The Beginner's Guide to Media Consultancy
2/02/2021 3:45 PM
Simply put, media consultancy is about problem-solving. Consultants are experienced, commercially minded individuals who use their industry knowledge to provide advice and solutions to a company’s media challenges or strategy plans.
What is Media Consultancy?
Traditionally consultancy involves an impartial third party parachuting into a company to provide an objective view of current media performance and offer practical and cost-effective solutions. All well and good, but often these relationships begin and end at the boardroom door leading to a disconnect with frontline media teams which can impede getting to the heart of any operational issues.
To avoid this we like to do things a little differently at 23 Media Audits and when working with our clients we see ourselves as more of an extension of their marketing or procurement departments rather than just a third party contractor.
As a result, we work hard to understand your market and the specific needs of your business. We have over 15 years of experience in dealing with all media environments which gives us a solid appreciation for what can work for you and allows us to offer bespoke solutions to all of your media needs.
How Can 23 Media Audits Consultancy Help?
Complimenting our comprehensive auditing service, 23 Media Audits also have experienced consultants available to advise clients on many key areas of media strategy, helping them to achieve measurable results aligned specifically to their business goals.
Media Contracts
How Relevant is Your Media Contract?
Constantly evolving commercial law coupled with the seemingly endless development of data technology mean that it is more important than ever to carry out regular comprehensive risk assessments on your service contract to ensure it accurately reflects the scope of your current trading relationship. We use our experience to analyse your current agreement and ensure you are adequately protected in your agency dealings across all the key media sections. Working with your internal teams we can provide advice on the current industry standards and benchmark your contract against our key contract parameters to deliver transparent pricing and quality guarantees from the off.
Media Cycle
Are All Your Stakeholders Working in Tandem?
Our face-to-face consultancy process will evaluate your company’s internal media capabilities and pinpoint where each stakeholder fits in. Allowing us to benchmark your planning and buying performance and promote your business objectives to your agency to ensure they deliver a strategic and not just standardized media buy for your brand.
Digital Awareness
How Effective is Your Digital Advertising?
Let us provide you with the answer with a full audit of your current digital plans versus a set of our key benchmarks. We cover all aspects of your digital advertising including organic and paid search, social media, programmatic and mobile. Arming you with a detailed appraisal of your performance measured against industry best practice and the ability to focus on improvements for future campaigns.
KPI Setting
Is Your Agency on the Right Track?
We can ensure your agency KPI’s are tailored specifically to your business needs. By liaising with all key stakeholders we can provide clear guidance to marketing teams for curating KPI’s that directly link agency performance to media performance and ROI.
Remuneration Models
Are You Getting the Value You Deserve?
Agreeing on an appropriate agency remuneration model can be a minefield at the best of times and navigating the complexity of various cost-based or commission-based models now available has only added to the challenge facing advertisers. Settling for, what looks like on the surface, a bargain deal can be counter-productive if agencies look for other ways to bolster their client income. Conversely paying over the odds could potentially weaken the value of your advertising investment. We can help ensure you are maximizing value for your brand by delivering a comprehensive set of benchmarks that allow you to incentivise your agency through a transparent payment structure. Our models are 100% bespoke and all stakeholders are included in the process so the agency is fully aware of how they will be measured and scored.
Agency Response Benchmarking
Are You Getting the Agency Resources You Need?
We can set up a benchmarking process to guarantee all service levels are being delivered to an expected standard that allows you to maximize your return on investment. Holding agencies accountable for delivering specific business objectives as well as delivering on media price.
Media Training
Does Your Team Understand the Media Cycle?
Using our extensive experience we can curate and deliver a training plan designed to give your team a full understanding of the media cycle from the initial planning through to the media buying plan. Empowering them to identify parameters for brand success and challenge agencies on their buying choices based on industry best practice.
PRF Delivery
Are Your Objectives Aligned to Agency Incentives?
We can help advertisers to identify, implement and then manage their optimal PRF (Performance-related fees) model to extract the maximum ROI, performance, service quality and innovation from their agency. We undertake an expert assessment of your existing PRF model and offer a bespoke plan that aligns your business objectives with agency incentives. This provides the advertiser with a structure designed to spotlight clear performance targets and reward agencies based on wider elements of media value, service, and innovation and not just simply price. This enhanced direction allows advertisers to be selective on which KPI’s to prioritise, how to weight them and ultimately how to incentivise agencies to go beyond competitor performance. It also encourages transparency between stakeholders and working collaboratively to achieve clear, measurable goals.
Delivering Peace of Mind:
23 Media Audits fully appreciate the confidential nature of the information we exchange with our clients and so our number one priority is data security. We form an inclusive relationship with you and your media agency and never disclose information to third parties. We never disclose individual advertiser performance or rates paid and keep all data in a secure environment and fully comply with GDPR guidelines.
Need assistance with any area of your media strategy?
See our Media Consultancy Service or Get in Touch to find out how we can help.