Building Relationships With Advertising Agencies - 8.2 - P

Shaping the Future of the Newspaper
STRATEGY REPORT
ANALYSING STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES IN THE PRESS INDUSTRY
Volume 8 N2 JANUARY 2009 WAN
8.2
Building
Relationships
with
Advertising
Agencies
Advertising agencies and

newspapers are intertwined
and interdependent.
How can they build a mutually
beneficial relationship under
a yin-yang scenario?
www.futureofthenewspaper.com
All the strategy reports are available to WAN members and subscribers at the SFN Web site
Shaping
the Future
of the Newspaper
www.wan-press.org
A WORLD ASSOCIATION OF NEWSPAPERS PROJECT,
SUPPORTED BY WORLD LEADING BUSINESS PARTNERS
www.atex.com/
THE MEDIA INDUSTRYS LEADING PROVIDER
OF CONTENT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE AND SERVICES
www.man-roland.com/en/p0001/index.jsp
A LEADING COMPANY FOR NEWSPAPER PRODUCTION SYSTEMS
www.telenor.com/
THE LEADING NORWEGIAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS, IT AND MEDIA GROUP
www.norskeskog.com/
A WORLD LEADING PRODUCER OF NEWSPRINT AND MAGAZINE PAPER,
WITH 18 PAPER MILLS AROUND THE WORLD
WORLD ASSOCIATION OF NEWSPAPERS, 2009
VOLUME 8 REPORT N 2 BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH ADVERTISING AGENCIES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary
Introduction
The Advertising Agency and Buying Landscape
Media Agency: The Players
Media Scheduling: Reach and Frequency
Advertising Agencies
Advertising Expenditure
What Agencies Want from Newspapers
Starcom MediaVest Group
Dentsu
GroupM
Horizon Media
Davis Harrison Dion
ZenithOptimedia
Mediaedge:cia
Survey Overview
Media Buying Landscape
Newspaper Ad Revenue: Print vs. Online/Digital
Newspaper Ad Planning
Newspaper Ad Buying & Pricing Model
Satisfaction of Working with Newspaper Publishers
Newspaper Ad Evaluation
Cross-Media Ad Campaigns
What Newspapers Want from Agencies
New York Times Media Group
The Guardian
Cox Newspapers
AJC Media Solutions
Can You Sell to Agencies?
Principles of Selling to Agencies and Key Clients
The Agency-Client Relationship: When to Involve the Client
Guidelines for Direct Contact with Clients
Conclusion
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JANUARY 2009 SHAPING THE FUTURE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Executive Summary
The relationship between newspaper
companies and advertising agencies is
changing. Advertising budgets are shifting
away from newspapers and into digital media
in many parts of the world, as agencies change
their organisational structures, strategies and
objectives. Newspaper companies and
advertising agencies have had a yin-yang
relationship for as long as agencies have been
around, for more than 100 years. In Chinese
philosophy, the yin-yang concept is
characterised by two opposing forces that are
intertwined and interdependent.
What business is an advertising agency in? In
the advertising creation and placement
business. What business is the media in? The
advertising delivery business, according to
Media Selling: Broadcast, Cable, Print and
Interactive, by Charles Warner and Joseph
Buchman.
The interdependency of these roles in the sale
and distribution of advertising sometimes
creates friction, differences of opinion and
even inspires newspapers and agencies to
jockey for a dominant position.
Sometimes it feels like two warring parties are

getting together, says one print-buying advertising
agency executive interviewed for this report.
Among the thousands of newspapers
worldwide, each one depends on agencies for a
certain percentage of advertising revenues. In
the United Kingdom, national newspapers
receive about 80 percent of their non-classified
advertising revenues from ad agency clients,
while regional newspapers receive just 20
percent. In the United States, national
newspapers each receive about 90 percent of
their non-classified ad revenue from agencies,
while local newspapers receive roughly 10
percent. The remaining advertising revenue is
earned from in-house sales departments and
selling advertising to local clients.
This Shaping the Future of the Newspaper
report, Building Relationships with Advertising
Agencies, goes to the heart of matter, to help
publishers and ad agencies understand one
another's needs better, and ultimately, to build
better relationships for the future. The reports
main objective is to maximise newspapers
revenue-making potential with agencies.
5
Finally, the report analyses the current and

future relationship improvements, factoring in
recommendations and the impact of the seismic
changes going on in media and agencies today.
The interviews with media-buying agency
executives in New York, London, Paris, Tokyo,
Zurich, New Delhi and beyond provide
inspiration to improve relations between
agencies and newspapers. Some of the
observations of the agency executives include:
Buying newspaper advertising is complicated.

You cant do one-stop shopping (across
newspapers).
There are too many rate cards.
Invoices are frequently wrong. Contract rates
are not always in the newspapers computer
systems.
Sales reps arent always informed about rate
card prices or why prices have inexplicably
risen.
Newspaper advertising prices havent caught
up with declining circulations.
Sales reps dont understand our clients
needs.
Cross-platform audience information is good,
but Im not sure how well use it.
Newspaper usage data must be about now,
not six months old.
There are a lot of choices out there for media
planners. Newspapers need to become more
competitive with new pricing and new offers of
value.
Editorial rules the roost in decision making
about whether innovative ads will run or not.
Its hard to guarantee a position on a page.
Invoices are frequently wrong, and it takes a
long time to clear up the problem.
Similarly, several newspaper advertising

executives were interviewed about their business
relationships with agencies. If newspapers could
change how they work with agencies, they
6
would improve a variety of factors, including:
Some agencies collaborate with us. Others

are just bullies.
Some agencies are hard to deal with. They
are only interested in price.
Trading has become more of a negotiation
which is more commoditised a trading
environment and not sales.
Agencies dont trade on value. Thats just
gone, gone, gone. If we could trade on the true
value of our brands, it would be a better
scenario.
Agencies ultimately need to discover a
business model that worksagencies are
terrified, they are doing more and more for
less and less.
We want more transparency about the client
and its campaign objectives, and also about
campaign performance so we can learn for the
next campaign.
We want agency and publisher to act on
behalf of the customer.
We want to get into the campaign during the
request for proposal (RFP) process.
We should make advertisers and agencies
aware of our value.
Based on the experiences working with
agencies, they primarily think we are a
newspaper. What we are doing is to build an
understanding with them that we are much
more than that.
The report chronicles numerous interviews with

media buyers and planners and advertising
agency executives about relationships with
newspapers, and enumerates suggestions to
publishers about practices, interactions and rate
structures. The report also details interviews
with publishers about their business
relationships with agencies, and their efforts to
improve their relationship through better
communication, more transparency, fewer rate
cards and more efficiencies in processes of
buying newspaper advertising space.
The report provides analysis and conclusions

focused on improving the business relationship
between newspapers and advertising, including:
Improving transparency in decision-making
and business practices among agencies and
newspapers.
Streamlining processes on both sides,
including fewer rate cards, electronic billing
and payment, and one-stop shopping on the
national level.
Allowing newspapers to be more influential in
the media buying process, at an earlier stage.
A better flow of information about
newspapers value propositions.
A better and more scientific accountability to
agencies about newspapers reach, frequency
and advertising campaign success.
A mutual understanding of advertising client
needs for each campaign.
An expanded sense of newspapers as brands,
with reach and frequency capabilities across
their print and digital channels, rather than just
circulation alone.
Introduction
By Robert Ray, marketing director,
the Newspaper Society, United Kingdom
In my agency life, I have been lucky enough to

have worked with some of the worlds biggest
companies and brands, which has naturally
meant being at the sharper end of getting the
very best out of media owner relationships,
and well beyond simply getting a deal. In the
past four years working with the Newspaper
Society, I have spent a great deal of time with
agencies to help them better leverage the
strength of local media across the United
Kingdom.
So, in providing some personal thoughts for
this piece, I can call upon both past and
present experience from an agency and media
owner perspective.
Why bother building a relationship with an
agency?
In an era when many deals between media
owners with agencies are annualised and much
media is traded as a commodity, surely its
about setting up the deal, rather than managing

this across the year, isn't it?
No. We need to go back a little in history to
see why agency relationships are critical to
maximise share, volume and importantly
stimulate and drive cross-platform initiatives.
Heres a little history to set the context.
I started at my first advertising agency in the
1980s. I was a fresh-faced, 21-year-old thrown
into the hustle and bustle of a major ad agency.
The relative glamour of checking voucher
copies to see if our clients ads (all black and
white in those days, of course) had appeared
on the right day and in the right position was a
step up from my previous career training as
an accountant. My first agency job was in the
press buying department, which also served as
my first experience in building relationships
with media owners.
In the same press buying department, there
were also several elder statesmen of the
business. What is fascinating is that they had
been through times of very limited media
7
availability and an effective rationing of media

space. Just after World War II, paper was
rationed, which led to severe restrictions in
advertising space. This was before commercial
radio and television existed in the United
Kingdom, and a good generation away from
anything resembling the Internet not a bad
time to be in newspaper advertising, I suspect.
The relationship-building in these times was
perhaps the reverse of where we are today, and
those times of media space scarcity must have
been interesting indeed.
To my earlier point: Why bother building a

relationship with an agency?
The UK national press groups have long

since moved from their former addresses on
London's Fleet Street, still synonymous with
the country's press, where the elder
statesmen I first worked with began
practising their trade. Even when I first
started at the agency, many of our national
press deals were still conducted over a
liquid-based lunch at one (or sometimes
more) of Fleet Streets pubs or drinking dens,
including Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, The
Bell, Vagabonds and The City Golf Club.
More volume
Increased share
Access to more clients/brands
Earlier information on potential/forthcoming
campaigns
Better scope for cross-platform deals
Access to more people in the agency (not just
buyers)
. all leading to more volume, more share
So, after the war and during a period of

scarce print supply, little other media
competition and increasing advertiser
demand, the relationship building with
agencies seems to have consisted of media
buyers forming an orderly queue outside
such Fleet Street pubs to buy newspaper
sales reps drinks in the hope of then securing
what limited space was available in their
newspapers presumably at rate-card cost!
Most business was, of course, conducted in
the morning before the alcohol-fuelled
afternoon gave way to the commute home.
There are many more tales I heard about those
good old days, although most arent fit for
publication! Yet, in an era of restricted supply
and huge demand, there was more of an onus
upon the agency for building a relationship
with the media owner, rather than vice versa.
Times have clearly (and thankfully for the
livers of many media sales folk) moved on.
The explosion and fragmentation of media
channels is more than well documented. And
for agencies, this has its own set of
challenges creating the most compelling
offering in a very well supplied marketplace,
creating the most appropriate structures,
retaining and building business (as seemingly
lower terms of business) and so on.
8
In answering this, I have three key points:

