Mediaboss Marketing

Credit: deepblue4you/iStock

Global brands have tried to tighten control on media spending and reexamine their relationships with agency suppliers in the year since a bombshell report on media transparency from the Association of National Advertisers, according to a new survey from the World Federation of Advertisers.

The research released this week from the Brussels-based marketing association representing members like Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Unilever and national advertiser associations said brands are making changes to their media governance practices in the areas of media transparency, viewability, brand safety and ad fraud.

The WFA attributes the more hands-on approach to the ANA's report last summer, which claimed rebates and non-transparent practices were pervasive in the U.S. media-buying ecosystem and put the relationships marketers have with their media agencies under a microscope.

The survey included 35 WFA members representing more than $30 billion in global media and marketing spending.

About a quarter of brands surveyed said they had conducted "forensic/financial/contract compliance audits" of their agencies in the last 12 months, and 21 percent said they planned to do this. Some 35 percent of respondents said they already conduct those audits.

Historically, media audits tracked the prices that an agency was paying for media and benchmarked them against competition. As digital media has gained prevalence, compliance audits which take an in-depth look at an agency's books, including invoices, cash flow and time sheets have become more common in Europe.

A number of brands surveyed said they had made changes to their agency contracts in the past 12 months. For instance, 26 percent added clauses pertaining to the return of incentives, defined as any kinds of discounts, rebates or service agreements given to agencies by media vendors to buy certain media, and whether those "incentives" are passed back to the advertiser.

Though some types of rebates have been common business practice abroad, other less straightforward types of rebates have become more prevalent in recent years, said Matt Green, global lead of media and digital marketing at the WFA.

The WFA has said it doesn't oppose rebates, an industry practice in which media companies provide money or volume discounts to agencies for influencing client spending toward that media company. But the group believes advertisers should receive their fair share of those discounts or payments, and that rebates shouldn't create issues surrounding conflicts of interest.

Green said transparency had been a topic of discussion internationally before the ANA report was released.

"Transparency has been a big focus internationally for a while, less so in the U.S.," he said. "It doesn't surprise me that we're seeing a renewed focus on transparency" following the ANA's report, he said.

In the study, 57 percent of brands said they had implemented viewer tracking via a third-party vendor (31 percent already had that in place); 49 percent have adopted site whitelists or blacklists where advertising should or shouldn't appear (46 percent had done so already); and 54 percent said they were now working with third-party verification companies or other partners to combat ad fraud (34 percent were doing so already).

Though trust between agencies and marketers has been a challenge, Green said he believes having these conversations will benefit the industry down the line.

"Maybe it was necessary for the industry to go through these challenges in order to be reborn in a more stable manner," Green said. "It is a process that needed to happen. We will ultimately come out in a better place."

Originally posted here:
Global Brands Are Taking More Control of Media Spending: WFA - AdAge.com (blog)

After months of rumors about why ABCs hit Bachelor in Paradise shut down production after allegations of possible misconduct between contestants Corinne Olympios and DeMario Jackson, the show which was cleared in an investigation finally provided some answers Tuesday night in a sitdown with host Chris Harrison and the cast.

It was an educational experience, as Harrison led a lessonon sexual consent (Ifsomebodys passed out, unresponsive, can they give consent? If somebodys drunk, can they give consent?). The contestants shared their thoughtson whether race was a factor because the alleged controversy was abouta black man and a white woman. (Unfortunately, yes.)

The episodewas also pretty cringeworthy damage control, relieving the show of any responsibility, complete with a dose of media-bashing. Here are some other takeaways:

[Bachelor in Paradise addresses scandal in most frustrating way possible in the premiere]

1) Bachelor in Paradiseis a beautiful show with only pure intentions to help people find love.

Did you think Bachelor in Paradise was just a seedy Bachelor spin-off where former contestants try to extend their 15 minutes of fame and drink and hook up? Then thats your problem, because actually, it is truly a life-affirming experiencefor lost souls just trying to find a partner.

The episode started the wedding of Evan Bass and Carly Waddell, who met and got engaged last season. Even though our production was technically shut down, we didnt want anyone to miss this joyous occasion, Harrison explained. How annoying when producers on your showare so disturbed by a situationthat they have to file complaints about possible misconduct before a made-for-TV wedding can happen.

