Media Buying Briefing: Where media agencies will focus their energies this year

By Michael Bürgi

This year, 2023, might offer the murkiest start to a year in recent memory — it’s simply unclear where the brand marketing ecosystem (and all its participants) will end up financially, even though we know it’s not starting from a great place.

Clients of media agencies remain uncertain about business conditions in 2023, and as a result have delayed decisions on marketing budgets, as well as where to spend those budgets given the huge increase in choices they have and decisions they have to make. At the end of last year, media agencies prognosticators predicted a decent year in media spend this year, in the higher single digits — but scaled back from larger increases they had called for earlier in 2022.

In this column this week, we’d like to establish the biggest opportunities and challenges that lie ahead in 2023 for all media agencies, whether holding-company-owned or independent. But before we get to that, and speaking of holdco vs indie, what remains unchanged is the constant tussle between the two as the latter try to steal away a larger share.

The indie argument for would-be clients is their nimbleness, their deep expertise in whatever discipline they specialize in, and their creative freedom to work with whoever and however they want. That has been an intoxicating pitch for major marketers like Nike, which landed all its North American media work with PMG last year.

But the holding companies, flush with new media channels and tactics they can bring to the table (commerce media, artificial intelligence/machine learning tools, and ESG/sustainability-focused investment), argue they offer the whole package in an era when more marketers want to reduce their roster of agencies working for them.

“Our fundamental belief is, clients want fewer agencies solving much bigger problems,” said Jacki Kelley, CEO of Dentsu Americas and chief client officer for the parent company. “And we see this in the consolidation reviews that are going on — the desire to reduce complexity. So we have really retooled ourselves to deliver on that.”

Meanwhile, holdcos and indies alike are feeling the pinch of a newer generation of holding company in the form of Media.Monks, BrandTech Group or MediaPlus, which are leaner, faster networks with multi-national reach and modern tools.

And now, the opportunities/challenges media agencies will harness/face down this year:

The influencer/creator market goes big time

It’s safe to say agencies are taking influencer marketing and the creator economy more seriously going forward. Experts explain that marketers and media agencies are beginning to experiment with new ways to leverage creator-driven content, from bots to micro influencers, in order to connect with audiences. Where there may have been more skepticism to influencer marketing in years past, now Fortune 500 companies and holding giants are investing in influencers and commerce strategies. The biggest potential obstacle ahead is that, with demand going up, some influencers will start charging more for their services. Global media spend in the influencer advertising segment is projected …read more

Source:: Digiday