. The resulting financial benefits, combined with improved controls, enhanced risk mitigation and transparency most assuredly will secure the attention of the C-Suite and their support for media agency compliance auditing.

Interested in learning how to start improving your media transparency today? Contact Cliff Campeau, Principal at Advertising Audit & Risk Management at ccampeau@aarmusa.com for your complimentary consultation.

Aug 02
Love0

Advertiser Audit Rights: Define & Exercise Them

By Advertisers, Advertising Agencies, Advertising Agency Audits, advertising legal, Contract Compliance Auditing, Internal Audit, Letter of Agreement Best Practices, Marketing Accountability No Comments

auditThere is a new trend developing within the marketing agency community when it comes to negotiating client contract language – and that is a fairly aggressive attempt to limit the advertiser (client) audit rights and scope. In other words, limiting what the agency is required to have available as “proof” and support for agency billings to the client and agency use of client funds.

At a time when there is much talk about the need for transparency and its role in helping to bolster trust and strengthen client-agency relationships, this trend is highly antithetical.

The most common examples of agencies trying to dictate and limit the client’s “Audit Rights” are:

  1. Limiting the window of time in which an advertiser can conduct the audit. For example, 12 months from date of service or invoice, as opposed to a 3 year window.
  2. Limiting access to agency financial data and or records, as opposed to full access to information that support agency billings, financial management, and performance. This can include denying access to data such as employee time keeping records, agency overhead or holding company allocations to client, freelance records, prices paid for certain media and agency affiliate company costs.
  3. Limiting the amount of time the agency is required to retain data and records.
  4. Limiting the type of audit firm that an advertiser can engage to perform the testing – and or including language that seeks to secure agency approval of advertiser’s auditor selection.

In order to ensure full-transparency into the financial stewardship of funds by the agency and third-party vendors, experience suggests that advertisers must secure client-centric contractual audit terms and conditions. It is our belief that this is an advertiser’s unassailable right. After all, it is the advertiser who bears the risk of non-compliance and sub-standard performance when it comes to the investment and management of their marketing funds. And it is the advertiser who is providing the funding to the agent.

Contract language dealing with Audit Rights should grant advertisers the ability to establish the scope of the audit, deploy an audit team of its choice and to have unfettered access to information necessary to validate agency compliance and or performance (i.e. contract compliance, media performance, etc.). To ensure full transparency, advertiser Audit Rights should extend to the agency holding company and affiliates in any full-disclosure relationship.

As important as securing solid Audit Rights language, within a Client-Agency agreement, is the need for advertisers to exercise those rights on a regular basis. Whether through the deployment of internal audit personnel, engaging independent contract compliance or financial auditors or the use of a media performance audit firm, it is imperative that advertisers monitor and vet agency performance in these areas.

The frequency of such oversight actions can range from annual reviews to quarterly reconciliations to the implementation of continuous monitoring programs to assess the disposition and performance of advertiser funds, while under the control of their agency partners.

Sharing audit findings with both advertiser and agency is highly recommended so that both parties, if necessary, can adjust practices going forward. After all, the goal of an accountability program is to provide improved transparency, assurance, improved process, and stronger client-agency relationships. In the words of Thomas Huxley, the noted 19th century scientist:

“Learn what is true, in order to do what is right.”

If you would like to receive a complimentary review of your organization’s “Audit Rights” contract language please contact Cliff Campeau, Principal at Advertising Audit & Risk Management at ccampeau@aarmusa.com.

 

Jul 22
Love0

“Our Agency Contract has Expired…”

By Advertisers, Advertising Agencies, advertising legal, Contract Compliance Auditing, Letter of Agreement Best Practices, Marketing Accountability No Comments

expiredThis along with feedback such as; “We can’t find a copy of the agreement,” “We don’t have an executed copy of the contract” and “Hadn’t seen that version before” are common responses from advertisers when asked for copies of their Client-Agency agreements when undertaking an inaugural agency contract compliance audit.

While alarming at a certain level, perhaps no more concerning than the dated, evergreen and largely inadequate agency-centric contractual instruments that represent a majority of the agreements that many advertisers have entered into.

Concerning? To be sure. Perhaps these organizations aren’t familiar with the words of legendary investor, Warren Buffett, who once said:

“Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.”

In an industry grappling with issues such as fraud, transparency, relationship stability, trust and the fairness of agency compensation systems the risks posed by non-existent or inadequate contracts are significant and include, legal, financial and intellectual property exposure.