Luckily, the wedding took place. This is going to be the most beautiful wedding ever. Carly and Evan are completely a testament to what Paradise can do for people, sighed contestant Sarah Herron in an on-camera interview.

2) Bachelor in Paradise producers and ABC are completely blameless.

The gist of the controversy:Production shut down after anincident in a pool between DeMario Jackson and Corinne Olympios, or, as People reported,possiblya drunk sexual encounter with a female contestant who may have been too intoxicated to consent. Olympios hired a lawyerand said she was a victim; Jacksonsaid the reports were false and character assassination. An investigation found the footage showed no misconduct. Production started again, though without Jacksonand Olympios.

The second half of the episode kicked off as Harrison gathered the cast around for a Very Serious Talk. On Monday, viewers briefly saw footage of Jacksonand Olympios laughing and cuddling in the pool; Tuesday, there was no such footage. But producers really want the audience to know that they did absolutely nothing wrong.

Warner Bros. hired an outside firm to look into everything that supposedly happened here, Harrison said. They looked at all the video footage, sent people down here to interview all of you, our staff. They concluded that there was no evidence of misconduct by cast on the set. So lets talk about that. Do you trust that conclusion?

There was a large chorus of Yes! and Absolutely. I was confident that nothing happened between DeMario and Corinne that was bad, and I trusted everyone that worked here, so I knew everything was gonna be okay, declared Raven Gates.

My biggest worry was for not only production, because I felt like they were kind of blamed, shecontinued. And then my worry was for DeMario and Corinne because we knew what happened, but it was so unfair the way that people were speaking about DeMario and the blame he was getting and the horrible things said to him, and Corinne both.

3) Bachelor in Paradise producers would never coerce contestants to do anything, especially drink, and how dare you even think that.

After the Paradise shutdown, theseries got a lot of backlash for the amount of booze on the show,as former contestants have describedhow producers will encourage cast members to drinkto help provoke drama. After the shutdown, the show implemented new safety policies, and one was reportedly a limit on alcohol.

The Bachelor in Paradise cast, however, was incredibly offended that anyone would think the producers dont have their best interests at heart.

I feel like it was tough on all of us emotionally producers, crew, cast. So, for me, it was nice to see all of us kind of, like, come together, said Taylor Nolan. The divides in the roles of producers versus cast kind of blended, and we all, like, supported one another.

Thats a good point, Harrison agreed. I know you guys get close, but a lot of tears were shed that night. It was a really rough, emotional not even just that night. The days that followed as well, on the men and women you see standing behind the cameras right here. It was brutal. It was really rough, and in the 16 years Ive been doing this, easily the most emotional time that weve ever been through as far as a show.

Derek Peth jumped in to agree that the producers are certainly not at fault.I think theres a weird perception that exists out there, that were not in control of ourselves when were here. And that theres this puppet master thing occurring

Evil, manipulative producers, sneered one female cast member.

We all know how, like, realistic the friendships are amongst the cast and then the crew and the producers, Pethcontinued. I mean, its not some sort of crazy

You guys arent mindless robots? Harrison interruptedsarcastically.

Right, Pethsaid, as everyone laughed appreciatively.

Nolan who emphasized that she doesnt drink and the producers have never tried to encourage her rolled her eyes at viewers who come up to her and say that they love her character.

Like, were all real people just being ourselves, she said. Everything that we do here and that we say here is because we decide to.

4) Its all the medias fault, anyway.

A popular opinion these days, and the Paradise cast rolled with it.

It was just hard going back home and seeing, like, the media blow it so out of proportion, Alexis Waters explained.

I think there was a lot in the media regarding the producers as if theyre not our friends and that theyre just using us to make us do things, like were gonna just do whatever they say, Alex Woytkiw agreed.

They also blamed on the press for how Jacksonand Olympioswere portrayed.

Iggy Rodriguezsaid of DeMario,He has his faults. I think we all do. It was just really hard to see him typecast as this individual who sort of almost created the event, right? I think it was a really unfair representation of what happened.

5) No one is sure why Olympiosreferred to herself as a victim.