1. The benefits of building a relationship
with an agency
2. Getting better receptivity to your pitch
3. Things to avoid (like the Plague)
1. The benefits of building a

relationship with an agency
I won't elaborate on these, as they're pretty

obvious, but I will give you a left field view.
When I was on the agency side, we would
often be asked about our relationships with
media owners what deals could we get, how
could we improve a client's existing deals,
what extra added value could we achieve, and
so on. In other words, what were the benefits
of the relationships we had with media owners?
Yes, we could do all of the above, and more.
However, in many instances the biggest pointscorer wasnt simply what we could get them
(clients) in to, but what we could get them out
of. Favours. Relationships dont guarantee
everything, but what they most certainly do is
help get you out of a less than desirable
situation.
A client has a late copy problem
A client has an issue with budgets
A client needs to shift campaign periods
Etc. etc. etc.
The strength of a media owner relationship,
and not simply our volume or clout, would sort
these. How many favours do you need? It
might sound intangible, but it does matter and
it makes a difference.
So how about gaining better receptivity to your
pitch?
All of us pitch for business. Either for major
contracts or for smaller everyday deals. Do
relationships with agencies help this process?
2. Getting better receptivity

to your pitch
Some of you have annual deals with agencies,
while others trade on more of an ad hoc basis.
Some of you sell print only, while some sell
cross-platform campaigns. Theres not a onesize-fits-all answer to getting better receptivity
to your sales pitch, but I can offer some
constructive advice.
Most major advertisers are involved in
anywhere between five to 15 or more pitches
per year, across everything from media to
creative to point-of-sale. Most major media
agencies are involved in a similar number of
pitches every year, and are exposed to
hundreds of pitches from media owners each
year.
In various consultancy projects, I have spoken
to agencies regarding their exposure to such
media owner pitches.
Here are the three guiding principles for
success (beyond the obvious, such as getting
your pricing right for your market):
A. Make your pitch relevant. Avoid off-theshelf. Ensure your proposal adds significant
value to the communications strategy of the
brand you are pitching for.
Of course, if you (or your team) had a good
working relationship with the agency you
wouldnt be pitching blind and would be well
informed to deliver against the above three
pointers.
And, surprise, surprise, getting the people right
is critical. Two quotes typify the response to
bad pitches:
Have a clear brand and business focus:

Listen to what they need. Sales folk have a
tendency to sell or talk at, whereas
agencies and advertisers prefer media owners
who listen to the requirements of the brief and
then respond accordingly. More specifically,
agencies respond more to those media owners
who not only listen, but then respond
effectively to the brand and campaign
requirements.
(media owners) need to think more about
the questions we have on our brands.
understand the agenda of who youre
pitching to.
too many just give information (and sell)
when a meeting should be a discussion.
B. The first step is all about listening.
Turn a presentation at them into a
discussion with them.
Have the right people on the business:
Chemistry. It's not a trip to the science
laboratory, but simply about getting along with
agencies is important. This again may seem
obvious, but the next time you (or your senior
manager) gets a call from a top person at an
agency saying were not getting on with X
or I think we should get Y moved off the
business, take it seriously. You should
question why the situation has risen to a level
necessitating the agency chief calling you to
suggest a change in your representation of the
agency. Although the natural inclination (mine
too) is to ignore the agency's view and
continue to force your person upon them, my
own view is to change representation as soon
as possible!
the terrible pitches from media owners

often come down to the individuals.
agencies buy good people.
we once had a dire pitch from X (a major

publisher)and afterwards the sales director
apologised and said shed not seen the
presentation before.
casting the wrong people is a nightmare.
There are many factors that make for a

winning pitch to an agency. Work I have
carried out suggests three very clear pointers
for success. Once again, these may or may not
seem obvious, but from a large quantitative
study I ran for a major UK project they were
unanimous amongst the sample. What I have
also added are a number of quotes that sum up
sentiments agencies have about media owner
pitches.
absolutely bloody vital.and passion.

C. The second step is totally about chemistry.
Do take time to think about having the right
people on a particular agencys business and
dont shy away from changing the current
formula if you receive negative feedback from
an agency. It does remain a people business.
Make the presentation or pitch totally
relevant: Less is more. This is a very well
worn clich, yet everyone reading this must
have been on the receiving end of a
presentation where there is simply too much
content, or too much unnecessary spiel.
9
Every year, we run various industry awards.

One of the awards we run is for the best crossplatform sales pitch, which is one that has
truly leveraged the various channels of local
media (from newspapers to Internet, events,
mobile, etc.). We receive some fantastic
entries. We also receive entries that could be
fantastic but are so cluttered with unnecessary
information, background and detail that it
detracts from the great idea.
I dont need 100 chartsdont even need
Powerpoint whats important is whats in it
for me and my brands.
The third point is to keep quality over quantity
in mind. Agencies (and advertisers) are
stretched for time, and far more responsive if
media owners waste less time and provide a
relevant, results-driven response to a brief.
The best pitches, those which will not only
receive a great reception but will also lead to
increased business, tie in with the three key
points I have observed above.
3. Things to avoid (like the Plague)

Thankfully, the Great Plague of 1665 was, in
London at least, quashed by the Great Fire of
London in 1666. The post-war press buyers I
mentioned at the beginning of this piece plied
their trade not too far from Pudding Lane
where the Great Fire started. As I mentioned at
the outset, the relationship with agencies has
moved on significantly. The best relationships
today are true partnerships where the media
owner works with the agency to deliver the
most compelling communications solutions for
the agencys clients.
This isnt to suggest that trading disputes dont
and shouldnt arise. They do, and of course
they should!
But the media owners and agencies I know or
work with would wholly endorse a partnership
approach as the most fruitful way of developing
an agency/media owner relationship. And
listening, having the right people, and tailoring
a response to briefs are the top three ways to
win more business with your relationship.
Things to avoid are, quite simply, those factors
that work against these top three factors: being
bog-standard and boring, not listening and
failing to address the core business issue or
communications task.
10
Failing is simply about failing to address what

I call The Big Three: Listening, Chemistry and
Relevance.
If you can focus more on these as they relate to
a specific agency and that agencys specific
business, then youll stand a much greater
chance of developing a stronger relationship,
and from that, increasing your volume/share
and increasing business across your multitude
of platform offerings.
I hope this provides a helpful personal
perspective on how to build better agency
relationships. These are challenging times and
I am convinced that stronger agency
relationships will yield better business results
going forward.
Robert Ray is the marketing director for the

UK-based Newspaper Society, a trade body
with a member portfolio including 1,300 local
newspapers, 1,100 Web sites, more than 750
local magazines and supplements, 36 radio
stations and two TV stations. Prior to his work
with the NS, Ray spent most of his career
working in agencies, from a trainee level
through managing director level in agency
networks across Europe, the Middle East and
Asia, as well as running a specialist media
consultancy firm working with both agencies
and media owners in the United Kingdom and
across Europe. Ray has worked with some of
the worlds biggest companies and brands,
such as Procter & Gamble, Unilever,
Anheuser-Busch and Barclays.
1. The Advertising Agency

and Buying Landscape
Of the tens of thousands of advertising
agencies in the world, many are part of global
agency conglomerates with offices in the
worlds major cities. Most mass media,
including newspapers, depend on agencies for
some or most of their retail advertising
revenues.
In the United Kingdom, for example, national
newspapers receive about 80 percent of their
non-classified advertising revenues from ad
agency clients, while regional titles receive just
20 percent. In the United States, the model is
similar. The four national dailies, USA Today,
The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times
and The Washington Post, each receive about
90 percent of their non-classified ad revenue
from agencies, while local newspapers receive
roughly 10 percent. The remaining advertising
revenue is earned from in-house sales
departments, which sell advertising to local
clients.
The pattern of national and regional
newspapers reliance upon advertising agency
revenue is found on every continent, and most
major countries.
The relationship between newspapers

andadvertising agencies has a significant
impacton the volume and value of the
advertisingtrading relationship.
Understanding the wayagency workers make
media planning andbuying decisions is
essential newspaper representatives who
work with agencies.
There are four basic categories of advertising
agencies: Media-buying, creative, full service
and specialty. For the purposes of this report,
we are referring to relationships with
agencies with media-buying functions.
Newspaper sales people who liaise with
media agencies explain the newspapers
value proposition, including its ability to
reach targetgroups, its strengths compared
with othermedia, and about its overall reach
andfrequency with print and digital
assets.Understanding the players and
processes of media decision making equips
the newspaper representative with the
ammunition to be more effective sales
people. Here is an example of a typical
media agency structure:
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Media agency: The players

