• by Cory Treffiletti , Featured Contributor, July 12, 2006

I've been in media for 13 years now. That's not a long time in the grand scheme of things, but it's a lifetime in the digital world, and it's afforded me the opportunity to view the commoditization of media buying firsthand.

It's funny to think about media buying as becoming a commodity in an environment where the role of a media planner is more important than it ever was before; but you will notice that I do make a distinction between planning and buying media.

It's true that the role of a planner is more important now and also more complex. Rather than having three or four media formats to choose from, there's now 15 or 16. It's more than broadcast, print, out-of-home or radio. The selection now includes Internet, guerilla, digital TV, digital Radio, digital outdoor, experiential, point of sale, mobile, and so on and so on. Planners don't have it easy, especially considering that most of the new means of reaching the consumer aren't even being tracked yet--but buying, on the other hand, is getting easier and easier every day, and the competitive advantage afforded the large media buying shops are fast becoming a thing of the past.

Stand-alone media buying shops always claim they can leverage large masses of dollars to acquire the best rates--but in a world where the upfront model is changing and more spending is based on performance and flexibility, that claim to leverage is useless. A 10-person shop with the right relationships can get the same rates as a 100-person or a 1000-person shop provided they know the right questions to ask and they've built a rapport of trust between the agency, the publisher and the client. The larger shops with volume may be able to negotiate better rates for serving and tracking--but those are elements that should pay for themselves anyway. I make the assumption that without those elements, the flexibility and performance models would be obsolete.

In addition to the myth of leverage, there are new tools being created each week to help improve the efficiencies of media buying. Google continues to dip its toes into traditional media buying with their print and radio plays, but there are a number of other tools being launched as well. In the online world, tools like Ad Brite profess to make buying ads as simple as checking boxes and plunking down a payment option. Bid4Spots creates an auction environment for radio buyers. MediaBids will do free planning for you if you use their buying service. Scatter TV provides a similar model for broadcast in local markets. These tools may not be in wide use by the mainstream advertisers, but the writing's on the wall. Media buying is becoming a commodity. It's only a matter of time before agencies start giving away the buying as added value and focus fees on strategic planning and analysis.

Trust me. I am not thrilled with the idea. I was raised as a media guy and my career has been based on media to date, so it's with a heavy heart that I acknowledge this shift, but rather than ignore it, I want to plan for it. I want to have some action in place so my future is not tied to a rapidly devalued process. I think media shops need to start recognizing this trend and plan accordingly. Of course, I'm not going to give away all the answers here. You've gotta do some of the work yourselves, right?

Do you agree?