Before Olympiosstated that her own investigation into the incident was completed to her satisfaction, she released this statement: I am a victim and have spent the last week trying to make sense of what happened on June 4as a woman, this is my worst nightmare and it has now become my reality.

In one bizarre segment,Harrison asked, In Corinnes statement, she referred to herself as a victim. Why do you think she did that?

There was a pause. Maybe she wanted to try and save face, offered Danielle Maltby. That was kind of what I took from it.

It was a very vague statement, and it was left to interpretation by design, Woytkiwadded. And its unfortunate.

I dont think Corinnes statements came from her, Peth declared. It was a very vague lawyer statement and so it was really interesting to see how that vague statement was turned into an opinion, right? Which wasnt said. There was no statements about who was in the right, who was in the wrong. But instantly people made their decisions about that.

Read more:

Rob Kardashians meltdown, Bachelor controversy: This summer is exposing ugly truths of reality TV

Bachelor in Paradise host says theres a lot of misinformation out there about show shutdown

Bachelor in Paradise star hires lawyer after alleged misconduct that shut down the show

See the original post here:
'Bachelor in Paradise' somehow sinks to new low with media-bashing damage control - Washington Post

Lynch reminds media how much control he exerts over any interaction

Marshawn Lynch gave America five minutes and thirty-three seconds of his time, did not amplify on his posture during the pregame of Friday nights game in Arizona, and dropped a Peace, out.

Now how much Marshawn Lynch can you get?

He talked, thereby satisfying people. He didnt not talk about the National Anthem, the country, current events or anything remotely close to any of it, this disappointing those same people. He crossed the myth about elephants and mice with the popular Oedipal reference to make a new Marshawn Moment, which ranks up there with the tennis shoe hanging from the telephone wire retirement announcement.

And yeah, that is so much Marshawn Lynch, too.

Lynch, ultimately, interacts with the amalgamated media rabble (my ID number is #287,449/A) by reminding it how much control he exerts over any such interaction, and by giving it only his presence rather than his attention. He is phenomenally predictable that way, and it is to our shame that we keep thinking he will break the pattern out of some misplaced sense of obligation.

He is, in his own way, a recluse in full view. He insists on being the master of his surroundings in a business with many assumed masters coaches, front office people, fans, marketers, media, even the oft-repeated myths of the game like ones responsibilities to the greater amorphous whole. I even suspect he has the power of invisibility, like Doctor Fate, Martian Manhunter or The Watcher.

In which case he should gain about 7,500 yards and score 130 touchdowns and be able to sit whenever he wants for more reasons than his own. After all, America tends to bend its willingness to accept eccentricities like his when he is helping their team entertain them successfully.

After all, we know what our true cultural priorities are.

NAPA Marshawn Lynch spoke with the media Thursday for the second time as a Raider. He was quick-witted, disarming and, as always, not suitable for work.

It was five minutes of peak Marshawn, where he brought light to his charitable endeavors, called himself the daddy of his position group and cleverly sidestepped all things nation anthem.

He was asked four questions on other topics before elephant in the room was mentioned. It didnt stick around long.

I think the elephant left the room because a little mouse ran in here, Lynch deadpanned. Didnt they say elephants are scared of mice or something? That [expletive] left the room, cousin.

[RATTO:Lynch reminds media how much control he exerts over any interaction]

Two more related questions came down the pike. The first was about Del Rio letting players be themselves. He answered a different question instead.

Yeah, because on doctor-24, its a designed way that youre supposed to run it but I have all freedom to go any way that I choose to run it, Lynch said. I would say, yes.

The final anthem-esque query was deflected in a similar fashion.

When we run 74 or something like that, where I have to scan and read on both sides, that is pretty difficult. For the most part, Im a veteran so I can make it work.

Two things were crystal clear after speaking with Lynch.

He didnt miss football one bit during his year in retirement. Lynch said this spring he decided to return after the Raiders were approved to relocate away from his native Oakland. He wants to represent his hometown well and give them something to cheer before the team leaves for Las Vegas.

Thats why hes fired up even for Saturdays exhibition against the Rams hes expected to make a cameo in that game his first in Oakland wearing silver and black.

