Insights

Managing the flow of cash through the agency to the media partners, and the timing of this makes a difference to an organization’s bottom line. One of the most impactful shifts a company can make is converting media agency billing from Estimated to Reconciled. Read the full article to learn the benefits and considerations to make this change and guidelines for a conversation with agency partners regarding a transition.

Even amongst the media performance auditors, there is no common definition of a Media Audit offered. So, let’s take a step back and define what a media audit is – in clear, straightforward language. Then we’ll review what that should really encapsulate and why.

One of the greatest trends for accountability to the Advertiser in the past decade has been the addition of defined Media KPIs to agency contracts. Whether or not you decide to tie media buy performance to agency compensation agreements, the simple task of defining the expectations goes a long way to protecting the productivity of your media dollars. 

Brand safety is an increasingly important concern for advertisers, and digital media is at the forefront of those concerns. But for Paid Search, in which ads are shown in response to someone asking a question in a Search engine, is brand safety still relevant?

U.S. ad spend on Connected TV (CTV) is estimated to reach $21 billion in 2021. This figure is further projected to reach $100 billion by 2030. It is now more important than ever to ensure you are up to date with CTV management best practices and accountability.

Unlike Digital media, Linear National TV (as well as Local TV, Cable, and Radio) is sold on estimated, and guaranteed audience delivery. Learn more about what happens when inflated audience estimates occur and what advertisers can do about it.

Today most sponsorships are measured against awareness and consideration metrics that are often survey based and informed by small sample sizes. While top of funnel metrics are helpful brand indicators, they fail to answer the ultimate question on every CMO’s mind: how did this investment impact sales?

Although MMi stays agnostic regarding our clients' specific choice of media agency, most of us will tell you to first try to fix the one you have before you run out looking for a new one. We have seen too many millions in lost productivity of media dollars through agency changes over the years to ever counsel a client to rush into an agency change.

As the demise of the 3rd party cookie approaches, a host of tech companies are proposing alternative data collection schemes that purport to preserve user privacy. Learn more about two of the highest profile contenders -- UID 2.0 and FLoC -- and what this change means for advertisers.

Join us as we dive into the latest benchmark data for digital advertisers including viewability and fraud/SIVT (Sophisticated Invalid Traffic) -- by industry vertical and geography -- as reported by industry resource DoubleVerify.

In 2021, Nielsen will begin incorporating Broadband Only (BBO) homes into its local measurement currencies. In a separate-but-related move, many agencies and stations are beginning to transact audiences on impressions rather than ratings. Here's what you need to know.

Google has announced that it is going to go its own way on user privacy and will not develop its own replacement for 3rd-party cookies. The AdTech community responded immediately by absolutely losing their minds. What does it mean for advertisers?

Given advances in radio audience measurement and reporting in larger markets, it is time for the industry to improve accountability in this media channel. Audiences should be guaranteed, and agencies should estimate, steward and post radio schedules much like they do in TV.

When it comes to predicting the future, all of us can agree that it is an inexact science. We have reviewed as many experts on paid search in 2021 as we could find, compiled the results, and present here an overview of what most industry leaders are expecting as we enter the new year.

With Paid Search the meter is always running, so wasted time is wasted money. That is why it is so important that key items and processes be appropriately documented.

Recently, the California’s 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a ruling from a lower court and allowed Gurminder Singh, a California businessman, to proceed with his lawsuit alleging that Google understates and abets click-fraud. Back in 2016, Singh brought a class-action suit against Google, saying Google’s assurances that it was effectively managing click fraud in its display network were overstated.

Agencies regularly present Over Delivery as a more-is-better phenomenon, but in media it represents a resource allocation problem. In fact, when allowed as regular practice, it demonstrates mismanagement of advertiser funds.

We sat down with former client and MMi VP, Client Engagement Brian Jennings to understand all the ways he used the MMi offerings and services, and where we might continue to evolve.

The 2020 elections will be unlike any other, and they are nearly upon us. Couple this with a global pandemic, and you have a very turbulent election cycle for advertisers and their agencies. As is often the case, the key to success will be thoughtful preparation.

A lack of coordination between media and production ends up costing advertisers money and requiring them to make difficult compromises during the production process, and it doesn't have to be that way.

If you are an advertiser who is currently owed any level of TV weight for prior under-delivery, and you are comfortable being on air right now, this may be a damned good time to recover said weight.

It’s always crucial that every working media dollar be as productive as possible, but that’s particularly true now during COVID-19. As you look ahead to the next few months, here is a list of areas to consider in order to maintain or improve productivity and accountability in your media supply chain.

Given the circumstances now and for the months to come, it’s crucial that every working media dollar be as productive as possible, and that expectations are documented and transparent throughout the media supply chain.

As a leading media audit firm and a neutral expert on the paid media supply chain, MMi has received numerous inquiries over the past year from our advertiser clients and their agencies about the Local TV and Radio marketplace evolution to impressions-based transactions. In this post, we provide an overview of exactly what we’re telling them.

Surprising few, it was recently announced that Accenture will be shuttering its Accenture Media Management arm, which offers media audit, benchmarking and agency pitch services to advertisers. This leaves its media audit clients with an opportunity.

