Are media agencies unable to be data businesses?

As data becomes an increasingly fundamental part of adland, its impact on media agencies is proving problematic – are they just not set up to be data businesses?

During a Mediatel and 4C breakfast debate, Media iQ’s Stewart Easterbrook suggested not, and argued that while agencies are good at many different things and have a wealth of expertise, managing and analysing an abundance of data is not necessarily one of them – and questions whether it even should be.

“The reason media agencies were founded wasn’t to be data management or data analytics businesses, and I think sometimes that’s been an activity that’s peripheral to the core activity of the agency,” he told Newsline after the debate – adding that clients face similar challenges as well.

Newsline wanted to find out whether Easterbrook, who spent five years at the helm of Starcom MediaVest Group UK, thinks there’s a solution to the problem – or if agencies should just stick to what they’re good at. Hear what he has to say in the video interview above.