Its truly a blessing and just to have the opportunity to go and do that is a good [expletive] feeling, Lynch said. Its a good [expletive] feeling.

Lynch has always been active in the community, and hopes him playing here will bring more visibility to whats being done to help kids in Oakland.

I plan on continuing to do what I do in the community, Lynch said. Itll probably be that now that Im here, more people that are in the community might actually come out and support what it is that weve got going on.

AP

NAPA The Raiders spent 18 days in isolation at the Napa Valley Marriott, pouring complete focus into season prep. Head coach Jack Del Rio considers his team better for the experience.

The Raiders moved back to their Alameda facility after Thursdays practice, the 14th of this training camp, ready to complete the preseason. The next milestone comes in Saturdays exhibition against the Los Angeles Rams.

I think we came in with a purposeful mind going after things, accomplishing things, Del Rio said. In terms of installation, in terms of situational awareness and those things, were coaching and teaching. I think we were able to work and get guys either back or really close to being back and I feel really good about the way camp went. It was a strong camp. It was very purposeful and very productive.

The Raiders left relatively healthy, despite longer-term injuries to Keith McGill and Denver Kirkland. There were some issues unresolved during this time.

Donald Penns contract holdout continues after nearly three weeks. First-round pick Gareon Conley still hasnt seen the field while dealing with a shin injury originally suffered in a June minicamp.

Jihad Ward, Ben Heeney and Cooper Helfet joined Conley and Penn as players who didnt participate in a camp practice.

I know the natural question is going to hit me on a couple of the guys. Obviously, one is not here, his choice. You have a couple of others that havent been able to join us at practice yet, and theyre working, Del Rio said. Theyre doing everything were asking. Theyll come back when they can. Until then, we just move on. Were looking forward to playing at home this week in front of our crowd. Im excited about that opportunity to kick that off.

QUICK SLANTS -- The battle to be quarterback Derek Carrs backup wages on, though Del Rio said EJ Manuel has a leg up at this stage. That supports what was seen in training camp, when Manuel took most every second-unit snap.

I think the time we had here and the first game the other night, I think (Manuel) has done a little more, done enough to be in the second slot, Del Rio said. I think theyll continue to alternate reps and both get opportunities to show us. Im pleased with both of the guys. I thought both guys operated pretty darn well (on Saturday at Arizona).

-- The Raiders concluded camp with a punt catching contest. Each phase sent a representative to catch a Marquette King punt, with pushups going to the loser. Interior lineman Jon Feliciano caught his volley. So did backup long snapper Andrew East. Defensive tackle Justin Ellis couldnt corral three angled attempts, meaning the defense had to do pushups.

-- The Raiders held a glorified walk-through practice on Thursday, working in jerseys and shorts. They will hold a formal walh-through on Friday in Alameda before Saturdays game at Oakland Coliseum.

Read more here:
Lynch reminds media how much control he exerts over any interaction - Comcast SportsNet Bay Area

Shift intended to improve safety, amenities along heavily used Oregon highway in Southeast Portland, but deatails remain to be worked out

The 2017 Oregon Legislature granted the Portland City Council a longtime wish in its $5.3 billion transportation funding package ownership of an upgraded Southeast Powell Boulevard. Council members have long said Powell would be safer if it was owned and operated by the Portland Bureau of Transportation instead of its state counterpart.

But don't expect the improvements or transfer to happen overnight. Although the spending package in House Bill 2017 includes $110 million for safety improvements to a portion of outer Powell, that work will not begin until after the Oregon Department of Transportation finalizes a project list following a public outreach process.

"The city has standards for streets, sidewalks, bike lanes and stormwater management systems. We want it brought up to our standards before the transfer," says PBOT spokesman John Brady.

And even then, the bill says the state cannot transfer Powell to the Portland Bureau of Transportation until after the Oregon Transportation Commission conducts a study by January 2020 on upgrading additional portions of Powell to city standards.

"There are lots of protocols to go through first," says ODOT spokesman Don Hamilton.

That's different from what transpired when ODOT transferred the portion of Powell that runs through Gresham to that city in May 2004. Instead of waiting for ODOT to fix it up, city leaders agreed to do the work themselves, provided they could line up the money to improve it in advance.

