ANA Media Transparency Report: 10 Years Later (Virtual Only)

This event is over.

A decade ago, ANA commissioned K2 Intelligence to lead the fact-finding of an independent study of media transparency issues in the U.S. advertising industry. In June 2016 that report was released, and it found non-transparent business practices in media buying to be pervasive. The report was groundbreaking, and transparency became the biggest story in the ad world.

To help advertisers address the transparency issues identified in the K2 study, ANA and Ebiquity/FirmDecisions released a report in July 2016 that focused on areas including contract content and governance, principal media, audit rights, and advertiser responsibilities.

Now – ten years later, has there been progress? This session will reunite the key players from our original work and discuss the current state of media transparency in the advertising industry and updated recommendations for advertisers. In addition, we’ll share “hot off the press” results of ANA research on media agency contracts and concerns about the current level of transparency with media agencies.

Guest Speakers:

Richard Plansky
Regional Managing Director, North America
Kroll
(Rich was the lead at K2)

Nick Manning
Founder
Encyclomedia International
(Nick was a senior member of the Ebiquity/Firm Decisions team)

Keri Bruce
Partner
Reed Smith LLP

Jon Mandel
Chairman/CEO
Dogsled Enterprises

Agenda

TIME	EVENT DETAILS	LOCATION
Monday, June 1, 2026
11:00am - 11:05am	OVERVIEW OF THE DAY Bill Duggan Group EVP ANA
11:05am - 11:30am	THE REAL STORY OF HOW ANA’S TRANSPARENCY WORK GOT STARTED + NEW ANA RESEARCH There is the widespread belief that Jon Mandel initiated the “rebate conversation” in the industry. With all due respect to Jon, that is not true. Those conversations began at the ANA in 2010/2011. But it wasn’t until Jon’s speech at the ANA Media Conference in March 2015 that transparency became an industry debate. In June 2015 ANA’s Media Transparency RFP was issued resulting in the selection of K2 Intelligence and Ebiquity/FirmDecisions, announced in October 2015. This session will also share “hot off the press” results of ANA research on media agency contracts and concerns about the current level of transparency with media agencies. Bill Duggan Group EVP ANA View Presentation
11:30am - 11:45am	THE K2 REPORT The headline of the K2 report, released in June 2016, was that “numerous non-transparent business practices were found to be pervasive in the U.S. media ad-buying ecosystem.” Richard Plansky led that work while at K2 and will reprise the high-level findings. Richard Plansky Regional Managing Director, North America Kroll
11:45am - 12:05pm	SOLUTIONS TO ADDRESS THE K2 FINDINGS A month after the K2 report was published, ANA and Ebiquity/Firm Decisions released the document “Media Transparency: Prescriptions, Principles, and Processes for Advertisers.” Reed Smith, ANA’s outside legal council, was a significant contributor. The majority of the recommendations made then are still relevant today, covering areas such as: Agency versus Principal, Contract Content and Governance, Audit Rights, and Advertiser Responsibilities. Nick Manning and Keri Bruce will discuss. Nick Manning Founder Encyclomedia International Keri Bruce Partner Reed Smith LLP View Presentation
12:05pm - 12:50pm	PANEL DISCUSSION: “GETTING THE BAND BACK TOGETHER” We’ll reunite the key players and discuss how far we’ve come since 2016, and what still needs to happen. Keri Bruce Partner Reed Smith LLP Jon Mandel Chairman/CEO Dogsled Enterprises Nick Manning Founder Encyclomedia International Richard Plansky Regional Managing Director, North America Kroll
12:50pm - 1:00pm	BREAK
1:00pm - 1:15pm	THE RICHARD FOSTER CASE In late 2025, former GroupM executive Richard Foster filed a $100 million lawsuit against WPP, claiming he was unlawfully terminated and retaliated against after flagging that the company was keeping massive media rebates rather than passing them to clients. WPP has denied the allegations, claiming Foster was let go during a standard organizational restructuring. Nick Manning, who is advising the Foster legal team as an expert consultant, will discuss. Nick Manning Founder Encyclomedia International View Presentation
1:15pm - 1:45pm	OTHER CURRENT ISSUES IN MEDIA TRANSPARENCY Programmatic Media Transparency: Actions to Optimize Programmatic Spend Julie Weitzner SVP ANA Influencer Marketing Agency Compensation Transparency Leah Marshall VP ANA Principal Media: Guidelines for Use Jason Trubowitz SVP ANA
1:45pm - 2:00pm	WRAP UP - ACTIONS FOR ADVERTISERS

Cancellation Policy and Notes

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