Managing Director/CEO: Main
responsibilities are to lead the organisation to
profitability and effective use of human and
business resources.
Group Manager: Key role is to manage a
group of clients and is responsible for
managing the media departments staff and
time on group accounts.
Strategic Planner: Responsible for planning
media for clients, including whom to target,
which media, and when, according to the
clients marketing objectives, as outlined in the
clients brief.
Research Analyst: Provides data and
materials to planners and buyers to enable
sound media buying decisions.
Investment Manager: Responsible for
optimising rate negotiations and buying with
all media placed by buyers.
Buyer: Negotiates and implements buys for
all media.
Media Assistant: Administrative support to
agency departments.
A typical campaign process between advertiser
and agency:
1. Client Briefing: The client provides a brief
about the product or service to be advertised,
and detailed expectations for the campaign
2. Strategic Planning: The process of
evaluating the appropriate mix of media
platforms and estimated campaign costs
3. Implementation Planning: Identifies the
best ways to develop the campaign
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4. Media Buying and Negotiating: To

negotiate rates and book space in print and
airtime in broadcast
5. Post Monitoring: Evaluating the
performance of the campaign against
expectations
6. Invoicing: Billing all booked media
Advertising clients may state any number of
objectives for their prospective campaigns, in a
briefing to the agency, including:
Increasing awareness through a trial offer
Maintaining its current position and reinforcing
Introducing a new brand, repositioning a
current brand or relaunching a declining brand
Preventing erosion by a competitor
Improving image or reputation
Changing attitudes
Supporting sales forces and franchises
Eliciting a direct response with a coupon or
write-in offer
The briefing serves as a foundation for the
media planning process. The media strategist
builds the framework for the campaign,
including choosing media that will achieve
the advertisers objectives. If the advertiser
wants to reposition a car from a middle-aged,
female profile to a young target audience,
then the strategist will find media in print,
broadcast and Internet that reach young
audiences in the way that achieves the reach
and frequency, demographic, geographic,
campaign timeframe and cost parameters.
The media planner will scour research
resources in order to execute the strategists
Comparative Strengths and Weaknesses of Media

Media
Television
Strength
Builds high reach quickly
Able to target all demographic groups
Geographically selective
Impact through sight, sound and movement
Intrusive (in the home)
Call to action with direct response
Highly researched
Radio
Builds frequency quickly

Easier to book a campain at short notice
More accountable radio surveys
Target specific demographics/psychographics
Personal medium
More negotiation flexibility with added value
Lower production costs
Credible environment (talkback)
Creatively flexible
National coverage with one insertion
Provides details
Target specific group e.g. 4wd enthusiasts
High use by women
Most are a paid for
Higher level of involvement
Editorial compatibility
Creative opportunities e.g. gatefolds, pop-ups
Highly researched
Longevity of advertising
High quality production
Quality image association
More detail
For major metros and regionals, paid for
Tailored environments
More accountable highly researched
Production costs are generally low
Book at short notice
Offers colour to create impact
Credible environment
Negotiable on editorial
Can accommodate coupons/direct response
Magazines
Newspapers
Source: Media Federation of Australia, industry research
plan. The planner will focus on the consumer

and their media habits in order to make
informed decisions about media selection.
Among the choices of media are newspapers,
television, radio, magazines, cinema and
outdoor, out of home/ambient environments,
direct mail, email, mobile phones, the Internet,
blogs, video games, CDRoms, merchandise,
music, etc. In addition to using research,
planners consider the strengths and
weaknesses of each medium and dovetail the
characteristics of the media with the objectives
of the campaign.
Weakness
High production cost
High capital media cost
Difficult to obtain specific programmes short term
Channel surfing
In the case of Free to Air TV, not a paid for medium
High level of ad clutter
Cant measure out of home viewing for major events
Programmes can be recorded
Not paid for
Channel surfing
Expensive for national coverage
More expensive for a broad target group
Limited creative flexibility (reliant on sound only)
Lower reach
Reception can be low quality
Longer lead time particularly for monthly magazines

More difficult to book by regions
High level of clutter
Slow to build reach
Passive
Lacks urgency
Short lifespan
No readership figures for specific sections
Except for business skewed papers,
requires a high number to provide national coverage
More difficult to reach younger audiences
Ads can get lost in editorial
Colour reproduction quality
World Association of Newspapers 2008-2009
Media Scheduling: Reach

and Frequency
Using the variety of media research tools
available to them, media planners consider the
amount of reach and frequency that is required
by the campaign, and then schedule media
flights to achieve the objectives. A mix of
media is often selected to run over a variety of
intervals to extend the campaign over time.
Before proceeding to the implementation
planning phase, the media agency presents the
plan and proposed media schedule to the client
13
for approval on the target audience, media

channels, reach and frequency, flighting,
geographic targets and costs. After approval,
the buying team goes to work on buying
media, according to the schedule. First, buyers
research the options available across media on
the schedule, including TV ratings, print rate
cards, special print sections or major events
and holiday periods that may influence media
consumption patterns. After determining key
objectives, the buying team books the media
with media outlets, and seeks ways to save
money for the advertiser. For example, the
buyer may work with the newspaper

representative to get a discount for volume, or
to get elevated prominence for the campaign.
The newspaper titles are usually selected at the
implementation planning stage, so the buyer
refines that selection based on further research
into target audience, cost and the like. The
buyer is responsible for reaching campaign
objectives and not to exceed the set budget.
Buyers will refer to rate cards, which are often
found on newspaper Web sites, or are
aggregated on such services as the Standard Rate
and Data Service (SRDS) in the United States.
Top Global Advertising Agencies

Rank
2007
2006
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1
2
3
4
6
5
7
8
9
10
Agency [Parent]
Headquarters
Dentsu
BBDO Worldwide* [Omnicom]
McCann Erickson Worldwide* [Interpublic]
DDB Worldwide* [Omnicom]
TBWA Worldwide* [Omnicom]
JWT* [WPP]
Publicis [Publicis]
Hakuhodo [Hakuhodo DY Holdings]
Y&R* [WPP]
Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide* [WPP]
Tokyo
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York/Paris
Tokyo
New York
New York
Source: Advertising Age DataCenter, 2008
Worldwide revenue
2007
2006
% change
(US$ millions)
2,171
2,185
-0.6
1,742
1,540
13.2
1,619
1,479
9.5
1,432
1,264
13.3
1,292
1,135
13.8
1,237
1,140
8.5
1,004
974
3.0
943
886
6.4
907
820
10.6
812
770
5.5
Top 10 U.S. Advertisers in Newspapers, Internet

Rank
Advertiser
Newspaper
1
Verizon Communications
2
Macy's
3
Sprint Nextel Corp.
4
AT&T
5
Time Warner
6
Fry's Electronics
7
Procter & Gamble Co.
8
Sears Holdings Corp.
9
General Electric Co.
10
Walt Disney Co.
Internet (Display)
1
IAC/InterActiveCorp
2
General Motors Corp.
3
Experian Group
4
Apollo Group
5
Verizon Communications
6
E-Trade Group
7
Ford Motor Co.
8
FMR Corp. (Fidelity Investments)
9
Scottrade
10
Microsoft Corp.
Source: Advertising Age, 2008; TNS Media Intelligence
14
Measured ad spending in medium

2007
2006
% change
(US$ millions)
Total U.S.
spending 07
(US$ millions)
Medium as
% of total
686.7
609.7
460.6
328.3
311.6
229.3
213.7
200.7
200.7
185.2
686.9
715.3
495.7
483.5
298.4
215.1
207.6
233.1
215.1
185.0
-0.0
-14.8
-7.1
-32.1
4.4
6.6
3.0
-13.9
-6.7
0.2
3,016.1
1,389.7
1,903.2
3,207.3
2,962.1
312.1
5,230.1
1,627.8
1,791.3
2,293.3
22.8
43.9
24.2
10.2
10.5
73.5
4.1
12.3
11.2
8.1
314.4
212.0
193.1
192.4
189.1
186.9
163.5
142.8
142.5
142.2
123.0
118.2
129.4
123.5
111.4
106.9
99.1
97.4
105.0
82.0
155.6
79.4
49.3
55.8
69.7
74.8
65.0
46.6
35.8
73.4
806.1
3,010.1
330.9
262.2
3,016.1
300.7
2,525.2
499.0
204.4
959.5
39.0
7.0
58.4
73.4
6.3
62.2
6.5
28.6
69.7
14.8
Advertising Agencies
The top 100 advertising agencies worldwide
control the majority of the advertising spend
around the globe. Most agencies are structured
to focus on just one task, either buying or
creative. Most are also still silo-based in

their organisational structure, that is, the
agencys departments centre on one media, and
most individual departments do not
collaborate. This decades-old practice is
starting to change in the top media buying
Top 10 World and U.S. Media Agencies

Rank
2007 2006
Agency company [media unit]
By parent company, worldwide

1
1
WPP Group [Group M]
2
2
Omnicom Group [Omnicom Media Group]
3
3
Publicis Groupe [Publicis Groupe Media]
4
4
Aegis Group [Aegis Media]
5
5
Interpublic Group of Cos.
6
6
Havas [Havas Media]
Rank
2007 2006
Media agency [parent]
Worldwide
1
1
OMD Worldwide [Omnicom]
2
2
Starcom MediaVest Group [Publicis]
3
3
MindShare Worldwide [WPP]
4
4
ZenithOptimedia [Publicis]
5
5
Carat [Aegis Group]
6
6
Mediaedge:cia [WPP]
7
7
MediaCom [WPP]
8
8
Universal McCann [Interpublic]
9
9
MPG [Havas]
10
10
Initiative [Interpublic]
U.S.
1
2
2
1
3
3
Starcom USA [Publicis]
4
4
Mediaedge:cia [WPP]
5
5
Zenith Media USA [Publicis]
6
6
Icon International [Omnicom]
6
6
MediaVest USA [Publicis]
8
8
MediaCom [WPP]
9
10
Novus Print Media Network [Omnicom]
10
11
PHD [Omnicom]
11
9
12
12
Carat [Aegis Group]
13
13
MPG [Havas]
14
14
15
15
Optimedia International U.S. [Publicis]
Outside the U.S.
1
1
2
2
Carat [Aegis Group]
3
3
4
4
MediaCom [WPP]
5
6
Mediaedge:cia [WPP]
6
5
ZenithOptimedia [Publicis]
7
8
Starcom MediaVest Group [Publicis]
8
7
MPG [Havas]
9
9
10
10
Source: Advertising Age DataCenter, 2008
Headquarters
London
New York
Paris
London
New York
Suresnes, France
Headquarters
Worldwide revenue
2007
2006 % change
(US$ millions)
$2,070
1,759
1,590
1,348
780
518
$1,816
1,571
1,416
1,091
705
401
14.0
12.0
12.3
23.6
10.6
29.3
Worldwide revenue
2007
2006 % change
(US$ millions)
New York
Chicago
London/New York
New York
London/New York, N.Y.
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
$859
814
734
681
674
641
592
410
379
276
$790
708
687
614
NA
539
535
355
357
255
8.7
15.1
6.8
10.9
NA
19.0
10.7
15.5
6.2
8.2
New York
New York
Chicago
New York
New York
Stamford, Conn.
New York
New York
Plymouth, Minn.
New York
New York
London/New York
New York
New York
New York
$302
299
259
243
215
200
200
175
150
141
140
118
91
80
57
$278
290
228
197
189
NA
167
162
NA
113
130
NA
80
70
53
8.9
3.0
13.6
23.5
14.1
NA
19.7
8.3
NA
25.0
7.7
NA
13.3
14.3
7.1
New York
London/New York
London/New York
New York
New York
New York
Chicago
New York
New York
New York
$560
556
432
417
398
379
308
288
270
196
$500
NA
410
373
342
353
275
277
225
185
12.0
NA
5.4
11.7
16.4
7.4
12.2
4.1
20.0
5.9
15
Top 100 Global Advertisers in U.S., by Medium

