After more than a dozen years working with the QSR chain, Waltham, MA-based Blitz Media has resigned its Wendy’s account, which includes a number of regional assignments in the eastern part of the country. The decision came earlier this month after the agency did a profitability assessment of the account and held discussions with the client. But apparently issues couldn’t be resolved. In a memo obtained by MAD, Blitz President and CEO Melissa Lea told agency staffers that on the path to growth “we must sometimes make hard decisions. After conducting an in-depth profitability analysis and having several discussions with Wendy's management, we had to make the decision to resign the Wendy’s account. It’s always difficult to resign a client, especially a high-profile one that we have worked with for over 12 years. But it’s time to let another agency get the chance to work with Wendy’s.” Wendy’s spends around $275 million annually in measured media according to Kantar. Total spending on the Blitz Media Wendy’s assignment was not immediately available. Lea’s memo noted that Blitz has won a number of accounts in 2013, including Minuteman Health, WellBiz Brands, Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores, Harvard University Kennedy School Executive Education, Brain Shark, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay, and Project Treasure. In her memo Lea also stated that “Blitz Media gained invaluable experience in the QSR, food and beverage, multi-unit retail/franchise categories through our work with Wendy’s. They contributed to our overall growth for many years and for that we thank them. We will continue to work hard on their business as we transition the account.” It was not clear if the QSR chain had selected a replacement agency or launched a review to do so. The agency declined to comment on the situation, referring queries to Wendy’s. A client rep could not be immediately reached at deadline.
In what appears to be a significant shift in the criteria they use for valuing the media companies they do business with, ad executives say the ability of a media supplier to generate “ad results” is no longer the most important factor for getting on a media plan. Other factors, including “aggressive rate deals,” are now considered marginally more important factors. The finding, which comes from the latest semi-annual survey of marketers and agency executives by Advertiser Perceptions Inc. on their perceptions of media companies, shows that the importance of “ad results” has fallen precipitously over the past year -- especially among marketers. Only 72% of marketers vs. 76% of agency executives surveyed cited the importance of "ad results." That’s down dramatically from a year ago, when 85% of ad execs cited that criterion, which has long been the No. 1 of 15 factors API tracks for influencing media buys. While most other factors remained stable, the relative importance of “integrated media buys” and “multimedia” packages showed significant upticks, jumping four percentage points and three percentage points, respectively, over the past year. Source: Advertiser Perceptions Inc.
Place-based media is ubiquitous. You see it in health clubs, food courts, airports, gas stations and many other out-of-home locations across the country. But according to agency executives, the challenges to growing ad sales revenue for the sector are numerous. Among them: It's not a core media for most marketers, ROI metrics are lacking and clients just don't care that much about it. On the flip side, the potential for place-based media would seem great as a complementary media -- particularly for location-focused marketers and those looking to grab the attention of specific, harder-to-reach audiences like C-level executives in the elevator on their way to the office in the morning. Those were some of the top-line thoughts from a panel of media agency executives speaking at the Digital Placed-based Advertising Association conference in New York Tuesday. Kris Magel, head of national broadcast at Interpublic Group's Initiative, said he believes there is a lot of “inherent value” in place-based media. It is “a large complementary source of video impressions,” he said. And it's a source he has urged his clients to take advantage of -- although many of those clients resist doing so. “I'm seeing a lot of great product not being bought,” he said. “CMOs are not asking where the hell is my placed-based media,” he added, as they are with other media like social, mobile and specific shows on network TV like "Mad Men." Barry Lowenthal, president of The Media Kitchen, an MDC Partners unit, said a key obstacle to the media’s growth is that “it's not a core part of anyone's plan. “It's nice to have,” he said, “but it's easy to cut.” He likened placed-based media to the position mobile was in a few years ago. But now for many marketers, “mobile is more and more core.” However, Lowenthal said, he doesn't foresee that happening with place-based media in the near term. It's also not the easiest media in the world to buy. That would be TV, which is nearly “frictionless,” said David Cohen, chief media officer at IPG's UM. He said that placed-based should play to its built-in advantage of being location-focused, which an increasing number of CPG and retail marketers are putting resources toward. Place-based media is potentially more scalable -- industry players could collaborate on larger joint deals and pitch reach and awareness. But Lowenthal said the media offers a more tactical approach for most clients. “If a client talks about reaching C-level executives as they go up in elevators in the morning or commuters, then we'll lean into it,” he said. There was consensus on the panel that not all video impressions are equal. Cohen said his agency's research shows that “dollar for dollar” online impressions are “more productive” at achieving client goals such as brand awareness, attitude and intent to purchase. Lyle Schwartz, head of research and analytics at WPP's GroupM, said that each channel has its owned strengths and weaknesses that must be considered in the planning process. TV, he noted, offers the best viewing experience with its big screens -- but the flip side is it is “sedentary.” Out-of-home has the advantage of “proximity to purchase,” he said. But all channels, said Schwartz, “have to be valued on what the client wants to do, where, when and how.”