Most of the funding came from a $5.25 million Oregon Transportation Investment Act grant approved by Metro that ODOT supported. Gresham paid an additional $7.5 million with system development charges assessed against construction projects for transportation improvements. The money paid for upgrades from 174th Avenue to Burnside Street. The city assured the majority of the distance was five lanes wide and had sidewalks, lighting, bike lanes, marked crossings and traffic signals.

Many Portlanders may not even be aware that Powell is not a city street, since that's its name in both Portland and Gresham. But in fact, Powell is actually just the portion of Oregon Highway 26 that runs through the two cities. Because of that, the state is responsible for maintaining and improving it, but adding safety improvements as the population has grown in East Portland has not been a top priority.

The same is true for a number of other state highways that are also streets in Portland. They include 82nd Avenue, which is Highway 213, and Barbur Boulevard, which is Highway 99W. The city can request safety improvements, but ODOT must fund them.

The council has come under increasing pressure to improve safety along Powell. This is especially true on outer Powell, which does not even have sidewalks. But the council was reluctant to request a transfer until all of it had been brought up to city standards because of the cost.

Even with state approval, the schedule for the improvements and transfer is unclear. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown must first sign the bill, which should happen before too long. Brady says Transportation Commissioner Dan Saltzman wants both accomplished as soon as possible, but if the outer Powell work costs more than $110 million, additional financing will have to be found. The same may be true if the Oregon Transportation Commission study identifies additional work the city insists that the state complete before the transfer. That study will cover Powell from Southeast 9th Avenue to its I-205 intersection.

Such transfers have happened in Portland before. For example, Oregon transferred North Interstate Avenue the original state highway to Washington before the MAX line was built there.

Working out the details correctly is important, because Portland is already eyeing another state highway it wants Barbur Boulevard, where the next MAX line is being planned as part of the Southwest Corridor project.

In fact, a surprising number of well-travelled roads in and around Portland are actually owned and maintained by the state. They include some or all of 82nd Avenue, McLoughlin Boulevard, Macadam Avenue, Lombard Street, Scholls Ferry Road, Farmington Road and Canyon Road.

TriMet officials have talked about including funds for improving some of these roads in a November 2018 ballot measure to help finance the proposed Southwest Corridor MAX line.

See the rest here:
City to get control of Powell, eventually - Portland Tribune

In the past 12 months, global multinational companies have been looking to respond to concerns that they have lost control of media activity. This extends to 35 companies with a total annual marketing spend of more than US$30 billion globally.

This was according to new research by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) which found global brands making or having plans to make major and extensive changes to their media governance practices. This was across a wide range of areas.

According to the report, more active management of media issues now involves brand safety, viewability and ad fraud as well as the transparency issues raised by the ANAs reports from K2 and Ebiquity. The survey was conducted in May this year and saw 73% per cent of respondents having global roles. The rest were in regional roles covering Europe, North America and APAC.

Overall, transparency remained top priority for 47% companies surveyed. Brand safety is also moving up in terms of priority, with 70% of companies adding that the issue has been escalated in the last 12 months.

With regards to transparency, 65% of companies sought to improve internal capabilities through the hire of a head of programmatic, among other moves. More than 70% of companies have amended their media agency contracts and 58% have included terms that define agency status as agent or principle at law.

When it comes to ad fraud, many companies surveyed are also taking actions. 55% are now limiting run of exchange buys, 43% are shifting away from using CPM as their key metric in favour of business outcomes. Meanwhile, 40% are developing in-house resource to help tackle ad fraud.

On the topic of viewability, only now are 63% of companies investing in viewable impressions which meet industry standards, while 37% have devised their own viewability criteria.

For brand safety, 74% of companies have suspended their investments in ad networks, citing unnecessary risks to brands. In addition, 14% of companies have plans to follow suit. 89% currently limit or plan to limit investment in ad networks that do not allow use of third-party verification.

The reports findings come to no surprise for Lynette Ang, chief marketing officer at Sentosa Development Corporation. She said:

In todays increasingly fragmented media scene, marketers need to better account for their media investments.