Rank
Radio
Internet
Outdoor
Newspaper
Magazines
Measured
media
(US$ millions)
% change
Estimated
unmeasured
(US$ millions)
Procter & Gamble Co.
Cincinnati
5,230.1 4,883.7 7.1 1,529.8 3,700.3 964.1 213.7
AT&T
San Antonio
3,207.3 3,344.5 -4.1
962.2 2,245.1
59.4 328.3 108.6 1,356.4 256.9 135.5
Verizon Communications New York
3,016.1 2,791.9 8.0
871.7 2,144.5
92.3 686.7
General Motors Corp.
Detroit
3,010.1 3,296.1 -8.7
948.2 2,061.9 373.6 149.9
Time Warner
New York
2,962.1 3,073.7 -3.6 1,224.6 1,737.6 280.6 311.6
54.3
908.4
84.2
Ford Motor Co.
Dearborn, Mich.
2,525.2 2,576.6 -2.0
872.0 1,653.2 300.4 131.5
18.2
982.1
57.5 163.5
GlaxoSmithKline
Brentford, Middlesex, U.K. 2,456.9 2,504.0 -1.9 1,269.9 1,187.0 387.1
13.0
0.9
742.4
14.2
29.4
Johnson & Johnson
New Brunswick, N.J.
2,408.8 2,401.4 0.3
987.6 1,421.2 402.1
50.9
4.8
879.4
34.8
49.2
Walt Disney Co.
Burbank, Calif.
2,293.3 2,300.5 -0.3
905.8 1,387.4 207.7 185.2
48.0
10
10 Unilever
London/Rotterdam
2,245.8 2,099.5 7.0 1,335.5
31.6
0.4
543.7
9.5
46.6
11
15 Sprint Nextel Corp.
Reston, Va.
1,903.2 1,775.9 7.2
590.0 1,313.2
46.4 460.6
60.5
575.4
99.1
71.2
12
12 General Electric Co.
Fairfield, Conn.
1,791.3 1,916.8 -6.6
734.4 1,056.8 124.9 200.7
28.5
482.8 141.2
78.9
13
14 Toyota Motor Corp.
Toyota City, Japan
1,757.9 1,850.3 -5.0
685.6 1,072.3 186.1
34.8
23.2
752.0
18.9
57.3
14
13 Chrysler
Auburn Hills, Mich.
1,739.4 1,886.4 -7.8
591.4 1,148.0 182.6 120.8
8.1
750.6
33.1
52.8
15
11 Sony Corp.
Tokyo
1,736.8 2,001.3-13.2
764.2
972.6 140.7 127.8
20.0
570.9
41.7
71.5
16
17 L'Oreal
Clichy, France
1,632.3 1,458.0 12.0
850.1
782.3 324.4
34.4
0.8
407.9
2.7
12.0
17
16 Sears Holdings Corp.
Hoffman Estates, Ill.
1,627.8 1,650.8 -1.4
867.1
760.6
62.5 200.7
1.1
437.3
35.6
23.4
18
18 Kraft Foods
Northfield, Ill.
1,508.0 1,426.7 5.7
425.5 1,082.5 499.8
55.6
0.9
476.8
13.1
36.3
19
31 Bank of America Corp.
Charlotte, N.C.
1,491.3 1,140.6 30.7 1,088.6
402.6
22.3 116.0
8.0
131.2
53.6
71.6
20
19 Nissan Motor Co.
Tokyo
1,422.9 1,407.4 1.1
469.6
953.3 193.2
38.8
16.3
653.0
18.0
34.0
21
21 Macy's
Cincinnati
1,389.7 1,362.9 2.0
372.0 1,017.7
87.3 609.7
2.2
236.0
71.3
11.1
22
24 Anheuser-Busch Cos.
St. Louis
1,354.1 1,279.1 5.9
879.4
474.6
38.2
11.1
36.8
341.3
36.9
10.2
23
22 Honda Motor Co.
Tokyo
1,326.5 1,351.2 -1.8
477.5
849.0 196.1
56.8
5.5
548.5
13.2
28.8
24
41 Viacom
New York
1,309.9 1,010.5 29.6
500.6
809.3
79.1 104.6
25.1
491.8
46.7
62.1
25
27 Berkshire Hathaway
Omaha, Neb.
1,308.3 1,194.3 9.5
536.4
771.9 102.1
29.5
23.3
444.9 146.3
25.9
26
23 PepsiCo
Purchase, N.Y.
1,308.3 1,323.8 -1.2
418.7
889.7 174.9
23.7
13.8
612.3
36.9
28.1
27
25 Nestle
Vevey, Switzerland
1,260.3 1,255.8 0.4
567.1
693.1 159.0
50.3
2.9
429.6
25.4
25.9
28
42 Pfizer
New York
1,252.9 1,006.5 24.5
501.2
751.7 225.2
33.3
1.2
456.6
11.3
24.2
29
20 News Corp.
New York
1,210.4 1,400.4-13.6
363.1
847.3
78.2 168.1
20.1
30
29 Target Corp.
Minneapolis
1,186.2 1,161.4 2.1
455.6
730.7 107.9 159.6
8.9
371.7
15.1
67.4
31
28 J.C. Penney Co.
Plano, Texas
1,161.8 1,162.7 -0.1
686.4
475.4
71.4 159.7
0.3
186.1
36.1
21.8
32
34 McDonald's Corp.
Oak Brook, Ill.
1,150.1 1,083.9 6.1
341.3
808.7
51.3
4.5
45.7
601.6
78.5
27.2
33
26 Citigroup
New York
1,135.3 1,224.1 -7.3
684.4
450.9 157.7
52.4
5.7
207.0
8.1
19.9
34
32 U.S. Government
Washington
1,121.9 1,133.4 -1.0
471.2
650.7 126.6
29.7
8.5
378.4
49.3
58.2
35
33 Home Depot
Atlanta
1,119.6 1,119.6 0.0
542.9
576.7
64.0
97.2
1.8
282.9 117.3
13.5
36
35 Wal-Mart Stores
Bentonville, Ark.
1,102.5 1,073.7 2.7
549.8
552.7 114.3
31.9
1.2
304.9
56.8
43.6
37
48 Schering-Plough Corp.
Kenilworth, N.J.
1,092.0
883.6 23.6
589.7
502.3
54.4
6.0
0.0
426.7
6.1
9.1
38
37 Wyeth
Madison, N.J.
1,078.3 1,051.3 2.6
643.2
435.1
94.7
9.1
0.4
296.4
19.8
14.7
39
30 JPMorgan Chase & Co.
New York
1,073.9 1,156.5 -7.1
700.8
373.1
6.1
93.0
15.7
201.8
21.9
34.7
40
46 American Express Co.
New York
1,050.0
929.3 13.0
526.2
523.8 103.8
56.9
7.8
243.6
41
38 Yum Brands
Louisville, Ky.
1,004.4 1,039.9 -3.4
266.2
738.2
4.0
3.4
5.5
680.7
42
47 Microsoft Corp.
Redmond, Wash.
959.5
913.7 5.0
516.0
443.5 165.8
25.9
12.0
92.0
5.6 142.2
43
39 Estee Lauder Cos.
New York
956.1 1,031.4 -7.3
792.9
163.2 131.6
1.1
1.5
24.7
2.4
44
45 General Mills
Minneapolis
955.2
937.2 1.9
286.0
669.2
90.0
95.8
0.1
470.8
2.6
9.9
45
56 Kellogg Co.
Battle Creek, Mich.
871.5
765.2 13.9
309.3
562.2 142.1
9.4
3.2
384.7
1.2
21.5
46
59 Bayer
Leverkusen, Germany
860.8
683.4 26.0
387.4
473.5 102.5
16.1
0.9
330.6
18.0
5.3
47
43 Dell
Round Rock, Texas
843.4
984.0-14.3
295.2
548.2 187.5 124.2
0.9
129.5
48
55 Kohl's Corp.
Menomonee Falls, Wis.
836.7
766.0 9.2
397.2
439.5
31.6 148.4
0.4
218.1
34.2
6.9
49
52 Deutsche Telekom
Bonn, Germany
831.3
815.2 2.0
224.4
606.8
3.2 152.3
8.3
393.9
17.2
32.1
50
54 IAC/InterActiveCorp
New York
806.1
792.4 1.7
313.8
492.3
3.7
1.4
133.9
19.5 314.4
910.3 278.4
19.5
TV
2006
2007
Advertiser
80.6
2006
26.0
Source: Advertising Age DataCenter, 2008; TNS Media Intelligence's Strategy
16
U.S. measured media breakout

for 2007 (US$ millions)
2007
Headquarters
Total U.S.
ad spending
(US$ millions)
1.8 2,414.2
63.7
906.8 205.9 189.1
45.2 1,176.8 104.4 212.0

98.4
664.5 140.6 141.4
334.0 120.9 126.0
7.8 103.8
37.2
7.4
1.9
3.1 103.0
Top 100 Global Advertisers in U.S., by Medium