The supply of media impressions available through real-time media-buying exchanges surged 32% worldwide during the third quarter of 2013 (vs. the same quarter a year ago), according to the just-released “Real-Time Media Buying Market Pulse” from independent trading desk Accordant Media. While the supply of exchange-based impressions grew at a more moderate rate in North America, rising only 9% vs. the third quarter of 2012, that likely reflects the fact that North America is a more mature and developed real-time trading marketplace than developing media markets around the world. Nonetheless, demand failed to keep pace with expanding supply, and the average cost of buying impressions through exchanges declined 41% in North American markets during the third quarter. The report also includes Accordant's first-ever analysis of the impact of so-called “bot-net traffic” on the real-time bidding marketplace, which are impressions generated not by actual online users, but by machines. Working with online ad verification company White Ops Media, Accordant found that the RTB marketplace contains as much as 10.3% “fraudulent traffic,” or non-human audience impressions attributed to machines. Accordant said that utilizing active monitoring and “blacklisting” sites enabling bots can “cut down on fraud nearly 85%.” “The programmatic industry is shifting towards an emphasis on quality of media and breadth of marketing solutions,” stated Accordant Co Founder-CEO Art Muldoon, estimating that the marketplace now generates 50 billion ad impressions daily, and that advertisers are “understandably concerned about the quality of media where their ads appear.” “This quarter, through controlled testing environments with White Ops Media, we found randomly sampled run-of-exchange inventory to contain just over 10% suspicious activity,” he explained.Source: Accordant Media's "Real Time Media Buying Market Pulse"
Now here's what we call putting your advertising skills to work. Former Martin Agency Account Executive Daviece Clement plans to launch a campaign to find the man of her dreams. Clement will use the skills she learned at The Martin agency to craft a campaign that will include billboards, a website, social media and public relations. She'll even create business cards, drink coasters and a TV commercial. Hmm. Guess she has a lot of money saved up though she is seeking sponsors. Her proposed tagline is said to be something like, "Will you help Daviece find love?" Now, what's the first lesson they teach you in copywriting school? Never ask a question that could result in an answer you don't want. And that's all we have to say about that. Shocker!After five years, Levi's and Wieden + Kennedy have split. The decision is said to have been mutual though the usual "people familiar with the business" said there were creative differences. It’s unclear whether or not a new agency has been selected or if an agency review has been launched. Of the split, Levi's President James Curleigh said, "We would like to thank Wieden & Kennedy for their creative energy and engagement over the past five years. The team has supported us through a significant period in the Levi's brand evolution." W+K's most recent work centered on the "Go Forth" theme which aimed to spread a message of hope and optimism. Hey, Cannes isn't the only award show in town. You may or may not have heard of the Cresat Awards but Havas Worldwide would like as all to know it was just named “Network of the Year" by the organization. Which, when you think about it, is kind of cool since at Cannes, BBDO usually wins that category. In addition, Havas Worldwide London was awarded the Grand Prix in the Crafts Competition (art direction) for its client Credit Suisse entitled, "Metamorphosis." In West Coast Madison Avenue news (hey, come on, don't you know there's a Madison Avenue in every city now?) Santa Monica-based Kastner & Partners will relocate to Playa Vista, a sort of burgeoning advertising-like Dumbo of the West Coast. Deutsch, TBWA\Chiat\Day, OMD Worldwide, KDA Group, and 72andsunny have all relocated to the area which, unlike our preferred Dumbo West, is referred to as "ad agency row." Of course, Dumbo is all about tech so we guess "ad agency row," boring as that sounds will have to do. The agency has signed a 10-year, $6.5 million lease for 15,000 square feet. Kastner's claim to fame is its launch of Red Bull. SafeAuto Insurance Company has selected today’s Strangest Named Agency...uh...excuse us...Austin-based Greatest Common Factory to handle its advertising. Of the selection of GCF, SafeAuto VP of Customer Demand & Experience Charlie Kordes said, “Greatest Common Factory demonstrated the production capabilities and a creative approach that we were looking for in a creative partner that will lead SafeAuto into its next chapter of growth.” (In other words, we liked them best.) The brand plans to launch a new ad campaign early next year. Lowe Campbell Ewald, in the news already this week for opening a post-merger New York office, is wasting no time announcing additional new client wins--it has landed the Tempe Arizona-based LifeLock account. The agency's LA office will manage brand strategy and creative for television. LifeLock CMO Seth Greenberg is pretty happy with the selection and said, "Identity theft is a rapidly growing problem. Our services can help a much broader consumer base, and Lowe Campbell Ewald has a proven track record of helping to evolve and transform other leading brands. We are very excited to partner with them strategically." (In other words, we liked them best). Toronto-based digital agency Mill St. SEO has jumped on the inbound marketing bandwagon with the announcement of a new content marketing offering this week. The service aims to provide the ability for small and medium-sized businesses that need a stronger online presence and the capability to compete with larger brands in their space. The new content marketing service takes the form of a package - one that incorporates a mix of creative content (article marketing, blogging, social media), brand strategy, and measurement.