The DPAA’s annual Summit – Video Everywhere – was held recently in New York City. As usual, the opportunity to hear agency and brand perspectives directly from those leaders was insightful, powerful and motivating! Although many comments were directed towards digital media, the extension to other formats was a very short leap.
Bob Lodice, President & CEO of the ANA, kicked things off in the first panel by stating that “all (media) markets must become transparent” and that if brands “don’t understand it (media), they shouldn’t be doing it”.
A sentiment shared by major brands is that marketers are “drinking from a fire hose” trying to understand what media should be planned and bought. Robert Tas, Managing Director from JP Morgan Chase, added that brands are “being forced to understand and build systems to measure” media effectiveness – a responsibility that the agency should be assisting with.
This is reflective in the fact there is no shortage of data and sources – but all of the non-standard and decentralized information creates friction within the evaluation and decision-making process. As cited, this stands in stark contrast to broadcast planning/buying which was referred to as “frictionless”.
When asked why digital place-based media is often dropped off plans, Edward Gold, Advertising Director from State Farm Insurance, answered by saying the category is still “a concept buy” and held to a higher standard. He went on to implore network operators to tell him “why do I need to be in a specific place?” We suspect a request like this is commonly made to other OOH formats as well.
The continued call for more measurement, more transparency and more accountability is not new to the out-of-home advertising industry – and progress is being made on these fronts, albeit sometimes at a seemingly slow pace. To get there, we need only to remember and renew our motivation to deliver what the brands are asking for.
With your help, DOmedia has been supporting these efforts with a consistent focus on the adoption of standards that increase the efficiency of media planning, buying and selling. The end result is more effective media investment, which in turn helps grow the industry.
Thanks for being the best part of the DOmedia marketplace!
