Woolley Marketing: Is it pessimism or realism to manage digital marketing?

A very senior procurement officer with years of marketing experience pulled me aside after a meeting to ask me a question that was disturbing them. We had just completed reviewing the agency's current contract and fee, and during the meeting, I noted that they suddenly became distracted.

Awkwardly, she asked me if it was typical for media agencies to receive 100% of their annual performance bonuses. As a good consultant, I promptly responded, “It depends.” Then, as all good consultants do, I asked, “Who establishes the performance target?”

“The agency”, she replied.

“And who measures the performance?”

“The agency.”

“And who validates these measures?”

Her expression changed. “Oh, I see.”

Please do not judge this person harshly. After all, the whole digital marketing ecosystem, worth trillions of dollars globally, essentially works this way: service providers set performance metrics and measure and validate their performance.

Illustration: Dennis Flad

Think of the walled gardens. While they have made it easier for marketing to engage in their “advertising ecosystem,” they have also customised reporting to give you the performance measurement they need. I mean, whoever invented last-click attribution is a genius, but this metric often neglects the 47 prior steps that might have led you to click ‘purchase’.

Colloquially, it is known as marking your own homework. This may be fine in school but when billions of dollars are at stake, does it cut it?

So, along came the validation companies. These tech solutions provide tech measures to solve technology-created problems. It makes sense. We are regularly told that measuring digital advertising at scale is impossible because of the volume. This sends two messages: First, it is very popular, so you are missing out if you are not on board. Second, we must double down on investing in technology, creating a virtuous cycle. Or is it?

But how easy would it be to tweak the algorithm to make it seem like everything was good? After all, it is way too complex for any human to validate, so let’s leave it to the technology to assure us that everything is hunky-dory. Being complicated and technology-driven, it also means we can justify charging significant amounts of money in fees. Would you trust something relatively cheap to tell you that the millions and billions you pour into digital ad platforms are safe and performing? Of course not. The more you pay, the more security you have, right?

However, performance metrics are not the only issues that are in question. Technology solutions and reporting platforms exist for ad fraud, brand safety, GHG emissions, and other issues. With so many companies providing solutions to so many issues, there should be no problems. Should there be?

Well, explain that to the brands in the US that have placed their advertisements on websites endorsing terrorism, child sexual exploitation, and worse. Or to the advertisers pressed by their agencies to allocate more of their media budgets to these various black box advertising solutions without significant results. Perhaps this is because the fraud detection platform they subscribe to fails to catch the latest criminal fraud techniques and is satisfied to offer a reassurance saying, “There’s nothing to see here, folks. Move along.”

This is the real problem. It’s too big to fail and large enough for plenty of people to be part of the grift. Last year, global digital ad spend reached $790 billion, representing 72.7% of the worldwide ad investment. That’s a big enough pie for everyone to grab their slice—agencies, digital platforms, validation companies and all the others along the digital supply chain. Why would anyone want to rock the boat?

Unfortunately for marketers, it is getting harder to determine who is in on the game and who you can trust. But the starting point for who you can trust is you. Is it any wonder that more companies are taking their media planning and buying in-house? Sure, the major platforms are making it easier, but they are not making it more transparent or accountable.

Marketers are under greater pressure to justify the effectiveness of their investments. Therefore, it is time to start asking straightforward questions and looking for media vendors that provide sensible answers, even if they are not the ones you want to hear, including the fact that the sky may have turned a distinct shade of green.

Woolley Marketing is a monthly column for Campaign Asia-Pacific, penned by Darren Woolley, the founder and global CEO of Trinity P3. The illustration accompanying this piece is by Dennis Flad, a Zurich-based marketing and advertising veteran.