What Marc Pritchard's speech means for Australia, Digital Media and Marketing in General
Just over a week ago Marc Pritchard the Chief Brand Officer for the World's biggest advertiser - P&G - gave an almighty speech in Florida at the IAB's annual leadership event. The speech is a remarkable both for its candor and practicality. In particular his criticism of the "murky" potentially "fraudulent" media supply chain (see recent WFA diagram below) that delivers the shiny new toy that is programmatic is a particular standout.
I've spent the last week looking at Pritchard's speech and cross-referencing his four major points with the state of digital media and marketing in general and here is the result. A thorough assessment of what is wrong with the current state of digital media and what needs to be done to fix it. The key themes of viewability, murky agency contracts, walled gardens and ad fraud are assiduously avoided by many digital marketers but these are the key challenges for the decade ahead. I explore each in detail and look at the implications for marketers as we head into 2017.
Apologies in advance if you don't have access to the Australian (its paywall protected) but if you do here is the most important thing I have written in many a year. This paragraph probably best captures the column.
Any comments, disagreements, additions are much appreciated. Pritchard wants the debate to take place, let's engage....
Marketer, Content Strategist, Musician/Composer, Audio Illustrator
7 年I love this. Makes me think the onus is not just on better marketing, but better business strategy! Digital is a horrible venue for advertising - BUT, everywhere is basically a horrible venue for advertising. So the future will belong to the businesses that can acutely find their place in people's lives - helping them get their jobs done - and find an ad bargain that works. With almost 99% of the digital ad revenue in Q3 last year going to just TWO companies, we should ask for more transparency, or third-party oversight - OR, we can develop digital strategies that take us OFF the walled gardens, build our own tribal affiliations in REAL LIFE, go to print, bring OFFLINE marketing back (like it left?) - A lot of my contemporaries are eager to start a digital business, so they don't have to leave their homes! Business is people powered - and good marketing has to connect with people, not AT them. Digital was a way to bark AT people - we need to pull them in - and that starts at the strategic level. ALSO - the digital advertising models, ad-supported mass-media, the marketplace of ideas and the political thunderheads on the horizon are DEEPLY connected. To confront the digital fraud of the ad industry and work to address the wrongs, may not just prove salubrious for business, but also for the collective online consciousness of global citizens the world over. My thoughts - - - -
Property Specialist - Residential & Project Sales
7 年Gary Vaynerchuk has been talking about this for years. The old model is broken.
Global Head of Media and Digital. Passionate Marketer, Change Agent, Inclusive Marketing Author & WFA Ambassador
7 年I think it's a very healthy debate for the industry to have (especially when there are still marketers/agencies looking at organic reach, engagement etc. and not even thinking about serious media metrics) but it's the start of a conversation not a final answer... lots more nuance to be dug into but adopting an imperfect standard is better than having none at all... wrote a longer response to Marc/Mark over on The Drum: https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2017/02/07/pg-transparency-fallout-the-end-or-new-beginning-digital-media
└? Founder, Day One Careers | ex-Amazon | ex-Apple
7 年To be honest, I found Marc quite humble in what he asked from the industry on behalf of P&G. He is essentially asking to be guaranteed the same OTS as he would expect from the TV supply chain, and he is happy to take the quality of creative on his and his brand managers' chin. This sounds like a super-sensible approach from a business leader whose organisation has an enormous global bargaining power, and who is, interestingly, very committed to continue exploring digital tech in advertising.
SVP | Reputation and Risk Intelligence, AI, Corporate Strategy
7 年I'm actually surprised Pritchard isn't going for 100% in-view, which is something we're increasingly pushing for. I don't see why an ad should be counted if only 50% in-view, ultimately it's not the advertiser's fault to put ads in the wrong places. Another thing Marc didn't touch on which I believe important is that we need to start timing impressions for digital formats. If we keep assuming that a glimpse of a second impression is as valuable as a 15 seconds impression (which is what the current CPM/CPC model does), we'll feed the vicious cycle of shit ad formats rewarding the wrong kind of publisher behaviours (and thus, clickbait content). Meanwhile, it's also crucial we play the balance between carrots and sticks to ensure the ad format ecosystem is fixed. A lot of publishers (especially the non Facebooks of this world) have had to revert to rock bottom prices, and sometimes shady practices, to make their activities profitable. The industry cannot expect publishers to welcome systems that will cut their margins further, and prices will have to go higher for certain formats. Clients will need to be as strident to only invest in certain levels of quality as they have to be ready to pay higher prices for these. Online CPMs have become ridiculous compared to other media channels, and the race to the bottom has to stop otherwise we'll keep feeding the vicious cycle.