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Three things any marketer should address in media

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We are in the middle of the Global Festival of Media, held annually and now for its fourth year running in Rome, Italy. Flock is present at the event and on stage, with Flock CEO Simon Francis moderating a panel named “Where do we find creativity today? Finding the right creators, nourishing talent and leveraging new content strategies”. Panelists include Nicole Kane, Director Global Media Marketing, McDonald’s; Coco Masters, Chief Producer & Content Manager, Nissan; Stephane Rydlewski, Sports Marketing Platforms Lead, Toyota Europe. And Paul Wright, CEO from ethical digital platform iotec talked on stage with Kieron Matthews, our MD for EMEA.

Flock Associates has been a partner on stage at the Festival of Media from the beginning of its existence. We are proud industry contributors not only at this event, but also through our work with the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) in the US and globally with the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA). Furthermore, we have contributed to events such as Procurecon Europe and Festival of Media regional events such as the one for LatAm, the Middle East and Asia Pacific.

But what good does any of that to you? Well, we learn! We get exposed to a great variety of thought leaders, industry innovators and marketing talent. And since we are talking about the Festival of Media we wanted to share three key media learnings that you should consider in your approach to media.

  1. Agency eco systems are changing rapidly

Many agency eco systems are not designed for purpose but rather have grown organically into an ever more difficult to manage structure. Media is very much part of this. Only recently did we talk to one of our clients who lamented that between his media agency, his digital agency, his CRM agency and his sales team deploying additional consumer facing messaging at a local level through yet another set of agencies, what was reaching the consumer when was no longer easily managed.

Add to this the now often asked question of “should we take it in house?”, meaning parts of the (digital) media eco system. This is a common issue that we are solving for with many clients, large and small. Flock Associates always feels that the starting point should always be the needs of the consumer, and not just today but in the foreseeable future. If you are interested, we have some great cases to share.

  1. Transparency is still issue number 1

Even though the transparency topic has been leading the list for the past few years, it is still very much an issue today, especially in the digital advertising space. Yes, big steps have been taken to address losses due to fraud, bad placement, middle men and other issues. But the fact remains that according to ANA data, if left unattended about 60% of your digital ad budget never reaches a consumer. If you do implement strict strategies and contracts, this can be lowered to about 20%. The conclusion is two-fold: if left unattended, your budgets are being wasted; and apparently 20% of waste is now an accepted risk of placing digital ads.

Flock has actively helped many clients with agency contracts and policies to ensure marketers get the most out of their consumer facing budgets. We would be happy to share some cases with you.

  1. As with creative, a good media strategy starts with a good brief

A lot has been said and written about the need for better creative briefings. In fact, Flock Associates contributed the ANA’s Better Briefings initiative, and here is a link to more information about that.

The same is very true in today’s media environment. The media mix that consumers are exposed to on a daily basis is changing at a rapid pace… we all know and experience that every day. But when was the last time you reviewed and changed the way you brief your media partners, i.e. media agency, creative agency and media owners and platforms directly?

Agencies, media or digital, need to know a lot more from you than just “simple” (but important!) ingredients such as when to advertise, how much budget there is, and a target audience in demographics. What does your first, second and third-party data tell you about the effectiveness and impact of your various media channels? What does it tell you about where and when to intercept your target audience most effectively? And what can you learn about your target audience from that data?

Have you thought about forging direct relationships with critical media owners, relevant and important to your target audience? How are you engaging influencers – do they matter?

And on the more technical side: How do you direct your partners when you brief? What technologies should be used to place, optimize and measure your budgets? Do your partners have the right tools for you (versus having the right tools that benefit their own purposes)? Do you yourself have the right tools to manage the complex data and measurement challenges of today and tomorrow?

In short, this ain’t your grandfather’s media briefing anymore. If you feel it is worth a bit of a review, come talk to us. Julie Marshall – julie.marshall@flock-associates.com

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