Rank
U.S. measured media breakout

for 2007 (US$ millions)
Internet
Radio
TV
6.8
1.0 201.4
0.2
7.8
86.7
0.1 116.1
2.1
87.5
12.1 27.4 255.4 26.3
30.1
New York
796.3
690.6 15.3 420.8 375.5 158.3
52
51 Hewlett-Packard Co.
Palo Alto, Calif.
786.6
828.9
53
57 Coca-Cola Co.
Atlanta
776.8
755.1
2.9 365.7 411.1
59.8
54
70 Eli Lilly & Co.
Indianapolis
774.2
511.1 51.5 425.8 348.4
47.2
1.0
55
50 Lowe's Cos.
Mooresville, N.C.
757.1
838.8
-9.7 319.0 438.1
39.3
87.5
757.0
864.9 -12.5 475.4 281.5
-5.1 379.5 407.1 114.6
Outdoor
Newspaper
Magazines
Measured
media
(US$ millions)
Estimated
unmeasured
(US$ millions)
% change
2006
2007
Headquarters
Advertiser
2006
2007
51 158 Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
Total U.S.
ad spending
(US$ millions)
0.1 291.2
3.2
5.7
0.8 266.6 29.6
14.4
56
49 Capital One Financial Corp.
McLean, Va.
6.1
5.3
0.5 181.9
8.1
79.6
57
40 Merck & Co.
Whitehouse Station, N.J. 751.8 1,024.2 -26.6 375.9 375.9 125.4
13.6
0.0 212.2
0.3
24.5
58
61 Mars Inc.
McLean, Va.
715.9
660.1
8.5 322.2 393.8 107.1
18.3
1.4 241.3
8.6
17.1
59
62 Nike
Beaverton, Ore.
702.9
654.2
7.4 518.9 184.0
86.2
1.4
3.9
83.3
0.7
8.5
60
36 AstraZeneca
London
697.4 1,066.5 -34.6 418.4 278.9 196.9
3.2
0.1
55.6
2.0
21.3
61
63 Comcast Corp.
Philadelphia
692.6
628.5 10.2 221.6 471.0
79.6 18.0 191.1 102.0
51.1
62
60 Clorox Co.
Oakland, Calif.
683.2
660.1
3.5 208.1 475.1 183.2
3.5
63
69 Campbell Soup Co.
Camden, N.J.
670.3
559.3 19.9 148.8 521.6 193.7
31.4
0.2 278.0 12.9
5.4
64
44 Novartis
Basel, Switzerland
665.6
950.8 -30.0 366.1 299.5
65.3
31.8
0.1 175.4 14.3
12.6
65
53 Hyundai Motor Co.
Seoul, South Korea
650.9
809.0 -19.5 208.3 442.6
74.8
5.0
2.6 343.0
7.3
66
77 Reckitt Benckiser
Slough, Berkshire, U.K. 601.3
471.6 27.5 132.3 469.0
43.0
67.3
0.0 357.2
0.4
1.0
67
67 Best Buy Co.
Richfield, Minn.
598.3
572.2
4.5 194.3 403.9
28.1 124.6
0.8 181.1
5.7
63.6
68
64 SC Johnson
Racine, Wis.
591.9
621.3
-4.7 177.6 414.3
18.3
67.4
0.0 320.8
4.2
3.5
69
66 Visa
San Francisco
580.6
580.5
0.0 188.4 392.2 105.0
21.7
3.6 222.7 18.4
20.7
70
68 IBM Corp.
Armonk, N.Y.
558.7
571.4
-2.2 348.0 210.7
93.8
10.2
6.3
1.6
24.5
71
74 Allstate Corp.
Northbrook, Ill.
536.8
500.8
7.2 166.4 370.4
40.3
18.9 12.0 236.6 49.3
13.3
72
71 Kroger Co.
Cincinnati
506.3
508.3
-0.4 364.8 141.4
0.7
64.4
73 171 Boehringer Ingelheim
Ingelheim, Germany
505.3
191.8 163.4 202.1 303.2
63.4
0.9
74 102 FMR Corp. (Fidelity Investments)
Boston
499.0
334.1 49.4 154.7 344.3
45.9
57.9
0.5 246.5 246.5 113.3
1.8
29.2
0.7 262.1
8.7
74.2
8.5
32.3 34.7
17.1
9.9
0.7
0.1 228.8
2.2
1.5
1.8 142.8
94.4
75
75 Sanofi-Aventis
Paris
493.1
490.8
0.2
8.7
76
89 Apple
Cupertino, Calif.
491.8
383.7 28.2 172.1 319.7
16.3
0.7 23.3 236.4 10.7
32.4
77
73 MasterCard
Purchase, N.Y.
488.7
500.9
-2.4 177.3 311.4
28.0
9.6
4.3 227.8 23.1
18.6
78
79 eBay
San Jose, Calif.
487.5
453.3
7.5 313.3 174.2
15.4
3.5
3.9
48.8
95.6
79
72 Safeway
Pleasanton, Calif.
473.7
507.7
-6.7 319.1 154.7
0.6
18.1
5.3
37.4 92.1
1.1
80
94 Progressive Corp.
Mayfield Village, Ohio
459.7
368.2 24.8 137.9 321.8
2.2
1.0
4.9 259.4 10.2
44.0
81
81 Washington Mutual
Seattle
445.0
443.0
0.5 271.9 173.1
0.9
53.7
9.7
55.6 23.9
29.3
82
97 State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance Co. Bloomington, Ill.
431.2
360.7 19.5 112.1 319.1
11.7
15.3 21.5 213.9 15.5
41.2
83
83 Doctor's Associates
Milford, Conn.
425.7
425.5
0.1
63.9 361.8
0.7
2.3
4.8 324.8 25.5
3.8
84
85 Mattel
El Segundo, Calif.
424.6
415.8
2.1 204.7 219.9
13.5
5.1
0.2 197.9
1.1
2.2
85 103 Coty (JAB Investments)
New York
421.2
331.6 27.0 210.6 210.6 183.6
0.0
0.3
0.9
0.7
86
84 SABMiller
London
419.7
422.8
-0.7 188.9 230.9
18.6
1.4 13.6 174.5 19.1
87
90 Diageo
London
414.4
382.6
8.3 241.6 172.9
41.3
3.9 17.4
88
86 Circuit City Stores
Richmond, Va.
401.8
410.9
-2.2 134.2 267.6
0.6 107.1
89
82 Wendy's International
Dublin, Ohio
404.8
435.2
-7.0 100.1 304.7
8.9
90
76 Gap Inc.
San Francisco
394.2
489.4 -19.5
52.3 341.9
91 118 ConAgra Foods
Omaha, Neb.
384.9
298.2 29.1 148.2 236.7
92
87 Molson Coors Brewing Co.
Denver/Montreal
382.8
406.0
-5.7 197.1 185.7
2.0
93
96 Energizer Holdings
St. Louis
375.4
361.9
3.7 166.0 209.3
64.7
14.4
94 110 Philips Electronics
Amsterdam
365.0
309.8 17.8 241.2 123.8
47.3
95
99 Burger King Holdings
Miami
364.0
357.0
89.5 274.6
96
93 Alltel Corp.
Little Rock, Ark.
363.8
368.4
-1.2 172.1 191.7
97 152 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Los Angeles
363.2
228.3 59.1 109.0 254.3
98
98 DirecTV Group
El Segundo, Calif.
356.4
359.7
-0.9
99
88 Wells Fargo & Co.
San Francisco
355.7
393.7
-9.6 271.5
Deerfield, Ill.
355.4
306.4 16.0 120.1 235.3
100 112 Walgreen Co.
Source: Advertising Age DataCenter, 2008; TNS Media Intelligence's Strategy
2.0
67.7 288.7
84.2
0.6
0.1 122.4
7.8
25.2
7.0
3.7
73.0
7.9
29.4
0.0 109.8
2.2
47.9
4.4 261.6 20.6
8.6
91.0
15.9 11.9 195.9 17.1
10.2
60.5
30.5
7.4
4.1
1.2 25.8 140.6 13.7
1.2 133.1
2.3
0.0 119.0
3.4
7.9
2.3
0.0
5.1
19.6
4.4
0.5
7.0 206.6 54.6
1.4
0.0
37.5
4.6 135.7
4.3
9.6
3.6
68.5
1.3 164.0
9.8
7.0
16.7
28.8
0.6 228.9 10.7
6.7
15.0
7.3
17.7 19.4
18.1
23.8 89.4
0.1
95.8 18.3
7.9
49.5
3.1
17
Gamble and Unilever; car manufacturers

General Motors, Ford and Chrysler;
entertainment and media conglomerates Time
Warner, Viacom, News Corp., Walt Disney,
Sony and General Electric; department stores
Sears, JCPenney, Kohls, Target and Macys;
electronics retailers Best Buy and Circuit City;
and computer manufacturer Dell. The top
newspaper advertisers in the United States
included three mobile phone operators
(Verizon, Sprint and AT&T), three retailers
(Macys, Frys and Sears), three media
conglomerates (Time Warner, General Electric
and Walt Disney) and one consumer goods
manufacturer (Procter & Gamble).
agencies to be more integrated physically and

during the media-buying process.
The top advertising agency capitals are Tokyo,
New York, Paris and London. Advertising Age,
the leading advertising agency trade magazine
based in New York, tracks the top global and
U.S. agencies, and U.S. advertisers each year.
Japans Dentsu is the top global agency, with
US$2.17 billion in revenue in 2007, while
BBDO Worldwide and McCann Erickson
Worldwide, took second and third place,
respectively.
Meanwhile, WPP Group is the top global
media buying agency, with almost $2.1 billion
in revenues in 2007, followed by Omnicom
Group in New York and Publicis Groupe in
Paris.
The top 10 U.S. advertisers for Internet display

are comprised of one telecom (Verizon); two
car manufacturers (Ford and General Motors);
five Internet commerce and investment
companies (IAC, Apollo, E-Trade, Fidelity and
Scott Trade); one consumer data company
(Experian) and one technology company
(Microsoft).
Advertising Age also tracks the top global

advertisers in the United States each year, led
by Procter & Gamble, AT&T and Verizon
Communications with overall advertising
spend. The top advertisers tend to fall in a few
industries: consumer products,
pharmaceuticals, telecoms, auto companies
and entertainment/media conglomerates.
Advertising Expenditure
The top global advertisers in the United States,

spending more than $100 million on
newspaper advertising in 2007, were: telecoms
AT&T, Verizon, Deutsche Telecom and Sprint;
consumer products companies Procter &
Advertising agencies worldwide control the

vast majority of advertising expenditure
worldwide. Over the years, advertising spend
continues to go up, but for many traditional
media outlets, does not keep up with inflation.
Global Advertising Market: Internet vs. Mobile