You can always find an agency out there claiming that they can buy your Spot TV or Spot Radio "cheaper". But can they buy it to the same level of quality, and will they deliver it in full? If not, it isn't really cheaper.

Media buying guidelines are an important part of tying the execution of media buys to media plans – and ultimately to the client’s communication objectives. So it's important to get them right.

With Global Gaming revenues hitting $152.1 billion and global esports revenues growing to $1.1 billion, every CMO in the world is looking at platforms like Twitch and games like Fortnite to activate with Millennials and Gen Z.

Five years after technology first allowed us to measure whether a digital display ad fully loads on a screen in front of a human, advertisers are still paying for the 42% of impressions (on average) that do not. How is this possible?

Buyers have complained that networks “lied” to them and “robbed” them in last year's Upfronts. Were buyers really stolen from? Or were they simply duped? 

We’ve written extensively here about best practices in media buying and stewardship as well as about media planning processes. It takes more than excelling individually in each of these areas to maximize the effectiveness of your media investment, though.

The most difficult aspect of managing sponsorship investments may not be the finding of a property to sponsor, or even devising an activation program for the sponsorship.

Sponsorship spending in the U.S. was more than $24 billion in 2018 per ESB Properties.

Will technologies like blockchain make it possible for consumers to set their own universal privacy preferences and be compensated for sharing their data? Sounds crazy, but ...

Unless you are employing a disciplined approach to optimize your paid media strategy through a deliberate media planning process, you can be assured that some portion of your spend is being wasted.

Nielsen's local TV panels and measurement methodologies are undergoing significant changes in 2018. Learn how you and your agency can prepare for them.

Are you looking for a list of media audit firms? We have it for you right here -- along with some key considerations when hiring a media auditor.

Buyers and sellers of Spot TV ad time do not always look at things the same way. In this post, we examine the sell-side perspective.

Some agencies have doubled down on demonstrating value by introducing "Accountability" as a specific discipline. What is media agency accountability?

Agencies sometimes approach being audited with fear and apprehension. We explain why they should stop worrying and learn to love the media audit.

Chances are you are incurring local or spot TV UD (under delivery). Key questions: what are you doing to minimize it, and how quickly are you recovering it?

Media agency transparency has reached a boiling point in the U.S. However, the ad industry didn't get here overnight. It's been 20 years in the making.

The digital display ad ecosystem is complicated. Fortunately, there are a handful of straightforward metrics you can track to assess your performance.

Sourced traffic is when digital media publishers acquire audience through 3rd parties and sell it to advertisers (i.e. when demand outstrips their supply).

With principal-based buying, media agencies take ownership of media assets and re-sell them on a non-disclosure basis (usually to their clients). Conflict?

Are the National TV Upfronts still relevant? As a deal structure for transacting National TV, absolutely. But the process itself? Perhaps not.

As the 4As-ANA debate over media agency transparency intensifies, we wonder whether advertisers would pay a premium for transparency.

Local cable can be an attractive option for advertisers. However, it's important to understand what you are buying, and how performance is being reported.

Not all media audit findings are created equal. Media audit Findings That Matter are actionable, quantifiable, irrefutable and additive.

“Net” and “Gross” dollars are an archaic holdover from a compensation model that no longer exists, and the current differentiation between the two serves no purpose other than to create a source of confusion and inefficiency in the media supply chain.

To assure concrete, definitive and actionable media audit findings it is important to have strong linkage throughout all steps in your media supply chain.

Clients often receive (and pay) digital media billing from their agencies far in advance of the activity actually being reconciled and paid out to vendors.

Political advertising rules for local TV buying are a constant source of confusion for advertisers and their agencies. We separate fact from fiction.

For all of the hype about programmatic TV, buying and stewardship processes for "traditional" national TV are shockingly manual. It's time to fix them.

You can be the champion of your organization’s media accountability efforts -- the hero looking out for your company’s paid media investment.

Media agencies that are most receptive to the media audit process have a client that has documented what is to be measured and how it is to be measured.

Key considerations for advertisers in light of recent allegations of US media agency rebates, incentives and "kickbacks".

Media agency billing to Clients can be conducted in one of several ways. A few key considerations can determine which is best for a given advertiser.

We discuss the pros and cons of entering the National TV marketplace with a corporate buy (vs. individual brand buys).

Marketers face a number of challenges when they change agencies, and the time to assess and protect areas of risk is before the wheels are set in motion. 

Learn best practices for using SQAD as a tool for benchmarking your local TV costs.

Are the accountability standards by which you measure your media agency's performance moving in the wrong direction? If they are, it's costing you money.

If media can be measured, it can be audited -- including barter. We explore accountability considerations in barter-for-media arrangements.

As with most investment decisions, understanding the advantages and disadvantages of each TV negotiation type is critical. Allow us to elaborate.

‍Every advertiser should be able to answer the MMi 3 Questions™ with regards to their paid media investment (questions which every MMi media audit endeavors to answer)

You can have the most accurately estimated and most perfectly negotiated buy in history, but, if not stewarded, you aren’t going to get what you expected.

For National TV buys, order letters are the contracts between buyers and media vendors, so it is critical that they thoroughly address all deal points.

While media represents a significant portion of an advertiser’s marketing investment, there are often insufficient controls in place to assess performance.