the bottom line

Media agencies seem to fall into two categories: the Bean Counters and the Qualitative Loves.  The latter are few and far between. They’re the agencies that are all about consumers – how much consumers love their client’s brands, how interesting and diverse their media plans are, how in tune they are with their target’s needs and desires. The Bean Counters know who you are: CPMs are the starting measure of “planned” success, while ROI is the confirmation of that success. If the bucks aren’t rolling in, the media plan is a failure. Can you guess which type of agency I prefer?

Here’s the main problem with an agency of Bean Counters: they will never, despite any demands they make of their media planners, be able to sell in anything but National TV plans. And why? Because the efficiency of the only mass vehicle the country currently has automatically means higher ROI as compared to other, less mass media. Not to mention that most clients have few reliable means to measure the effectiveness of non-TV vehicles. Agencies that broadcast ROI as their primary focus are painting themselves into a National TV corner. It’s the consumer – our target, and what should be our main concern – who gets ignored when an agency’s sole measure of success is the bottom line.