Media buying - based on what?
I deal with people from Marketing agencies daily and sometimes even in my dreams I am negotiating something. The observation I have is that the old saying :” It is now what you know, but who you know” is very true to even such a field of marketing as media buying.
Really, media buyer is always in a conflict of interests. The agency makes 15% on top of everything they buy, at the same time the budget is usually limited and their goal should be to provide the best bang for the buck for their accounts. In addition to that I find that a lot of agencies buy ad space based on their previous relationships with different sales people. Meaning, if they like a sales rep they would buy an ad only from him or her.
This all leaves agency’s clients in pretty bad spot. Think about it: even if campaign is brilliant, but the buyer buys ads in the wrong place (because of his or her personal preferences) you still waste your money with that agency.
The bottom line of little rant is: if you are buying advertising - do it because it makes sense for your client, not because you like the voice of a person on the phone. If you are a client of marketing agency double check on other options that exist except the one you being presented with.
Mar 16th, 2008 at 2:23 am
I agree with you. The same thing can be said about agencies use of printers. It is great to use printers you have relationship with, but you can also get those quality printers to match pricing. But remember, prices can vay from area to area.
Also be leery of new folks in your marketing department that try to shuffle in their contacts. The industry is full of sales reps who offer kickbacks. This is something that we deal with constantly. Corporate internal marketing employees fishing for sports tickets or gifts or even cash “Spiffs” or “Finder’s Fees”.
Just a little advice from an agency guy.
Mar 16th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Thanks for the comment Tony. That is exactly what I am talking about. Agencies using their focus which should be to serve their client the best they can.