Rebuilding trust: the future of the agency trading desk
Agency trading desks must “evolve” as advertiser distrust reaches a critical point, the media industry has heard.
Speaking at the Automated Trading Debate on Monday, the founder director of Enreach and well-known media commentator, Brian Jacobs, said that agencies must rebuild trust and transform their trading desk models as client woes over fees, pricing and data privacy grow stronger.
“The biggest problem is advertisers don’t trust them,” said Jacobs. “Something is going on and they’re not quite sure what, but they don’t like it.
“Unfortunately, the game is up and I think we’re going to enter an era of greater transparency.”
Jacobs, who has spent over 35 years in advertising, media and research agencies including spells at Leo Burnett, Carat, Universal McCann and Millward Brown, said moving the trading desks out of silos, aligning them closer with the research and insight business of parent agencies and evolving to offer “real” value to clients, are all key priorities.
The end result for Jacobs would see the trading desks of today operating more like “technology hubs”.
“I think agency trading desks are currently very inefficient when they could do a great deal to drive industry forward and evolve into something extremely valuable, adding real value to clients,” he said.
Earlier this year VivaKi, the ad tech arm of Publicis Groupe, said it was centralising its agency trading desk model whilst “fusing” the skills of its programmatic ad traders into all media agencies within the group.
The move will see VivaKi ad traders move to the other Publicis media agencies, which include ZenithOptimedia, Starcom MediaVest and Walker Media.
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VivaKi said it wanted to “move beyond the trading desk” approach, and ensure programmatic planning and activation services are integrated into the media planning processes within all Publicis agencies.
It was the first sign that the traditional trading desk model was no longer working for Publicis, and should give client teams more access to digital buying activities.
Sacha Bunatyan, chief operating officer at Amnet UK – part of Dentsu Aegis Network – oversees the roll-out of programmatic buying for the majority of Aegis clients.
An inaugural member of the Digital Trading Standards Group (DTSG), she said the spectrum of products and services on offer to clients has grown significantly, and the way they are set up is likely to change, in part because the technology has improved.
“We now have the right pipes in place to allow us to get better value out of the media space for our clients,” Bunatyan said.
Meanwhile, advertisers and publishers alike are growing increasingly fed up with the so-called ‘technology tax’ imposed by the programmatic middlemen that sit between brands and audiences.
A recent Ebiquity study on behalf of the World Federation of Advertisers estimates for every $100 spent by the advertiser, only $40 finishes up in the titles selected to carry the message.
“In an ad funded world, we’re not receiving enough of the pie,” said Duncan Tickell, commercial director at publisher Immediate Media. “It’s a real challenge for us.”
Jacobs added that the Ebiquity figures show that there is a deep inefficiency at play, and that the answer is to “empower planners to shorten the line between the advertiser and the publisher
“The current way of doing things is very lucrative for some, but I think it’s coming to an end.”
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