The reasons for this dilemma are many and common across many client organizations:

  1. No central contract repository within the organization
  2. Limited cross-functional agency relationship oversight
  3. No strategic supplier management system
  4. Contracts negotiated by one function, not shared with relationship owners
  5. No enterprise wide accountability initiative

By now, most are aware of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) study on “Media Transparency” that was prepared in conjunction with K2 and released in June of this year. If there is one takeaway from the findings of that study, which all advertisers should pay heed to its the fact that a solid Client-Agency contract is an advertisers best defense when it comes to protecting their advertising investment.

One side benefit of the ANA/ K2 study is that C-Suite members within many advertiser organizations are asking the questions; “How susceptible is our firm?” and “What level of control and transparency do we currently have when it comes to our marketing investment?”

Addressing these questions is an excellent place to begin, because it necessarily involves securing and reviewing current copies of the contractual agreements that are in place with each of the organization’s marketing vendors. Perhaps the next best place to turn is to engage either outside counsel or an independent agency contract compliance specialists, with deep knowledge of the marketing/ advertising industry and some of the advancements and best practices which are in place to safeguard an advertisers investment.

Once an updated agreement is put in place, the easiest way to manage these contracts, amendments and ongoing statement’s of work is to schedule (and contractually mandate) annual reviews of the agreement and all legal documents governing your agencies staffing plans and compensation.

For those seeking an added layer of protection, engaging an agency contract compliance specialist to monitor each agencies adherence to the terms and conditions of the agreements that govern these important relationships is an excellent idea.

Interested in assessing your organization’s legal and financial risks? Contact us for a complimentary agency contract risk assessment by emailing Cliff Campeau, Principal, Advertising Audit & Risk Management at ccampeau@aarmusa.com today.

 

Jul 05
Love0

Here We Go Again…

By Digital Media, Marketing, Media No Comments

mobilityIs the ad industry about to make the same mistake with mobile as it did with digital? Early on in the platform’s development, it would appear so.

On a positive note, according to new figures from eMarketer, mobile ad spending will surpass $100 billion in spending in 2016, accounting for more than 50% of all digital ad expenditures.

However, there are challenges that need to be addressed. Chiefly, there are a lack of uniform viewability and audience measurement standards in place to validate publisher performance. Today, different publishers utilize a variety of different methods for counting impressions. The key point of contention with mobile is whether or not the publisher delivers on ads rendered or fully loaded as opposed to ad calls.

According to the Media Rating Council, which issued their “mobile viewable ad impression measurement guidelines” this past spring “Each valid viewable impression originates from a valid rendered mobile served impression. In no case should viewable impressions exceed render mobile served impressions counted on a campaign.”

When you look at the numbers, the waste factor in mobile advertising is alarming. In a recent article by Allison Schiff on Adexchanger, entitled; “The Buy Side Doesn’t Want Impressions Counted Before They Hatch” mobile ad server, Medialets, suggested that in a review of “2.7 billion impressions across its mobile ad server” that it found that “roughly 20% of ad calls on the mobile web were “wasted,” aka they don’t ever fully render on a device.”

Concerns over ad delivery and measurement issues related to mobile sound all to familiar to the growing pains suffered by advertisers with online display advertising served to desktop devices. Add in the newness and complexity of the segment, and advertisers would be foolish not to be mindful about their investment in this area.

In the near-term, the best path forward for advertisers to take is to enforce an ad rendered versus ad called verification approach, establish minimum viewability thresholds and utilize only MRC accredited vendors that are willing to adhere to industry standards. It should be noted that while the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) established a 70% viewability threshold for measured impressions in 2015 many mobile platforms are “guaranteeing” viewability levels as high as 100%.

When you consider that according to eMarketer, over 31 million U.S. internet users will only go online using a mobile device in 2016, it is clear that the segments potential is high. Let’s hope that the learning curve is not as steep as the adoption path.

 

 

Jun 30
Love0

Decision Time for Advertisers in Wake of ANA Study on Media Rebates

By Advertisers, Advertising Agencies, Advertising Agency Audits, AVBs, Client Agency Relationship Management, Marketing Accountability, Media Rebates, Rebates, Right to Audit Clauses, Working Media No Comments

time to decideU.S. advertisers have long suspected their presence and agencies have steadfastly denied accepting rebates in the U.S. market. Depending on which side of the ledger one fell on, the ANA/ K2 study on media transparency may not have swayed your perspective on the topic one iota.

If such is the case, that is too bad. As the noted Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw once said:

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their mind cannot change anything.”

