MediaCom Chief Slams “Unfair” Comparison Of Agencies & Direct Advertisers

MediaCom Australia CEO Sean Seamer has fired back at concerns voiced by NewsMediaWorks boss Mark Hollands over the continuing decline in media agency spend on news media, labelling the comparison between agencies and direct advertisers “unfair”.
Hollands said the latest ad revenue figures for news media brands show that the buying decisions of media agencies continue to be “out of sync” with those of direct advertisers.
According the figures, digital revenue from direct advertisers grew 21 per cent in 2016, while agency revenue fell by 0.5 per cent. The index noted that this discrepancy also applied to print revenue.
Hollands said the spending trend of media agencies was concerning and unwarranted.
“Direct advertisers – those who have a relationship with a news publisher – understand the value that such a trusted relationship can bring to their own businesses in terms of new customers, client retention and profitable growth,” he told B&T.
“Our own internal research suggests media agency professionals also understand this but often follow instruction from clients who are attracted to the notion of ‘being different’, and often that has a strong digital component.”
However, Seamer said it was “unfair” to compare direct advertisers to media agencies in terms of their news media spending activity.
“They’re very different in their make-up, so if you scratch under the surface of what a direct advertiser looks like – with the exception of Harvey Norman – most of those direct advertisers are small-to-medium-sized businesses,” he told B&T.
“SMEs in Australia are typically going to be local, metro or state, and print, out-of-home and radio are the best local media options for them.
“The other thing is that print, radio and out-of-home represent a much lower cost of production for those SMEs, so they don’t necessarily need to engage in big blue chip agencies to get audio-visual content sorted out, whether it’s online, video or TV.”
Seamer agreed with Hollands’ view that not enough is being invested in traditional local media brands – in particular, print – and that multinational digital and social media platforms such as Facebook are being over-invested in.
“If you look at the decline in circulation or readership versus the decline in investment in the [print] channel, there’s a massive gap – a big perception gap – between what’s actually going on with audiences and circulation, and what’s going on with investment,” he said.
“It represents a value opportunity for clients, but we really need to focus on the outputs of the channels, so looking on the basis of return on investment rather than getting caught up in the circulation debate.
“Supporting local media and real news is absolutely critical, and that’s a big focus for us at MediaCom. There’s an onus on agencies to support local media to ensure longevity of the category.”
Seamer added that while agencies need to do a better job at supporting local media, brands such as Fairfax and News Corp need to do a better job of marketing themselves.
He also predicts that the spending trend for media agencies on news media could be headed for a correction as early as this year, with the help of better measurement standards across the multiple media channels.
“I think that will highlight a lot of the drawbacks for some of these digital platforms,” Seamer said.
“You have a look at all the debates around Facebook at the moment to do with their viewability standards and what constitutes reach, and the big thing is that not all reach is created equal, and a three-second view on Facebook is certainly nowhere near as impactful as a 15-second TVC in the middle of the cricket.
“I think there will be a course correction, but it needs to be based on consistent measurement and return-on-investment analysis, so that we’re focusing on business output rather than input for clients.”
Please login with linkedin to comment
Advertising Standards Bureau agency gift buddy NewsMediaWorks taxi council queenslandLatest News

Taboola Launches Beta For Short Form Video Offering, Taboola Stories
Content discovery and native advertising platform Taboola has announced the beta of ‘Taboola Stories’, a new way for publishers to engage readers through short-form video. Publishers will be able to embed Taboola Stories within their homepages and articles in mobile environments, presenting readers with constantly updated recommendations that, once selected, launch vertical, mobile-friendly stories that […]

Study: Aussie Metro Radio Numbers Up 2% To 11.1 Million In 2020
The Australian metropolitan commercial radio audience grew by two per cent to nearly 11.1 million listeners in 2020, in a year dominated by COVID-19 which saw the number of people listening at home jump by eight per cent to 6.4 million. Commercial Radio Australia’s annual listening summary, based on an average of the five official […]

Aussie Indie Agencies Forecast Staff & Revenue Boost for 2021
Independent media agencies are predicting a strong recovery from the effects of COVID-19, forecasting an increase in staff and revenue in 2021, according to data from the Independent Media Agencies of Australia’s (IMAA) second Pulse Survey of its members.

HeartKids Unveils New Identity, Via Brand And Design Agency Hulsbosch
Australian congenital heart disease profit-for-purpose charity HeartKids has launched a new brand strategy, identity and logo created by independent brand and design agency Hulsbosch. Leaders in the fight to conquer congenital heart disease, HeartKids aims is to raise awareness of the disease, as well as enhance the conditions’ profile as a health priority to a […]

Kid’s Site Launches New Service To Better Connect Brands With Kids
TotallyAwesome, the Asia Pacific’s most advanced forum for kids and brands to safely interact via the internet, is launching a new service for brands to connect with young audiences. The business has also engaged an eminent Melbourne-based paediatric psychologist to assist with appropriate brand and audience connectivity. The new service, called AwesomeLTV, is an acceleration of TotallyAwesome’s abilities to […]