%
140
US$ millions
120,000
% Change
% Change
129.1
Internet Advertising (US$ millions)

Mobile Advertising (US$ millions)
103,958
120
107.4
82,324
100
2008-12
CAGR
80,000
85.6
17.3
80
70,733
58,809
65.5
44.0
60
40.1
20 12,420
148
2003
42.4
46.5
35,734
42.8
44.2
28.4
31.1
17,404
339
2004
25.5
703
2005
40,000
39.4
24,778
27.9
1,427
2006
2,648
2007p
Sources: PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Wilkofsky Gruen Associates
18
60,000
46,843
40
100,000
93,461
103.0
9,165
12,774
20.3
16.4
6,418
4,382
13.5
2008
2009
2010
2011
16,407 20,000
11.2
2012
From 2009 to 2012, Internet advertising is

predicted to grow from 14.6 percent to
19 percent of the ad market. While traditional
advertising spend is growing in single-digits or
even declining, Internet and mobile advertising
is predicted to grow in the double digits during
the same period. Meanwhile, TV and
Further, the market share for ad spend on

traditional media, including newspapers,
continues to slip around the globe.
PricewaterhouseCoopers tracks and projects
advertising spend across the globe, and
projects a dramatic climb in market share by
Internet advertising.
Global Advertising by Segment, 2003-2012

US$ million
700,000
633,909
593,789
563,449
600,000
502,000
500,000
403,487
400,000 373,406
424,451
452,625
526,734
472,569
300,000
200,000
100,000
0
% annual change
Internet Advertising:
Wired and Mobile
Television
Video Games
Consumer Magazines
Newspapers
Radio
Out-of-Home
Directories
Trade Magazines
Total
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007p
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
29.4
41.2
43.6
45.8
33.2
27.7
22.1
18.6
16.1
13.3
2008-12
CAGR
19.5
4.7
2.8
2.5
2.3
5.6
2.4
-1.0
3.6
10.9
5.8
5.0
4.5
7.9
2.5
2.9
8.1
3.4
486.7
4.8
3.9
2.2
6.1
3.0
7.0
5.2
6.4
286.4
3.9
2.7
2.6
8.1
1.9
4.6
6.6
3.7
53.5
3.3
-0.2
-1.1
6.9
2.0
2.1
4.4
8.6
30.9
4.3
0.5
-1.2
7.0
0.7
-0.4
6.3
3.0
24.4
4.4
2.1
0.9
6.9
0.7
3.0
4.9
7.3
13.6
5.6
4.0
2.5
6.9
1.8
5.0
7.0
3.0
8.6
5.4
4.1
3.0
6.7
2.2
6.1
5.4
7.5
7.8
5.9
4.2
3.8
6.4
2.5
7.5
6.8
5.9
16.7
5.1
2.9
1.8
6.8
1.6
4.2
6.1
Note: Newspaper, consumer magazine and trade magazine Web site and mobile advertising is included in their respective segments
and in the Internet advertising segment, but only once in the overall total.
Share of Global Advertising by Segment

%
40
35
34.6
34.5
34
34.4
Television
30
28.3
26.2
25
Video Games
23
21.6
19
20
15
10
5
0
Wired and Mobile
2003
8.2
7.8
6.9
5.6
4.5
0.2
2006
Newspapers
Radio
14.6
8.2
7.7
5.5
4.7
3.4
Consumer Magazines
Out-of-Home
7.5
6.1
5.9
4
0.3
2009
Sources: PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Wilkofsky Gruen Associates
7.4
6
5.4
4
0.4
Directories
Trade Magazines
2012
19
the world, the strongest growth for newspaper

advertising spend is in Latin America, which is
expected to grow 7.8 percent from 2008 to
2012, and will remain as the No. 2 advertising
medium after television for the foreseeable
future, according to PwC.
newspaper ad spend, previously the No. 1 and

No. 2 advertising mediums according to PwC,
will decline from 34.5 to 34, and 23 to 21.6,
respectively, from 2009 to 2012.
When breaking down ad spend in regions of
Asia Advertising by Segment, 2003-2012

US$ million
160,000
133,105
140,000
124,399
116,362
120,000
107,749
101,298
100,000
80,000
75,777 80,311
85,400
91,434
69,932
60,000
40,000
20,000
0
% annual change
Wired and Mobile
Television
Video Games
Consumer Magazines
Newspapers
Radio
Out-of-Home
Directories
Trade Magazines
Total
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007p
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
49.9
57.6
59.6
41.2
39.5
39.5
27.0
20.1
16.9
14.4
2008-12
CAGR
23.3
5.8
4.1
4.5
2.9
6.4
6.1
-0.2
5.9
8.1
5.1
5.6
5.2
11.6
5.7
1.5
8.4
4.0
4.3
4.9
3.9
2.2
4.9
7.6
6.0
4.1
400.0
2.1
5.7
7.2
6.4
0.1
3.5
6.3
4.5
40.0
0.6
6.3
2.8
5.4
5.9
1.2
7.1
9.9
32.1
4.5
7.5
6.4
9.1
4.0
4.6
10.8
3.0
21.6
3.1
4.2
3.0
7.2
4.0
3.2
6.4
6.4
11.1
4.3
6.7
4.8
7.0
4.0
4.1
8.0
4.8
10.0
4.2
6.0
4.8
6.6
3.9
4.8
6.9
6.0
9.1
4.8
5.6
4.7
6.4
3.8
4.4
7.0
6.0
16.5
4.2
6.0
4.7
7.2
4.0
4.2
7.8
Share of Asia Pacific Advertising by Segment

%
45
40
39
35
35
30
Wired and Mobile
37.4
33.5
29.4
28.2
Video Games
26.6
25.7
25
14.3
15
5
0
9.8
6.5 6.2
4.8
2.5
1.8
0
2003
9.7
7.3
5.9
5.7
4.6
1.7
0.1
2006
18.6
5.1
4.1
1.5
0.2
2009
Radio
Out-of-Home
9.5
20
Consumer Magazines
Newspapers
20
10
Television
9.3
4.7
3.8
1.4
0.2
Directories
Trade Magazines
2012
During the same period, the Internet advertising

market share will rise dramatically in all
regions, while market share for newspaper ad
spend will decline for newspapers worldwide,
PwC has forecast. In Asia, it is expected to
decline from 26.6 percent to 25.7 percent;
Comparatively, advertising spend for other

regions is projected to grow from 2008 to
2012, including Europe, the Middle East and
Africa (EMEA), 4.3 percent; Asia, 6 percent;
Canada, 2.1 percent; and the United States,
declining by 0.8 percent.
EMEA Advertising by Segment, 2003-2012

US$ million
250,000
218,865
205,202
192,247
200,000
178,166
165,727
143,496
150,000
115,340
124,331
153,880
132,422
100,000
50,000
0
% annual change
Wired and Mobile
Television
Video Games
Consumer Magazines
Newspapers
Radio
Out-of-Home
Directories
Trade Magazines
Total
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007p
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
40.3
49.4
59.2
63.2
38.0
30.1
24.9
21.5
18.9
15.7
2008-12
CAGR
22.1
4.8
1.0
-1.3
7.0
5.2
2.9
-3.8
2.7
10.5
4.5
5.1
9.4
5.8
2.9
1.7
7.8
6.0
3.3
4.7
5.5
7.7
3.2
1.8
6.5
6.5
400.0
5.0
4.2
5.5
9.3
3.0
5.4
8.4
6.3
50.0
2.1
4.0
5.4
7.9
0.7
3.0
7.2
7.4
33.3
4.4
4.2
5.0
7.1
0.2
4.7
7.7
6.7
22.5
4.4
4.6
4.9
6.7
1.0
5.7
7.5
8.1
16.3
5.1
4.5
4.7
6.3
2.0
5.5
7.9
5.1
11.4
4.7
4.2
4.2
5.7
2.6
5.7
6.7
6.2
10.2
4.8
4.0
3.7
5.3
3.1
5.4
6.7
6.7
18.5
4.7
4.3
4.5
6.2
1.8
5.4
7.3
Share of EMEA Advertising by Segment

%
35
30
30.3
29.9
30.4
29.8
29.3
27.6
23.2
21.1
20
5
0
11.5
8.1
6.7
5.4
2.8
0
2003
10.5
8.6
7.1
6.7
5.3
4.7
0.1
2006
Video Games
Consumer Magazines
Newspapers
15.5
15
10
Television
25.2
25
Wired and Mobile
Radio
9.4
6.7
5.8
4.9
4.3
0.3
2009
8.9
6.4
5.1
4.5
4.1
0.3
Out-of-Home
Directories
Trade Magazines
2012
21
EMEA share will decline from 25.2 to 23.2

percent; Latin America will decline from 20.2
to 19.4 percent; Canadas share will decline
from 23.9 to 21.6 percent; and in the United
States, share will drop from 19.6 to 18 percent.
Latin America Advertising by Segment, 2003-2012

