A significant change is taking place within the relationships advertisers have with media owners - so says media veteran and former media auditor John Billett, chief executive of communications management firm Johnbillett.com.
There is a trend emerging, he believes, wherein advertisers are choosing to look directly at opportunities offered by media owners, rather than accept what is given to them by their media agencies, which he calls the 'same old media plan'.
'There is increasing frustration that agencies are not looking at all of the available opportunities,' claims Billett.
Fox's Biscuits is one brand that is sourcing media opportunities directly, although it is continuing to use its agencies to plan and execute campaigns. Jim Proctor-Blain, its senior brand manager, says of the trend: 'It's really useful to get media owners directly in front of us. The media landscape is changing, and we need to keep on top of it.'
However, Andy Zonfrillo, head of MindShare's trading arm, The Exchange, says media owners are trying to develop better relationships with advertisers, rather than the other way around. 'Revenue is hard to come by, and media owners want to let brands know what opportunities they have to offer.' They are under-stand-ably keen to cut out the agency middleman and deal directly with advertisers, because it means they won't have to pay agency com-mission and it's a way of getting incremental money in addition to their existing deals.
Many media owners now try to direct advertisers to their own B2B websites, where they promote some of the media opportunities, such as sponsorships, on offer. Similarly, the website Getmemedia.com also acts as an aggregator. Media owners can pay to use the site, which in turn communicates opportunities directly to advertisers. The site is free for brands to use.
If Billett is right, what does this mean for the long-established relationship that brands can have with their media agencies? After all, the agencies pride themselves on not only their expertise and knowledge of marketing platforms, but also their ability to get the best deals, using the breadth of their business as leverage in negotiations.
Pete Davis, managing director of Getmemedia, insists that his site intends to complement rather than replace agencies. 'It's not about cutting out the agency, it's about providing visibility,' he says.
Rhys McLachlan, head of broadcast implementation at MediaCom, believes this trend is of little threat to media agencies. 'Most big media owners already have relationships with advertisers, but it is rare that this doesn't include a relationship with an agency,' he says. 'Agencies can see the whole game, not just one perspective.'
Graham Appleby, director of commercial partnerships at Sky Media, has seen a change toward closer relation-ships with advertisers, but not at the expense of agencies. 'The agency still does all the work, but the advertiser is more involved with the collaboration,' he says. 'Online sites only offer an online solution; they try to cut the people out of a deal, and that doesn't develop relationships. It won't replace face-to-face business.'
Zonfrillo, meanwhile, notes that the opportunities on offer are usually quite peripheral. 'Any ideas are of interest to advertisers and agencies, but when it comes to constructing an overall media plan, this won't form the major part of it.'
Billett accepts that agencies will never be completely bypassed. Despite this, he hopes that a broader move to clients sourcing their own opportunities will put pressure on agencies to improve their results.
While Proctor-Blain is right that the media landscape is changing, not least because of the recession, this could turn into a benefit for the industry. Relationship-building is becoming more visible, and a higher priority. Any step toward better communication along the chain of media planning is a positive one in the current climate.
Initiatives that make it easier for advertisers to stay inform-ed about targeted platforms are surely worth a look, but will they change the conventions followed by advertisers and their agencies? Perhaps - if brand managers find themselves with enough time to spare. Until then, the only truly broad changes making an impact seem to be shrinking budgets.