The study was thorough, insightful and shed light on some of the non-transparent sources of revenue available to agencies. These range from AVBs or rebates and value banks consisting of no-charge media weight to the spread earned by agency trading desks from the practice of media arbitrage or “principal-based media buying” as it is often called. The source of these findings were agency, ad tech and publisher personnel that participated in the study in exchange for the ANA and K2 protecting their anonymity. Of note, not one representative from an agency holding company or ad agency was willing to go on the record and participate in this study.

We believe that the study should serve as a wake-up call for advertisers and agencies alike to engage in serious discussions regarding the level of disclosure desired by clients when it comes to the stewardship of their media investment. In the wake of the 4A’s premature withdrawal from the joint task force dealing with this topic and their subsequent challenges of the ANA/ K2 study methodology and findings, these discussions will have to occur on a one-on-one basis. Which, candidly, is the best means of affecting near-term change.

In most instances, it is not illegal for agencies to generate non-transparent revenue and is likely not even a violation of the agreements, which have been signed with their clients. Why? Caveat emptor…agreements are simply lacking the requisite control language to protect advertisers which in turn allows agencies to interpret “gray areas” in their favor. This, coupled with the fact that agencies are well aware that only a small percentage of advertisers audit their agency partners, it is easy to see how such practices could exist.

Thus, as an industry we should not cast blame for the emergence of non-transparent revenue as an important element in agency remuneration programs… even if not sanctioned by advertisers. Nor should we accept the agencies excuse that clients driving fees down somehow makes it acceptable for agencies to pursue non-transparent revenue to counter weak remuneration agreements, which agencies have knowingly signed on for.

Agencies are not suffering financially. Consider that in the first-quarter of 2016 the “Big 4” holding companies all realized increases in revenue ranging between 0.9% – 10.5%. WPP achieved a 10.5% increase on an 8.5% increase in billings, Omnicom Group saw net income per diluted share increase 8.4% and IPG achieved operating margins of 33.8%. Between these performances and media inflation outstripping GDP growth or increases in the consumer price and producer price indices it is easy to see how advertiser investments are fueling the trend of continued acquisition by these holding companies as they snatch up ad tech firms, content firms, digital agencies and traditional ad shops. Not to mention the fact that one must wonder how hard companies like WPP have to drive growth to fund expenses like its chairman’s annual compensation package, which tops $100 million per year.

The focus of clients and agencies should be on returning to a principal/agent relationship predicated on full-disclosure. This is the surest path to rebuilding trust and establishing solid relationships focused on objectivity, transparency and a mutual focus on maximizing advertiser return-on-media-investment. Secondarily, both parties need to evaluate how to minimize the number of middlemen in the media buying loop, particularly for digital media, rethinking the role of ad tech firms, exchanges and publishers and the cut that each takes, lowering the advertisers working media ratios.

From our perspective there are four steps, which advertisers can take to address these issues:

  1. Revisit client/ agency Master Services Agreements to tighten terms and conditions, which deal with disclosure, financial stewardship and audit rights.
  2. Undertake constructive conversations regarding agency remuneration, with the goal of ensuring that your agency partners are fairly compensated, removing any incentive for non-transparent revenue generating behaviors.
  3. Pay more attention to the proper construction of statements of work (SOWs), establishing clear deliverables and review/ approval processes against which your agency partners can assess the resource investment required to achieve such deliverables. This will assist both client and agency in fairly aligning remuneration, resources and expectations.
  4. Monitor agency performance, resource investment levels vis-à-vis the staffing plan and audit contract compliance to ensure that contractual controls and the resulting levels of protection and transparency are being met.

The ANA/ K2 study can and should serve as a platform for advertisers and their agency partners to work through any concerns or expectations regarding media transparency, both in the U.S. and across the globe. Experience suggests that progressive organizations will use the insights gleaned from the study as a launch pad for improving contractual controls, working media ratios and client/ agency relations.

For the industry, it is important to dispatch with concerns regarding media transparency quickly. This will allow all stakeholders to focus on tackling the myriad of issues that dramatically impact media effectiveness including ad fraud, cross channel audience delivery measurement, viewability and attribution modeling.

Jun 01
Love0

The Real Cost of Agency Employee Turnover

By Advertisers, Advertising Agencies No Comments

talentTalent. Whether viewed in the context of attracting, developing and or retaining ambitious, gifted employees, talent management is a major challenge for all professional service providers, perhaps none more so than for advertising agencies.

As the industry has evolved over time, the ability to attract entry-level talent has become more difficult. Agencies have reduced their on-campus recruiting presence, starting pay levels are not as competitive as other professional services firms, such as management consultants and agencies are viewed by many candidates as “sweat shops” with low pay, long hours and little loyalty.