US$ million
30,000
26,405
24,301
25,000
22,851
20,582
19,170
20,000
17,290
91,434
15,309
15,000
13,408
11,308
10,000
9,761
5,000
0
2003
% annual change
4.2
Wired and Mobile
7.8
Television
6.3
Consumer Magazines
2.7
Newspapers
-16.3
Radio
5.6
Out-of-Home
7.4
Directories
12.5
Trade Magazines
4.5
Total
2004
2005
2006
2007p
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
46.5
46.9
34.3
50.3
35.1
28.7
23.3
23.6
21.0
2008-12
CAGR
26.2
20.1
11.9
7.7
12.4
16.4
15.2
10.1
15.8
21.1
16.0
12.3
15.4
27.7
17.0
11.5
18.6
15.4
9.5
12.0
10.8
22.1
12.9
7.3
14.2
12.7
11.4
15.0
8.3
-0.9
12.2
9.2
12.9
11.4
10.2
9.9
7.6
3.8
9.8
8.5
10.9
6.1
9.5
8.0
7.0
4.2
8.5
7.5
7.4
13.1
8.8
7.5
6.7
6.3
7.4
7.9
11.0
4.9
8.6
7.2
6.2
8.7
6.7
7.6
6.3
9.3
8.3
6.7
5.8
8.2
6.2
8.2
8.7
8.9
9.1
7.8
6.7
6.2
7.7
7.9
8.8
Share of Latin America Advertising by Segment

%
60
50
52.5
56.2
56.3
55.7
Wired and Mobile
Television
Consumer Magazines
40
Newspapers
30
Radio
23.0
20
10
0
7.8
6.6
5.2
1.9
2003
Out-of-Home
19.9
20.2
19.4
Directories
7.0
6.1
5.0
2.2
1.9
7.0
5.6
5.0
3.6
1.5
7.0
5.2
4.7
1.7
1.5
Trade Magazines
2006
2009
22
2012
U.S. Advertising by Segment, 2003-2012

US$ million
300,000
241,725
250,000
200,000
183,502
208,698
199,705 205,272
189,343 198,650
219,720 226,851
170,245
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
% annual change
Wired and Mobile
Television
Video Games
Consumer Magazines
Newspapers
Radio
Out-of-Home
Directories
Trade Magazines
Total
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007p
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
21.5
33.2
30.9
35.8
27.2
20.9
17.2
15.0
12.8
10.0
2008-12
CAGR
15.1
3.6
4.0
4.7
1.2
5.2
0.9
0.7
3.2
11.9
7.1
4.5
2.5
6.0
0.8
3.8
7.8
0.0
233.3
5.9
2.5
0.4
8.0
1.6
10.2
3.2
6.4
200.0
3.0
-0.3
0.2
8.0
1.2
4.2
4.9
0.9
66.7
5.0
-7.9
-5.1
7.6
1.0
1.5
0.5
8.7
30.0
3.7
-7.7
-6.1
4.7
-0.9
-4.4
2.8
0.0
26.9
4.5
-2.4
-1.9
7.0
-1.4
1.1
1.7
6.6
12.1
6.3
1.2
0.4
7.4
0.4
4.7
5.3
0.4
5.4
6.2
2.3
1.4
8.0
0.7
6.6
3.2
9.1
5.1
7.2
3.1
3.5
8.0
1.0
9.3
6.6
4.9
15.4
5.6
-0.8
-0.6
7.0
-0.1
3.4
3.9
Share of U.S. Advertising by Segment

%
40
34.9
35
36.5
36.8
34.3
Television
30
27.1
25
Consumer Magazines
19.6
18.4
18
15
Video Games
24.8
20
10
Wired and Mobile
Radio
14.9
11.2
8.2
6.7
5.7
4.3
3.2
0
2003
9.9
8.7
7.2
6.7
5.8
3.4
0.2
2006
Newspapers
Out-of-Home
8.3
7.3
6.8
5.5
3.9
0.4
2009
7.6
7.5
6
5.7
4.3
0.4
Directories
Trade Magazines
2012
23
Canada Advertising by Segment, 2003-2012

US$ million
16,000
13,036
14,000
13,809
12,269
11,539
12,000
9,770
10,000
8,000
10,260
10,833
8,569
8,967
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007p
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
38.4
54.2
56.3
81.5
33.2
27.9
24.9
20.3
17.7
15.2
2008-12
CAGR
21.1
9.0
9.4
0.7
8.3
3.9
2.6
-6.4
5.8
4.8
6.0
3.3
3.4
6.8
2.9
1.0
5.4
1.7
2.8
3.9
1.2
13.5
2.9
1.0
4.6
4.0
400.0
3.6
3.3
5.4
7.5
3.8
4.3
9.0
-1.5
30.0
5.8
3.0
4.7
7.0
3.2
4.6
5.0
3.2
26.9
4.7
1.0
1.2
4.9
4.7
3.5
5.6
4.7
21.2
4.2
1.8
2.1
6.2
3.9
4.2
6.5
3.6
16.9
4.7
2.5
3.9
6.6
3.9
5.3
6.3
3.2
13.9
5.3
2.6
4.9
7.6
3.6
5.4
6.3
3.0
11.3
5.4
2.8
4.5
7.9
3.5
6.2
5.9
3.6
17.9
4.9
2.1
3.3
6.6
3.9
4.9
6.1
8,128
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
% annual change
Wired and Mobile
Television
Video Games
Consumer Magazines
Newspapers
Radio
Out-of-Home
Directories
Trade Magazines
Total
Share of Canada Advertising by Segment

%
35
Wired and Mobile
32.4
30
28.9
29.8
26.7
25
26.9
23.9
20
25.0
24.8
21.6
18.3
13.4
5
0
9.7
7.0
3.2
2.8
2.5
0.0
2003
12.3
10.2
8.9
6.6
3.5
2.2
0.8
2006
Consumer Magazines
Radio
11.2
10.7
8.5
6.4
3.6
2.1
1.4
7.9
6.2
3.7
2.1
1.7
2009
24
Video Games
Newspapers
15
10
Television
Out-of-Home
Directories
Trade Magazines
2012
2. What Agencies Want

from Newspapers
As any marriage counsellor will tell you, there
are always two sides to every story about a
relationship. In order for a relationship to
work, both parties need to feel respected and
listened to. The relationship between
newspapers and advertising agencies is no
different. Over the decades of relationships,
communication between the two sometimes
gets lost, and needs to be revitalised.
Circa 2009, advertising agencies and
newspapers have a yin-yang relationship.
While one cant exist without the other,
friction continues to be caused by lack of
communication or accommodations for a
variety of needs in the negotiating, buying,
publishing and accounting processes. The SFN
team conducted a survey and personal
interviews with agency buyers and newspaper
advertising executives to determine how the
two entities can forge a stronger relationship in
individual markets around the world. Here are
some of the findings:
If newspapers could change how they work
with agencies, they would improve a variety of
factors, including how trading works, making
agencies aware of their value across platforms

and having more transparency about clients
and their campaign objectives.
If advertising-buying agencies could change
how they work with newspapers, they would
improve a variety of process issues and details
of doing business, particularly regarding rate
cards, invoicing, tear sheets and the
distribution of general market information.
If newspaper companies made it easier to buy
newspaper advertising, it likely would
encourage media planners to buy more
newspaper advertising, according to several
media planners interviewed by the SFN team.
A variety of media buyers and planners from
advertising agencies worldwide have assessed
the hurdles in working with newspapers.
A variety of responses are listed here
signalling an opportunity to make changes to
encourage a more lucrative relationship with
agencies.
Buying newspaper advertising is

complicated.
25
You cant do one-stop shopping (across

newspapers).
systems.
card prices or why prices have inexplicably
risen.
Newspaper advertising prices havent caught
up with declining circulations.
Sales reps dont understand our clients
needs.
Cross-platform audience information is good,
but Im not sure how well use it.
Newspaper usage data must be about now,
not six months old.
There are a lot of choices out there for media
planners. Newspapers need to become more
competitive with new pricing and new offers of
value.
Editorial rules the roost in decision making
about whether innovative ads will run or not.
Its hard to guarantee a position on a page.

Invoices are frequently wrong, and it takes a
long time to clear up the problem.
(Newspapers) don't seem to go with the market.
In analysing the media planners opinions on

newspaper advertising, the obvious
opportunities for newspapers are:
To make buying newspapers simpler, with
streamlined, electronic processes and the
creation of networked buys across newspapers
in a given region or country.
To create an accurate invoicing scheme with
checks and balances.
To create fewer rate cards, and to ensure that
the rate cards are logged into the newspapers
database.
To assess advertising pricing, and to consider
dynamic pricing schemes depending on the
agencys annual or monthly contract volume.
Inform agencies in detail about cross-media
advertising opportunities through fresh,
detailed statistical analysis.
26
To train sales reps more thoroughly about

pricing, offers and newspaper audience reach
before they call on advertising agency
accounts.
Several planners and buyers report that some
newspaper representatives to agencies are not
well informed about their newspapers own
pricing, value-added features or commissions
to agencies. But it is the occasional passionate
sales representative who is both enthusiastic
and well-informed who makes an impression
on planners and buyers that pays off for his
newspaper.
Its all about relationships between people,
says Fiona Hodges, print director for
Mediaedge:cia in London.
The advertising and newspaper landscapes
continue to change separately and together.
Many agencies and newspapers are working
together to improve relationships for the future.
Historically saying, at least in Japan, the
relationship between newspaper companies
and advertising companies is already very,
very strong. But both of us should make efforts
to innovate the newspaper industry. We could
have a lot of to do, says Tomoaki Ide,
research director for Dentsu in Tokyo, one of
the largest advertising agencies in the world.
Ad companies should advise more and more
to the newspaper companies. But ad
companies hesitated to do so. And especially
the Japanese newspaper companies made less
effort than western newspapers for themselves
because they could grow their business with ad
companies without much effort. They were
dependent on ad companies to get ad revenue
and did very little to innovate their own media
itself with some Japanese ways of thinking. I
dont want to deny the whole because Japanese
can have the Japanese own style. But at the
same time, we know that they have a lot of
things to do to be stronger.
While many planners and buyers suggest
changes should be made, there also is much
that is right about the working relationship
between newspapers and agencies:
Newspapers can quickly amass a wide reach
in a community
Local reach and targeted reach are easily
attained
Value added features like Post-it notes,
polybags, cross-media campaigns all are
positive differentiators
Excellent research has been done about

newspaper consumers about usage patterns and
lifestyles that are valuable in the planning
process
Online newspaper reach is accountable and
targetable
Production costs are low compared with TV,
radio and Internet
Colour can create impact
Credible environment
Can offer direct response with coupons
concern about who's going to be in business

and who are they going to be owned by.
The SFN team interviewed a variety of

advertising agency planners and buyers. The
following are excerpts from those interviews:
Clients believe it and it hurts them, she says,

adding that newspapers need to be their own
biggest advocates, and market themselves to
advertisers. Stay connected to the local
market that's where expertise and strength is.
I think (newspapers) also need to continue to
look for multimedia partners in their local
markets, she advises.
Starcom MediaVest Group