Stan Original Series ‘Rupaul’s Drag Race Down Under’ In Production
Nine Entertainment SVOD service Stan has revealed its original series, RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under, will be arriving to the platform in 2021. The eight-part, first-ever local adaption of the global hit series will see “the most fabulous” and “fierce” local drag queens compete to be the first ever Down Under Drag Race Superstar, Stan […]

Social Media: Does Its Value Equal The Hype?
In his first post for 2021, B&T regular Robert Strohfeldt points his magnifying glass at digital media’s hype and argues it’s possibly not cracked up to all it purports to be… In the past few months, I have seen many CVs of young graduates seeking a career in marketing and/or advertising. I could fool myself […]

Melbourne’s Fed Square Unveils New Brand Identity ‘Anything But Square’ Via Interbrand
B&T's stopping short of calling Fed Square ugly, but we're betting it'd have a tough time getting Tinder dates.

Barbie Is Bisexual? Apparently, According To Twitter
News out today that Barbie is possibly bisexual. Meanwhile the rumours dogging Ken also refuse to go away.

TikTok Unveils Second Australian Brand Campaign
TikTok's not just for nine-year-olds and adults with a bizarre unicorn hobby says latest brand campaign.

Google Delivers Australian Businesses And Consumers $53B In Benefits: Report
Google Australia releases latest report in charm offensive apparently unaware we'd all use it regardless.

Integrated Marketing Agency, McCorkell, Wins Spot In Global Rainfocus Partner Program
B2B marketing agency McCorkell has announced that it has been appointed an official Asia-Pacific partner of RainFocus, the next-generation event marketing and management platform. The collaboration will see both companies come together to shake up the end-to-end event service model across APJ. “As the only true integrated event marketing and management platform servicing everything from […]

Domino’s Launches Five New Chicken Products “Worth Crossing The Road For”
Domino's unveils new chicken range. Not that you care given your new year/new you fitness campaign, however.

Plant-Based Brand Oatly Releases Witty Guides, Controversial TV Ad To ‘Help Dads Quit Dairy’
It's rare you hear the words "vegan" and "sense of humour" in the same sentence but apparently it's happening here.

Fitness Guru Joe Wicks Unleashes Mega Fart In Front Of 800,000 Online Fans
Do you drop bodily functions so awesome they simply have to be heard by the entire room? You'll empathise with Joe here.

Radio Station 927 Returns To GfK Survey In 2021
Making slightly more work for B&T's radio reporter, Victoria's 927 has decided it wants back in on the ratings numbers.

Lars Lehne Appointed As Group CEO Of Incubeta
Lars Lehne named as group CEO of Incubeta and who is not to be mistaken with Superman's nemesis Lex Luthor.

Google Data Reveals World’s Most Popular Takeaways; Chinese Tops For Aussies
New study reveals the world's favourite takeaways and it appears bad news for lovers of the haggis and the pangolin.

Entertainment Appoints FutureBrand Australia To Lead Brand Transformation
FutureBrand starts the new year with a new client win. Which arguably means a client loss for another agency somewhere.

Nine Announces Mega MAFS Reunion Special
Further evidence that truly awful people somehow make good reality television comes news of a pending MAFS reunion.

Established Brands Join Forces To Launch New Comparison And Advice Hub, Compare Club
New comparison site Compare Club unveiled amid concerns the name's possibly a little on the predictable side.

2020 Sees Over 80% Of Aussies Turn To SVOD
Clearly ignoring mum's veiled threats that too much telly gives you square eyes, Aussies' SVOD viewing soars.

Reports: Lebron James Leaves Coke, Set To Back New-Look Mountain Dew
Lebron to quit Coke for rival Mountain Dew. B&T strongly suspects there was a large cheque in there somewhere, too.

MKTG Australia Unveils New Leadership Team
MKTG Australia apparently on the lookout for slightly larger boardroom table after unveiling new leadership team.

Get A Wriggle On! Entries Are Open For B&T’s Women Leading Tech Awards
Surely B&T's Women Leading Tech entries should include some difficult to fathom algorithm to decipher, but it doesn't.

SpotX Joins The Trade Desk’s Unified ID 2.0 Initiative
Turned off by this slightly techy headline? Well, get set to be really bamboozled by the overly techy body copy.

Triple J’s Hottest 100: Only A Few Hundred Votes Separate First And Second Place!
Hottest 100 top songs of the year are neck and neck. B&T editor still working out who G Flip and Mallrat are.

Some Funny Bugger Has Stolen Pauline Hanson’s Website And Redirected It To The Refugee Council
It's a safe bet to assume "I don't like it" was uttered a few times up in Queensland this morning.

LinkedIn Launches Jobs Bootcamp To Make “2021 The Year Of Your Career”
B&T's hoping Uber Eats or Diageo will be the next company to launch an all-day Bootcamp.

WhatsApp Takes Out Full-Page Newspaper Ad To Address Privacy Concerns
After spending the last decade sending newspapers broke, Zuckerberg finally decides to throw them a bone with these ads.