Sadly, once a young graduate joins an agency, some of these perceptions too often mirror reality. This is often compounded by limited opportunities for training and development, in favor of a “baptism by fire” on-boarding process marked by immediate deployment onto client accounts with high expectations and demanding, results oriented environments.

The end result for advertising agencies has been an increased level of employee turnover. In turn, this lack of stability has led to higher operational costs ranging from increases in time-on-task to higher recruiting and training costs. The impact of increased agency employee turnover rates negatively impact clients. This often takes the form of higher re-work rates and the need for greater staff coverage to cover of employee inexperience and a lack of direct knowledge of the client’s business.

More significantly, many would argue that these talent issues have negatively impacted client/ agency partnerships, resulting in shorter tenures and more shallow relationships between personnel on both sides of the aisle.

For its part, the industry has acknowledged that “talent management” is a challenge that must be addressed. Given the rapidly changing marketing landscape, driven in part by a seemingly never ending stream of technology advancements, there is a clear need to expand not only the depth of the agency talent pool, but the breadth as well. The need for application developers, coders, data scientists, user-experience architects, social community managers and content curators and creators is now just as important as attracting account managers, copywriters, art directors, media planners and buyers.

By comparison, management consulting firms have been able to more successfully manage their talent pipelines, attracting the best and brightest of our university graduates, developing that talent, retaining their personnel and achieving billable rates that are much higher than their agency counterparts (or should we say competitors).

The irony is that management consulting firms have quickly morphed their business models, competing directly with traditional ad agencies. Firms like Accenture and Deloitte now provide a full suite of marketing and advertising services involving branding, attribution modeling, digital management, graphic design, social and experiential marketing to provide clients with end-to-end customer engagement support. Importantly, these firms also have the ability to readily deploy personnel within these functions on a global basis.

With an expanding set of competition including other professional services firms, technology firms, media sellers and advertisers migrating select functions ranging from their agencies to in-house solutions the challenges for agencies looking to address their talent needs will likely remain steep in the near-term. That said, given the importance professional staff play in establishing trust and credibility with clients, the growing pressure from advertisers for full-disclosure remuneration systems and the resulting need to build out agency teams and the pool of billable hours will be critical to driving top-line success.

If agency holding companies want to avoid becoming temporary staffing firms, one important element in the talent acquisition cycle is to build strong agency brands with compelling cultures that appeal to college graduates, young professionals and mid-level managers. With the multitude of agency’s within their networks, holding companies may ultimately have to consider consolidating and integrating some of their agency brands to create scale, introduce a broader range of services and to provide meaningful career development opportunities for their associates.

Beyond building compelling brands/ cultures, agencies will likely have to rethink their staff compensation programs, which over time have become very polarized, with top managers earning significant salaries and more junior personnel laboring at lower salary levels with few perks. Unfortunately, the easiest way for these folks to advance their economic status is to jump ship and go to another agency for a loftier title and a bigger paycheck. Too often this pattern is then repeated every two to three years.

This will require ad agencies to begin with rethinking entry level pay, which pales in comparison to what a college graduate can earn by going to work for another professional services or technology development firm. There is no sense in ratcheting up the on-campus recruitment effort, if an organization is not willing to back that up with a competitive compensation program.

According to a 2014 4A’s report, average ad agency starting salaries of $25,000 paled when compared to the $70,000 paid at management consulting and technology firms and $125,000 for 1st year law associates. Sir Martin Sorrell called it right in 2011 when he called the agency talent situation “criminal.” In the past, agencies were able to leverage the industry’s reputation as an energetic, forward thinking, collaborative, fun sector and the agencies themselves were thought to have engaging cultures that helped candidates look beyond compensation. Today, it is the technology companies that are viewed as having employee friendly cultures, while agencies are viewed as having more competitive, more cutthroat culture, which does not appeal to millennials.

Earlier this spring, Digiday published an article suggesting that as challenging as the competition for entry-level personnel might be, the real talent crisis was in middle management, individuals with 3 – 5 years of experience. These are the frontline troops, the doers and problem solvers. While compensation is a concern for this group, they are also looking for “more challenges” and “leadership experience.” Often times, they cannot satisfy their desires in this area at their agency and when they leave, many don’t stay within the industry.

In our experience, addressing the challenges of attracting top talent and reducing turnover in the ad business is an important component in reinvigorating client/ agency relationships, boosting the levels of trust and confidence… and the caliber of the work. We hope that agencies can make meaningful progress in this area and once again become desirable, highly coveted career alternatives for talented young people.