The recent moves of former OPera press buyer Adam Crow to Times Media and the former MindShare managing partner Nigel Bromley to the Daily Mail are further examples of agency executives going over to the media owner side.
"There are a lot of media owners increasingly investing in this area," says Claire Myerscough, former agency staffer, Crow's boss and development director at Times Media. "We need to enhance our offering to clients, which is why we recruited Adam Crow. He understands what clients want."
But this growing incidence of migration poses the question: are agencies providing clients with what they want?
"The short answer is yes," says Richard Webb, managing director of Mirror Group Newspapers. "If they weren't they would be reviewed. The real question is: how expert are clients at media? Better-informed clients will demand and get more from their agencies and the media owners. It's a case of caveat emptor."
Greg Grimmer, managing director of Zed Media, tells Mediaweek.tv this week (www.mediaweek.tv) that it is harder for agency planners to understand what media owners now offer. "But," he adds, "it is equally hard for the sellers. Media owners are trying to pull together a more disparate sell, whereas in the past there was only press space to sell."
Challenging landscape
Louise Jones, executive planning director at PHD, believes owners are playing catch-up. "I'd say it's them trying to keep up with agencies," she says. "Media owners have never been able to sufficiently sell their own medium because they don't understand the whole landscape, which is getting more challenging."
That said, the fact that media owners are hiring these people poses another question: do agencies have a sufficient understanding of what media owners offer in order to provide clients with effective campaigns?
"The answer is possibly not," says MGN's Webb. "In our increasingly commoditised world, we, as media owners, need to take responsibility for providing insights that differentiate our products."
Grimmer acknowledges that, historically, some agency people have always migrated to media owners. "However, the trend is for media owners to take on more mid-level people in a planning role," he says.
"The interesting thing is that lots of media owners want to hire strategic planners, and it's the same with creative agencies," says Jones. "They acknowledge it is more important."
Agencies are adamant that they are in a much stronger position to understand a brand's needs, that only they can negotiate the increasingly complex media landscape.
"Irrespective of the fact that they work across all platforms, at the moment media owners don't have the brand understanding that we do," Jones says.
Bernard Balderston, associate director for media UK & Ireland at Procter & Gamble, says: "Good agencies will still act as effective conduits between media owners and clients. They understand what the objectives are for brands and have a more intimate knowledge of brands. I don't think the middleman would necessarily be cut out, but media owners are talking more directly to clients."
Media owners feel the diversity of their offering is not being fully represented by agencies and they place some of the blame on procurement, which arguably favours lower costs over the best strategic approach.
Cost factors
Mike Parker, Channel 4's head of strategic sales and commercial marketing, says: "It means fees are driven down and down, and in the end clients get what they pay for."
But Balderston opposes the solely money-driven approach. "Taking the cheapest route is not always the best way," he says. "We don't make decisions solely on the basis of what is the cheapest media. But procurement does have a role across the media range in securing the best terms and conditions."
As more media owners deal directly with clients, is there a danger that media planning becomes less profitable and less sustainable for agencies?
"Not at all," says Parker. "In a sense, media agencies have got a big canvas to paint for clients. We're only a very small part of that canvas."
Grimmer agrees. "Ninety-nine out of 100 ideas from media owners aren't going to be an identikit fit to a client," he says. He argues that the more strategists there are at media owners, the better. "If there is a planner at a media owner, it's a free resource," he says.
"Ultimately, agencies have a massive role to play," says Parker. "They can do a more rounded job because they are closer to clients' objectives than any media owner can be."
Times Media's Myerscough would never advocate bypassing an agency, although she does caution: "Agencies have less time; the media market is more fragmented and there is a lot more competition at the media owner end."
- The role of media agencies and other subjects come under the microscope at www.mediaweek.tv from today, with Kimberly-Clark's Oliver Cleaver and Zed Media's Greg Grimmer
CROSSING THE DIVIDE
People who have made the move from agency to media owner
- Mike Anderson, managing director, News International (PHD)
- Nigel Bromley, head of client sales, Daily Mail (MindShare)
- Ian Clark, general manager, News International (Booth Lockett Makin)
- Adam Crow, head of client sales, Times Media (OPera)
- Mark Field, head of business development, Mirror Group Advertising (MindShare)
- Rosemary Gorman, advertising director, The Evening Standard (Zenith Media)
- Dave King, executive director, Telegraph Group (Carat)
- Claire Myerscough, development director, Times Media (Zed Media)
- Richard Webb, managing director, Mirror Group Newspapers (Optimedia).