Member Satisfaction with Media Agencies
Overview
In January and February 2009, the ANA polled members of its Advertising Financial Management committee on their media agency relationships - specifically:
- Members' satisfaction with their media buying and planning agencies' overall performance
- Members' satisfaction with media agency staffing levels and account management
- Whether these agencies also handled online buying or planning
- Strengths in strategic media thinking, leadership, and innovation
Thirteen client-side marketers responded to the survey. Agencies discussed in this benchmark include:
MEDIA BUYING
- Starcom (2 responses)
- Mindshare (2 responses)
- Mediaedge:cia
- OMD
- GSD&M Idea City
- Media Kitchen
- HSR Business to Business
- MGSCOMM (Machado Garcia-Serra)
- MediaVest
- RJ Palmer
- Zenith Optimedia
MEDIA PLANNING
- Starcom (2 responses)
- Mindshare (2 responses)
- Mediaedge:cia
- OMD
- GSD&M Idea City
- Media Kitchen
- HSR Business to Business
- MGSCOMM (Machado Garcia-Serra)
- MediaVest
- MPG (Havas)
ONLINE (wherein the agency differed from the members' other agencies)
- Neo@Ogilvy
- Fuor Digital
- Razorfish
- Performix (Publicis)
- MPG
- Media Contacts (Havas)
- Webmetro
Details of members' attitudes toward their media agencies can be found in the survey results below.
Key Findings
Nearly two thirds of respondents expressed satisfaction with their media agencies - both for planning and buying and for traditional and online media. Members were unenthusiastic about senior agency management involvement in their accounts.
- High Satisfaction with Media Buying
Eight members (62%) reported high satisfaction levels with their media buying agency, and five (38%) reported average satisfaction. No members characterized themselves as dissatisfied with their media buying agencies. - High Satisfaction with Media Planning
Six members (50%) reported high satisfaction levels with their media planning agency, and
five members (42%) reported average satisfaction. One member (8%) was dissatisfied, and an additional member reported having no planning agency. - High Satisfaction with Online Media Planning or Purchasing
Eight members (62%) reported high satisfaction levels with their online media agency, and three (23%) reported average satisfaction. Two members (15%) were dissatisfied. - Lukewarm Account Management
Eight members (62%) characterized agency senior management as "somewhat involved" in their accounts. Four members (31%) described senior management as "very involved." One person characterized agency management as "not noticeably involved." - Acceptable Staffing & Turnover
The majority of members expressed satisfaction with staffing and turnover. One member was dissatisfied with their media buying and planning agency's staffing; one member expressed dissatisfaction with their online media agency's staffing, and one member expressed dissatisfaction with agency turnover.
Survey Results
Following is the breakdown of member responses to these questions:
1. OVERALL PERFORMANCE
My company's current media-buying AOR is: _________________________
My satisfaction with the agency's overall performance is:
___High
___Average
___We're dissatisfied
My company's current media-planning AOR is: _______________________
My satisfaction with the agency's overall performance is:
___High
___Average
___We're dissatisfied
Do these agencies also plan and purchase your online media (including paid search)? Yes/No
If no, which agency(ies) do you use? ___________________________
My satisfaction with this agency's overall performance is:
___High
___Average
___We're dissatisfied
2. STAFFING
Are the staffing levels satisfactory to service your account?
- Media-buying agency: Yes/No
- Media-planning agency: Yes/No
Is there more turnover than you would like?
- Media-buying agency: Yes/No
- Media-planning agency: Yes/No
3. MANAGEMENT INVOLVEMENT
To what degree is senior management involved in your business?
___Very Involved
___Somewhat involved
___Not noticeably involved
4. KEY STRENGTHS
Thinking about agencies that you've worked with past AND present, please name those that you believe show excellence in:
Strategic media thinking ____________, _____________, ____________
Leadership ____________, _____________, ____________
Innovation ____________, _____________, ____________
MEMBER RESPONSE #1
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Current media-buying AOR: Starcom
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: High
Current media-planning AOR: Starcom
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: High
Current online planning: Starcom plans/purchases online, but not search.
Satisfaction with overall performance: High
Paid search is handled by a separate agency, Webmetro. We are happy with them. They do a decent job of optimizing our media, maybe a little light on strategy. Staffing has improved.
STAFFING
Staffing levels: Satisfactory to service the account.
Turnover: Acceptable.
MANAGEMENT INVOLVEMENT
Senior management: Somewhat involved in our business.
KEY STRENGTHS (current or former agencies)
Starcom has shown excellence in strategic media thinking, leadership, innovation.
MEMBER RESPONSE #2
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Current media-buying AOR: Mindshare.
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: Average
Current media-planning AOR: Mindshare.
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: Average
Current online planning: Mindshare.
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: Average
STAFFING
Staffing levels: Satisfactory to service the account.
Turnover: Acceptable.
MANAGEMENT INVOLVEMENT
Senior management: Somewhat involved in our business.
MEMBER RESPONSE #3
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Current media-buying AOR: Mindshare
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: High
Current media-planning AOR: Mindshare
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: High
Current online planning: Neo@Ogilvy
Satisfaction with overall performance: High
STAFFING
Staffing levels: Satisfactory to service the account.
Turnover: Acceptable.
MANAGEMENT INVOLVEMENT
Senior management: Very involved in our business.
KEY STRENGTHS (current or former agencies)
Mindshare and Neo@Ogilvy have shown excellence in strategic media thinking, leadership, innovation.
MEMBER RESPONSE #4
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Current media-buying AOR: MediaEdge:cia
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: High
Current media-planning AOR: MediaEdge:cia
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: Average
Current online planning: MediaEdge:cia
Satisfaction with overall performance: Dissatisfied
STAFFING
Staffing levels: Satisfactory to service the account.
