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Five Practical Steps to Increase Control Over the Production Process and Gain Transparency

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By this time of year, the vast majority of new year's resolutions have already been abandoned. The theory is that because these goals are so idealistic, they become impossible to achieve. In fact, according to research company Static Brain, only 9 percent of people see their resolutions through to the end of the year. So if it's been challenging for marketers to stick with their resolutions for greater transparency with agency partners, focusing on the practical instead of the ideal may lead to success.

When the ANA released the report "Production Transparency in the U.S. Advertising Industry," it was clear that the ways of working with partner agencies needed mending and advertisers needed to take more control. The study highlighted the transparency issues that have been brewing within the production ecosystem for years, including bid rigging and inaccurate or hidden markups. With agency partners controlling the bidding process in a non-transparent manner, advertisers have become vulnerable to significant cost markups. However, if advertisers take back a level of control, they can gain a greater level of transparency.

In addition to bringing the issue to the forefront and advocating for a solution, the ANA suggests 10 actions that advertisers can take to improve the situation. All of the actions sound great, and in an ideal world would be addressed and implemented immediately. Unfortunately, it's the new year's resolution quandary all over again. To be like the 9 percent who achieve their resolutions, practice practicality over idealism.

In addition to having limited general expertise in production, many advertisers find cost pressures and headcount reductions make transparency and control extremely daunting goals. Instead of trying to fix everything at once, advertisers should make their actions tangible and specific. Rather than saying, "We are going to fix this production transparency issue," they may be better off setting incremental clear, specific, and measurable actions.

Using the ANA suggestions as a guide, here are five simple ways marketers can make practical transparency goals.

    1. Get educated. Transparency begins with knowing all players involved. An important first step to improving the ways of working is to be aware of who is actually doing the work. By requiring disclosure from agencies, many of which have in-house production resources, advertisers gain knowledge of the specific internal resources of partner agencies' holding companies, agencies, and affiliates. A great resource is the ANA website, which maintains a list of production houses and their affiliated or associated ownership.
    2. Ask for what you want. If advertisers want a fair and honest bidding process, they just need to ask for one. Before the bidding commences, advertisers should require that the agency disclose if and when in-house production resources are considered for a project. By establishing specific requirements and documentation, advertisers ensure that all bidders on a given project are subject to a fair and honest bidding process.
    3. Trust, but verify. Advertisers utilize audits for many areas of the business, such as confirmation compliance, agency remuneration, and indication of cost-impact processes. In addition to gaining confidence that a contract is being executed properly, an audit can shed light on some issues that should be addressed, as well as identify some efficiencies that may impact cost. By ensuring the production process undergoes a similar audit, agencies as well as third-party producers and editors are held to their contractual terms.
  1. Own the process. Part of taking back a level of control means owning what is yours. Advertisers own their production process. By publishing formal production guidelines, advertisers can detail specific production policies, expectations, and regulations. This document should be updated and shared regularly to ensure all key stakeholders in the production process are aware of the latest details.
  2. Capture the data. As the ANA identified in its study, there is a direct correlation between the level of transparency and level of control taken by the advertiser — the more control, the greater the transparency. By capturing and tracking the data, costs, and deliverables throughout the production process, advertisers can gain the transparency desired to create change. Furthermore, over time they can use that collected data to find insights that drive additional efficiencies and reduced costs.

Solving the production transparency issues that plague the advertising industry in one fell swoop would be great, but these issues have been brewing for years. To believe they can be fixed easily and quickly is not realistic — as with most new year's resolutions.

What is realistic is tackling the issue one step at a time. By setting attainable and practical goals throughout the year, the effort will seem less daunting than tackling one overarching and overwhelming goal. That's the strategy that helps the rare 9 percent of people meet their new year's resolutions, and it can work for advertisers too — one productive step at a time.

 

Steven Wales (@stevenwales) is the chief revenue officer at Decideware. You can email him at swales@decideware.com.

 


 

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