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Maarten Albarda

Member since April 2002Contact Maarten

Global Citizen. Flying Dutchman. Dabbling in Integrated Marketing for clients anywhere they need me. https://www.mlamarketingconsulting.com/

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  • CTV Has A Frequency Problem Nobody Seems To Want To Fix by Cory Treffiletti (Media Insider on 06/10/2026)

    The walled gardens make it hard across channels/olatforms. But I saw the same ad, usually an insurance with a bird in its commercial (not a duck) or a weight loss drug, multiple times in one show just like you. That's not a walled garden issue. That is either an advertiser issue who is only interested in cheap CPM's and not the consumer experience. Or an disingenuous agency that thinks it's ok to schedule for profit, not effectiveness. 

  • Media Transparency Is Still Broken: Here's What Marketers Need to Do About It by Michele Harrison (MAD on 06/05/2026)

    Excellent and pragmatic recommendations - thanks for sharing.

  • Meta's Social Media Battle Plan by Gord Hotchkiss (Media Insider on 03/31/2026)

    Good way to frame it, Gord. It's kind of a sad conclusion that even this kind of a "loss" won't be meaningful enough to truly hurt. 

  • Your Agency Is Officially A Seller -- Time To Start Treating Them Like One by Maarten Albarda (Media Insider on 03/20/2026)

    The key sentence in Ed's comment is "with full disclosure and auditing". The problem appears to be that even when that is in the contract, many agencies have different and/or additional deals that are obscured from the auditors. And advertisers have slid backwards in implementing or mandating such transparency guidelines. These two issues combined are the cause of the ANA's alarm.  As I wrote: maybe, sometimes, additionally (and not principally), principal media could be part of a lucrative deal for an advertiser. Sadly, the circumstances for that to play out were bad and are now worse. 

  • When It Rains, It Pours: What WPP's Troubles Mean For Marketers by Maarten Albarda (Media Insider on 11/14/2025)

    Thanks everyone for sharing your perspectives and comments. @Bill: the ANA has done and continues to do admirable work to pull back the curtain and show what's what. I agree with your recommendations. @Nick: You are ALSO right. Both you and Bill point towards a number of doable and necessary approaches to managing YOUR ad budgets, if you are an advertiser. The challenge, as you point out, is that the "doing" part is often neglected or ignored in pursuit of "empty calories" (cheap worthless reach and pointless frequencies).We can only keep educating. The hard work needs to be owned by advertisers.

  • I'd Like A Prescription Against Prescription Meds TV Ads by Maarten Albarda (Media Insider on 08/29/2025)

    Hi Ed: I am sorry, but yes, some other categories might also be better off elsewhere. But my point is not just the fact that they are buying a very broad reach medium, but they are also buying at at a volume that becomes obnoxious. Plus... if they did not spend that money on TV ads, it just might lower the cost of medicine by 0.01% (sarcasm!).

  • Kaila Colbin, Signing Off by Kaila Colbin (Media Insider on 04/18/2025)

    Hey Friday partner! Your voice on Mediapost was unique and will be missed. Kaila 2007 A.D.... and here I was thinking that my start on December 16, 2013 was a long time ago... All the very best with the new venture!

  • How Toxic Are A Brand's Social Media Mistakes? by Maarten Albarda (Media Insider on 02/28/2025)

    Ed: I agree but the "snafu" is often not an ad but the CMO or social media manager posting without thinking, or a brand making a decision about something (price, flavor, size, etc.) and "the public" not taking kindly to it.

  • Report From Ukraine by Dave Morgan (Media Insider on 02/20/2025)

    Thank you for your reporting and I could not agree more with your statements and assessment. I, too, am baffled by the lack of leaders to show up. We are witnessing a wholesale dismantling of all things that stand for compassion, human rights and common decency. It is sickening. Slava Ukraini

  • 2024: A Media Insider Review by Gord Hotchkiss (Media Insider on 01/07/2025)

    Ha! Angst and despair reign! But seriously, thank you for compiling our collective meanderings. I just celebrated my 12th year in service, having written my first media post for Mediapost on Dec. 16, 2013. Here is to a 2025 that will surprise us all... positively (one can hope!).

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