Turnover: Acceptable - except online, where there is too much turnover.
MANAGEMENT INVOLVEMENT
Senior management: Somewhat involved in our business.
KEY STRENGTHS (current or former agencies)
MindShare, MPG, Starcom: Excellence in strategic media thinking, leadership, innovation.
MindShare, Media Edge, Zenith: Excellence in leadership.
MindShare, MPG, Carat: Excellence in innovation.
MEMBER RESPONSE #5
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Current media-buying AOR: OMD
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: Average
Current media-planning AOR: OMD
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: We're dissatisfied
Current online planning: OMD - for banners, but not for paid search
Satisfaction with overall performance: We're dissatisfied
STAFFING
Staffing levels: Satisfactory to service the media buying account. Unsatisfactory to service the media planning account.
Turnover: Acceptable
MANAGEMENT INVOLVEMENT
Senior management: Not noticeably involved in our business.
MEMBER RESPONSE #6
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Current media-buying AOR: GSD&M Idea City (USA only)
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: High
Current media-planning AOR: GSD&M Idea City (USA only)
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: High
Current online planning: GSD&M Idea City (USA only)
Satisfaction with overall performance: High
STAFFING
Staffing levels: Satisfactory to service the account.
Turnover: Acceptable
MANAGEMENT INVOLVEMENT
Senior management: Somewhat involved in our business.
KEY STRENGTHS (current or former agencies)
Strategic media thinking: GSD&M's Idea City, Universal McCann
Leadership: GSD&M's Idea City, Universal McCann
Innovation: GSD&M's Idea City
MEMBER RESPONSE #7
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Current media-buying AOR: Media Kitchen, NY
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: High
Current media-planning AOR: Media Kitchen, NY
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: High
Current online planning: Media Kitchen, NY - with the exception of paid search, handled by Agency.com
Satisfaction with overall performance: High
STAFFING
Staffing levels: Satisfactory to service the account.
Turnover: Acceptable.
MANAGEMENT INVOLVEMENT
Senior management: Somewhat involved in our business.
KEY STRENGTHS (current or former agencies)
Strategic media thinking: Media Kitchen, MediaVest
Innovation: MediaVest
MEMBER RESPONSE #8
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Current media-buying AOR: HSR Business-to-Business
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: Average
Current media-planning AOR: HSR Business-to-Business
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: Average
Current online planning: HSR Business-to-Business
Satisfaction with overall performance: High
STAFFING
Staffing levels: Unsatisfactory - agency had lot of turnover in 2008 but seem to be moving to appropriate levels in 2009.
Turnover: Unsatisfactory
MANAGEMENT INVOLVEMENT
Senior management: Somewhat involved - but just hired a VP Media.
KEY STRENGTHS (past or present agencies)
Strategic media thinking: RPA, McCann
Leadership: RPA, McCann
Innovation: RPA, McCann
MEMBER RESPONSE #9
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Current media-buying AOR: Machado Garcia-Serra
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: Average
Current media-planning AOR: Machado Garcia-Serra
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: Average
Current online planning: Fuor Digital
Satisfaction with overall performance: Average
STAFFING
Staffing levels: Satisfactory to service the account.
Turnover: Unacceptable
MANAGEMENT INVOLVEMENT
Senior management: Somewhat involved in our business.
KEY STRENGTHS (past or present agencies)
Strategic media thinking: Cramer-Krasselt
MEMBER RESPONSE #10
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Current media-buying AOR: MediaVest
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: Average
Current media-planning AOR: MediaVest
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: Average
Current online planning: Razorfish
Satisfaction with overall performance: High
STAFFING
Staffing levels: Satisfactory to service the account.
Turnover: Satisfactory for media buying; unsatisfactory for media planning
MANAGEMENT INVOLVEMENT
Senior management: Somewhat involved in our business.
MEMBER RESPONSE #11
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Current media-buying AOR: Starcom Worldwide
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: High
Current media-planning AOR: Starcom Worldwide
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: High
Current online planning: Starcom Worldwide; Performix, a unit of Starcom/Publicis, handles Search under Starcom
Satisfaction with overall performance: High
STAFFING
Staffing levels: Satisfactory to service the account.
Turnover: Acceptable
MANAGEMENT INVOLVEMENT
Senior management: Very involved in our business.
KEY STRENGTHS (past or present agencies)
Strategic media thinking: Starcom and SMG Mediavest/Leo Burnett
Leadership: Starcom and SMG Mediavest/Leo Burnett
Innovation: Starcom and SMG Mediavest/Leo Burnett
MEMBER RESPONSE #12
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Current media-buying AOR: RJ Palmer
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: High
Current media-planning AOR: No planning AOR
Current online planning: MPG
Satisfaction with overall performance: High
STAFFING
Staffing levels: Satisfactory to service the account.
Turnover: Acceptable
MANAGEMENT INVOLVEMENT
Senior management: Very involved in our business.
KEY STRENGTHS (past or present agencies)
Strategic media thinking: RJ Palmer, Mindshare
Innovation: MPG, Mindshare
MEMBER RESPONSE #13
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Current media-buying AOR: Zenith Optimedia
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: High
Current media-planning AOR: MPG (a division of Havas)
Satisfaction with agency's overall performance: High
Current online planning: Media Contacts (a division of Havas)
Satisfaction with overall performance: Average
STAFFING
Staffing levels: Satisfactory to service the account.
Turnover: Acceptable
MANAGEMENT INVOLVEMENT
Senior management: Very involved in our business.
KEY STRENGTHS (past or present agencies)
Strategic media thinking: MPG
Leadership: MPG
Source
"Member Satisfaction with Media Agencies." ANA Advertising Financial Management Committee. January 2009.