This comes with the advent of digital mediums being a significant factor, Ang explained.

Gone are the days of traditional tracking of media spend and ROI. We need to get better and sharper at understanding what our media monies are buying us, and whether we have been effective in these investments, Ang said.

When it comes to brand safety, Ang added that the brand recognises the certain need to safeguard the reputation of the brand. In doing so, it adopts a whitelist/blacklist approach.

Overall, I believe regular digital audits by professional and independent third parties will assist us in assessing these areas of concerns. This is not just in terms of performance, but also in the areas of safety and fraud, Ang added.

Agreeing with Ang is Spencer Lee, chief commercial director at AirAsia, who added that it is good to see more and more advertisers standing together and gaining awareness of the situation.

For advertisers, not having a view on how well your marketing investment is working for your company, is taking a big risk.Just like most other advertisers out there, we were relying on CPM as akey measurement metric in the early days, Lee said.

There are many considerations for marketers these days as well when it comes to media practices, said Lee. This includesprogrammatic buys,viewability, ad fraud, bots and brand safety.

Technology is ever changing and cyberhackers are always upping their game. Therefore it is important that advertisers,agencies and publisherstoo are on the alert, and work together to tackle this issue, Lee said.

Meanwhile, ad fraud is something that is of a concern to Lee and his marketing team.This is because creating real content is costly and time-coming. Fake sites however, do not incur these costs and are able to generate a bulk of web traffic generated by bots.

As long as agencies continue to buy low-cost inventory, they continue to directly benefit frauds.

We at AirAsia believe that the relationship with agencies should be seen as a partnership and agencies should be transparent in their reporting. Ad fraud hurts advertisers, agencies and publishers alike. We should unite and work hand-in-hand to combat this problem, Lee said.

In a conversation with Marketing, Greg Paull, R3s co-founder and principal, said that the results from the WFA report is similar to what is currently being seen in Southeast Asia. He added:

It should be a wakeup call for any local or regional marketer.

Citing a famous John Wanamaker comment from 100 years ago, Paull added that the phrase Only half of my advertising is working is never more relevant today. This is because in many cases only half of advertising is even being seen.

Markets and agencies need to come to the table together to resolve these issues. This needs joint action on transparency, viewability and safety, Paull said.

Agreeing with Paull was Muhammad Yousoff, head of digital for Southeast Asia at Ebiquity, said that many advertisers in the region are now starting to question if they have fallen victim to the transparency watch-outs.

But they do not know where and how to start addressing, or even identifying them, Yousoff explained.

He added that in many instances, advertisers also worry about the external relationships that are at risk. Meanwhile, there have been a number of advertisers who have reduced spending on digital and even paused activity on programmatic. This was while investigations and audits are carried out to evaluate the brand safety measures on their business.

A year on, we are looking at a very different advertiser. This is a savvier, knowledge-hungry and braver client who is increasingly immersing themselves in this complex issue. This requires technical expertise, relationship management skills and a value attached that is too large to ignore, Yusoff explained.

He added that the report also helps to generate awareness about a topic that has been swept under the rug for too long. It would also be viewed by many other advertisers globally as a call-to-action to at least start considering the implications non-transparent media practices.

The areas raised are just the tip of the iceberg as most people think it mainly covers the buying aspects of media. Transparency can be an issue on many other aspects on media, from planning to evaluation as well as governance on data ownership, Yusoff added.

What should brands look out for changingmedia practices?

The first step for advertisers to revamp media practices would be to familiarise themselves on the issues on transparency, said Ebiquitys Yusoff. Advertisers should also conduct a self-assessment on their transparency levels, hire a media specialist in the organisation and find a partner or consultant to assist in the journey.

Most advertisers dont know what they dont know, hence external help might be required to give an accurate view of what needs to be addressed, Yousoff said, adding that marketers should also develop a strategy or roadmap to resolve the transparency gaps and ensure they bring their media agency along in this journey.

Marketers and agencies also need to set common goals and key performance indicators (KPI), according to R3s Paull.

Without the right KPIs and transparency, marketers will just choose an alternative path. This is not going to be in the industrys interest, Paull added.

Read the original post:
Marketers to take back control of their media spend - Marketing Interactive