Media Buying Briefing: DE&I measurement ‘is a bullshit fix,’ and other takeaways from Digiday’s Media Buying Summit

By Michael Bürgi

The first live, in-person Digiday Media Buying Summit in two years revealed multiple issues boiling under the surface of day-to-day dealings for media agencies and their clients. Some are more obvious than others — we have a long way to go before diversity, equity and inclusion efforts can actually have a material impact on making disenfranchised groups feel they’ve been heard, seen and invested in — while others are hiding in plain sight.

Here are six takeaways that Digiday editor-in-chief Jim Cooper and I gleaned through feedback from a highly engaged group of attendees during the event, held at the Kimpton Epic Hotel in Miami from Oct. 18-20. Some of these sentiments were gathered during a discussion under Chatham House Rules in which Digiday granted anonymity so attendees could speak candidly.

DE&I has a long way to go

One of the two town halls discussed the difficult-but-necessary issue of diversity, equity and inclusion, and the message is clear: despite all the good intentions and positive movements of the last 15 months, the rank-and-file of the agency world feel nowhere near enough is being done in recruitment and cultivating interest at a middle- or high-school level. Measuring progress is fraught with potential tokenism. Said one CEO who attended the session: “I think the measurement thing is a bullshit fix because it just creates lots of virtue signaling … We spend way too much time measuring crap that doesn’t matter and we’re not actually going out and finding young talent and teaching them and giving them the basic people skills, written skills, communication skills, etc., that they need to come into the industry.”

CTV is a mess

In a town hall, buyers, planners and strategists alike complained about how difficult it is to plan, buy and evaluate connected TV effectively, for a number of reasons. One attendee likened the messy marketplace to the mobile video space five years ago. Many noted that too many DSPs are trying to sell the same inventory, leading to waste and over-duplication. On top of it, the lack of transparency also leads to fraudulent or non-existent viewership.

Don’t call it the marketing funnel anymore

One consistent current of thought in discussing brand and performance marketing overlapping was that the term “marketing funnel” is no longer valid. Rather, the need by more agencies to deliver performance-based goals while still creating a brand halo should really be seen as tackling the customer journey. “The funnel definitely has collapsed for certain products, especially on TikTok, Instagram, those things where you don’t really need a product story to buy something that’s low risk, like a wallet, or a phone case,” said one attendee. Added another: “As attribution for paid media channels becomes increasingly difficult, it’s almost like performance just starts bleeding into brand overall. There’s just heavier reliance on creative. And, I just kind of see them eventually getting married.”