Tag: procter&gamble

Three Pillars of Procter&Gamble Ad Revolution

The debate about the transparency issues in the advertising industry has been gaining momentum recently, and it all started with Jon Mandel’s 2015 speech at the Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) annual media conference. The following year, an independent research was conducted by K2 Intelligence LLC (“K2”) which showed that numerous non-transparent business practices, such as rebates and problematic principal transactions, had been taking place on a regular basis across the whole media spectrum. Numerous evidence suggested that some advertising agencies had taken advantage of their position failing to act in the best interests of the advertisers. The incident took an unprecedented turn in 2018 when the FBI had to intervene and ask the ANA and its members for cooperation. At this point, there is nothing conclusive yet, no accusations or charges have been put forward, but the FBI assumes there may be numerous potential financial fraud victims and wants them to assist in such a massive investigation, which might reveal offences far more serious than financial fraud like conspiracy and even racketeering. Such a scandal couldn’t go by unnoticed and very naturally caused some revolutionary changes in advertising industry, so companies started to take action. One of the world’s… Read more »

#RebateGate. The Advertiser-Agency Disconnect. Conflict of Interest. Part 3: Transparency and CheckMedia Solution

As we have previously covered here and here, the 2016 “RebateGate” proved to be a wake-up call for the advertising industry enshrouded in non-transparency, and uncovered the disconnect between the advertisers and their agencies in regards to the very nature of their relationship. The Association of National Advertisers, which commissioned the renowned K2 Intelligence Report, was quick to lend a helping hand to advertisers who found themselves at a loss as to how to cut their losses and recuperate. Published in July 2016 and updated to version 2.0 in July 2018, ANA’s template Master Media Buying Services agreement is part of the overall set of ANA’s Guidelines for best practice and is meant to serve as a blueprint for transparent regulation of the Advertiser-Agency relationship, ultimately aimed at rebuilding trust and confidence between the two parties. The advertiser-agency media management practices require full disclosure as their cornerstone principle. Seeing how many agencies have blurred the lines, the contract between the parties has to precisely define the nature of their relationship. Whether it be that the agency acts as the client’s agent or the principal in its own right, there should always be a contractually prescribed ability for the advertiser to… Read more »