Interviews, insight & analysis on digital media & marketing

A week in digital media: MediaLad (4)

Who’s MediaLad? In digital media, everyone pretends they know who he, or she, is.

We do. Or do we? What we do know is that MediaLad is NDA’s new regular columnist, providing his/her unique, irreverent view of the latestgossip and goings-on in the digital media industry.

Let’s talk about clients.

Clients, your agency, if you have one, is full of bright individuals. It’s your job to unlock those people and get the best out of the deals your agency has. So I’d suggest changingyour stupid habits.

Don’t question everything

If you don’t want to hear a lie, don’t ask the questions. Sometimes it’s best to take things at face value and ask for forgiveness later.

Your plan is comprised of research done by a child just out of nappies. Have a word afterwards if it really bothers you. Don’t embarrass everyone in the room.

Keep Going – Don’t Stop

It’s nice to have power to just pull budgets willy nilly, isn’t it? Agencies can do that too, you know. It’s called optimisation, in some parts. It’s “get your act together, media owner” in others.

Seriously though,you have to keep the faith on a campaign and shouldn’t just stop media working mid-flight. There’s a reason you bought into it in the first place and breaking the flow will just not give you much benefit.

SLAs

Your working media is your voice. If you’ve got SLAs with your agency, they might have been madeup, but please abide by them and connect the dots with other agencies or third parties where appropriate.

Nothing is more embarrassing than when you ask why a campaign hasn’t gone live for your launch campaign, when you haven’t got the video ready yet, let alone trafficked and pushed into the DSP.

Think about what time you need and give the right deadlines to all parties in the chain. That’s your job.

If you want something, say it upfront

Don’t be the guy that asks why something wasn’t included when you didn’t mention it in your brief. The brief is the time to say what you’re looking for. A guide, if you like, into your psyche.

If you’re going to tell us the number of avocados your audience eats, then tell us you’re mates with someone at Teads so we put them on plan.

Talent

We’ve all got some semblance of talent, some have more than others so please coach this out of your “team,” because let’s face it – that’s what your agency is. Your team.

If you get shit results, it’s an equal reflection in most part to what you’ve put in. The best results come from clients that are engaged and understand the process and the best agencies allow clients to see this and learn with them.

In essence, this isn’t an attack on clients, this is a cry for greater collaboration between parties at all levels of the food chain but clients want and need information as their lives are directly linked to revenue or sign ups.

Work together and lean on each other to grow. Insert metaphor here.