NEW YORK: The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and the 4A's (American Association of Advertising Agencies) are joining forces to take "decisive action" in response to growing concerns about media transparency.
Following a recent - and rather fiery - debate surrounding the alleged pervasiveness of US agencies receiving media rebates, the two bodies will form a taskforce to examine such issues and identify "pragmatic courses of action".
"We are genuinely pleased that the leaders of our industry recognise that transparency concerns - real and perceived - need to be addressed and mitigated," Bob Liodice, the ANA's president/ceo, said in a statement. (For more details on this and other pressing tasks facing the media sector, read Warc's report: ANA pinpoints challenges and opportunities of media evolution.)
"Media transactions have become increasingly complex and our priorities must include recommended practices that enhance the understanding of the transaction processes."
Scheduled to start work in early May and report its findings later in 2015, this expert panel will contain a mix of senior agency- and client-side executives.
The former group features Bill Koenigsberg, president/ceo of Horizon Media and 4A's board chairman, Laura Desmond, global ceo of Starcom MediaVest Group, Irwin Gotlieb, chairman of GroupM Worldwide, and Daryl Simm, chairman/ceo of Omnicom Media Group.
Representing brand owners are Tony Pace, cmo of Subway and ANA board chairman, Marc Pritchard, Procter & Gamble's chief brand officer and the ANA board vice chair, Luis Di Como, Unilever's svp/global media and Nadine Karp McHugh, svp/omnimedia, strategy investments and creative solutions at L'Oréal USA.
Nancy Hill, ceo of the 4A's, suggested that the work of these industry heavyweights would be essential in strengthening client-agency relationships going forwards.
"The taskforce has a very important focus - to ensure that the long-standing partnership between clients and agencies is grounded in trust and understanding," she said.
"The issues that we face can be solved and together we are committed to establishing a framework that will ensure that trusted partnership continues".
Following a recent - and rather fiery - debate surrounding the alleged pervasiveness of US agencies receiving media rebates, the two bodies will form a taskforce to examine such issues and identify "pragmatic courses of action".
"We are genuinely pleased that the leaders of our industry recognise that transparency concerns - real and perceived - need to be addressed and mitigated," Bob Liodice, the ANA's president/ceo, said in a statement. (For more details on this and other pressing tasks facing the media sector, read Warc's report: ANA pinpoints challenges and opportunities of media evolution.)
"Media transactions have become increasingly complex and our priorities must include recommended practices that enhance the understanding of the transaction processes."
Scheduled to start work in early May and report its findings later in 2015, this expert panel will contain a mix of senior agency- and client-side executives.
The former group features Bill Koenigsberg, president/ceo of Horizon Media and 4A's board chairman, Laura Desmond, global ceo of Starcom MediaVest Group, Irwin Gotlieb, chairman of GroupM Worldwide, and Daryl Simm, chairman/ceo of Omnicom Media Group.
Representing brand owners are Tony Pace, cmo of Subway and ANA board chairman, Marc Pritchard, Procter & Gamble's chief brand officer and the ANA board vice chair, Luis Di Como, Unilever's svp/global media and Nadine Karp McHugh, svp/omnimedia, strategy investments and creative solutions at L'Oréal USA.
Nancy Hill, ceo of the 4A's, suggested that the work of these industry heavyweights would be essential in strengthening client-agency relationships going forwards.
"The taskforce has a very important focus - to ensure that the long-standing partnership between clients and agencies is grounded in trust and understanding," she said.
"The issues that we face can be solved and together we are committed to establishing a framework that will ensure that trusted partnership continues".
Data sourced from ANA; additional content by Warc staff