Interview with
Kathy Heatley, vice

president, director of local
investment, located
in Detroit, Michigan,
United States
Global
headquarters
Chicago, Illinois,
United States
Parent company
Subsidiary of Paris-based
Publicis Groupe
Web site
www.smvgroup.com
Starcom MediaVest Group is one of the largest

media, communications and event planning
and buying groups in the world, with 5,800
employees working in 110 offices in 67
countries. The group works with some of the
world's top brands, such as Coca-Cola,
General Motors and the Walt Disney
Company.
Kathy Heatley works out of SMG's office in
Detroit, the home of the U.S. auto industry,
and works in the newspaper category with
brands in automotive, financial,
telecommunications, packaged goods,
electronics and retail sectors. She says she
believes in the future strength of both
advertising agencies we're strong and
global and newspapers newspaper is the
new black. It's ripe for invention. It's going to
be around for a really, really long time it's
just changing.
From a buyer's perspective, Heatley, vice
president and director of local investment, says
she thinks the overall media buying landscape in
the United States is flexible, and the newspaper
buying landscape is very flexible right now,
and a little scary, because there's definitely
In terms of advertising, this means the biggest

hurdle newspapers have faced in the past five
years has had more to do with their own bad
press than anything else, she said. The bad
press surrounding the financial and business
state of the newspaper industry, exacerbated by
the global economic downturn as 2008
progressed, has caused advertisers to be more
wary of the industry, Heatley says.
Newspapers, which have great content, are ripe

for building multimedia packages for
advertising customers, which is exactly what
they want, she says.
In the future, Heatley says pricing digital
advertising on a cost per thousand basis, and
based on an audience measure, seems the most
reasonable. Pricing based on cost per inch,
colour or premiums is nonsense, and does
nothing to sell actual audience, she says.
We should be buying audience. They make it
too complicated, which is another reason
people don't like to buy them. In the future, it
would help if agencies and publishers could
partner to figure out the best new ways to
measure all platforms, then charge
appropriately for what the publisher can offer,
and what the advertiser is getting in return, she
says. Newspapers need to recognise we
don't have a problem talking about readership,
but you also have to come with the digital
costs, and equalisation. Finding a way to
report on circulation by issue date would also
help, she adds.
Heatley says buying newspaper advertising
could be smoother when it comes to:
Responsiveness: Some newspapers don't
respond, others do. Also, staff cuts and staffing
levels going down have also really affected
responsiveness.
Rates: Newspapers are considered very
expensive, she says. Although newspapers
27
seem to have improved in terms of

reproductive quality, rates are all over the
board ... they preach integrity of rates to keep
rates high, (but) the market should drive
those rates, Heatley says. If you're in a soft
advertising market, you need to make a deal.
If you're not, keep your rates high, and we
can decide if it's a right rate. (Newspapers)
don't seem to go with the market. The
advertising market will be soft next year, but
newspapers will come up with rate increases
it's crazy. They feed their sales people to
the wolves.
Look at clients individually: I think they
need to look at each individual client on an
individual basis. One of the things I hear is
that they have to treat you the way they treat
everyone else. I don't think so if another
customer doesn't have good buyers, we
shouldn't suffer. They need to be flexible and
provide value.
Tear sheets, which seem like a small thing, can
be a huge headache. Heatley says that for
a smoother process, everyone should use the
e-tear system, but not all newspapers do.
There are a billion discrepancies
everywhere. We may have a signed contract,
and they will bill it wrong. That is crazy, she
says of unreliable tear sheets. I'm not going
to say every single space reservation is
perfect, but our accuracy has increased in the
past few years. Yet, we still get 30 to 40
percent of discrepant invoices from
newspapers. I don't think we have that issue
in other media ... At one time we had like
twice as many people managing
discrepancies as negotiations that is
ridiculous.
Heatley is quick to point out that newspapers
are making advancements, especially in
creativity and accepting more creative ad units.
Opportunities for print and digital campaigns
are also going up, and colour has improved
drastically across the industry, she says, using
the Tribune Co. as an example of one of the
best U.S. publishers to work with.
An area that newspapers could do better in is
research and feedback on an ad's performance.
Although it would take a month or two to get
data, being able to compare geographically
and demographically, and then being able to
immediately respond to that data, would be
optimal.
28
Newspapers should be reporting this to

creative agencies show off new tools, so
creative sees these opportunities. Show the
additional value you've got, and don't ask for
them to pay for it, Heatley says.
Another challenge newspaper advertising
departments face is having relationships with
customers and agencies. Although this seems
so fundamental, the scary thing is that as
newspapers continue to cut staffing levels,
there just aren't enough people to take care of
this basic task for all their advertisers, even
though it greatly behooves them, she says.
They have one or two sales people, we have
50 to 100 planners. How do they stay
connected?
The bottom line is about improving
communication between agencies and
newspapers, Heatley says. Better
communication leads to better relationships,
and this can be done when newspapers:
Think about what they can do to help
agencies respond to new market conditions.
For example, think about emerging
opportunities in new channels, cross-media,
etc.
Work with agencies in things like advertising
summits for customers, and invite customers to
their own summits or conferences.
Respond faster, and have ideas. That's really
critical, and it's hard with reduced staff. The
newspapers that are doing well are always
throwing out ideas. If they have an idea for
something and it doesn't work for that
customer, it could work for another, and we
can shop it around.
Reach out to the consumer. I don't think
they haven't fully taken advantage of their
subscriber lists there are ad opportunities
that aren't intrusive, but beneficial ... We don't
want to spam, but I feel like there should be a
way for us to connect more.
The future is about targeting and measurement,
two things digital does best, Heatley says.
Behavioural targeting is getting better, which
is where we need to be. It has to be
targeting, she says. Our customers follow the
consumer I think the newspapers need to do
that too I think they have to target to
compete.
Dentsu
Interview with
Tomoaki Ide,
research director
Locations
Tokyo headquarters,
and 6,331 employees
Web site
www.dentsu.com
In Japan, the overall media buying landscape is

declining along with the global recession,
according to the research director of the
worlds largest advertising agency, Dentsu,
based in Tokyo.
The Japanese inner economy is also bad but not
so severe comparing with the U.S. and Europe.
From now on, it will be more severe because
exports are declining, says Tomoaki Ide.
The purchase of all media is on the decline,
except the Internet and mobile, which still glows
in the double-digits. The speed of the growth
will slow down with this recession, he says.
Ide is optimistic that the decline in print buying
could turn around if the newspaper industry
can revive itself.
The print ads are remarkably declining
comparing to five years ago. It will be much
worse after five years from now without
(newspapers making) remarkable changes. If
they began to change in the next five years, I
think that the newspaper industry in Japan can
stop the declining and revive.
The Japanese advertising agency has farreaching power with clients and media outlets,
compared with other countries in the world.
Ide explains how the process of advertising
campaign development happens with
newspaper companies.
Japanese advertising companies do it all.
After the clients (advertisers) orientation, we
plan all the marketing-communication strategy
and tactics. Sometimes we make the company
management plan a business scheme, and
develop the products, he says. According to
the strategy and tactics, we make the concrete
integrated marketing communication plan.
According to the plan, we keep the space of
media and create ads like TV, the print ads and
internet ads. And then we execute it. After
doing it, we check and analyse the results.
Advertising pricing is already flexible in
Japan, Ide says, but must be even more flexible
in the future.
The channels to deliver ads will be more

pluralistic and more complicated. We have the
very precise and complicated rules (or
contracts and agreements) but sometimes run
them flexibly with consensus both between
clients and ad company, between ad company
and media company. Our pricing system is
complicated enough even now. For example,
the price of ads will be decided with a lot of
factors that are mainly determined by clients
condition and ad companies conditions.
Ide explained the process of media buying in
Japan, saying there are many buying patterns,
but the most popular, used 50 percent of the
time, goes:
Advertisers decide the budget, terms, purpose
and basic plan of the campaign.
Ad companies will plan the rest of the
campaign, including the marketing plan and
the concrete tactics, like cross media and
Internet and mobile media buying, PR, events,
etc.
Sometimes the big Japanese agencies do a
more essential part of the clients business, Ide
says, such as develop new products with
clients, help to develop the new market with
the clients new technologies in order to widen
their domain, and sometimes work like a
consultant for both clients and media.
Media planners and buyers use a variety of
planning systems and case study research to
make decisions about which media to buy for
campaigns.
Some of these are very useful. The reason
why they are useful is to be scientific enough
with our tremendous experience, so persuasive
and believable enough, he says.
Ide gives some advice for newspapers moving
forward: To innovate or to change some of
their business is most important. Of course
they know it, but they cant do it even in this
situation. So we are trying to support them for
changing, he says. The Japanese newspaper
companies are struggling to change their
business model and domain. Ad companies are
trying to help their changing.
As for the relationships between agencies and
newspapers, Ide believes the way forward is to
innovate the newspaper industry.
Historically speaking, at least in Japan, the
relationship between newspaper companies
29
and advertising companies is already very,

very strong. But both of us should make efforts
to innovate the newspaper industry. We could
have a lot of to do. Ad companies should
advise more and more to the newspaper
companies. But ad companies hesitated to do
so. And especially the Japanese newspaper
companies made less effort than western
newspapers for themselves because they could
grow their business with ad companies without
much effort. They were dependent on ad
company to get ad revenue and did very little
to innovate their own media itself with some
Japanese ways of thinking. I dont want to
deny the whole because Japanese can have the
Japanese own style. But at the same time, we
know that they have a lot of things to do to be
stronger.
GroupM
Interview with Steve Goodman, managing
director for print trading
Locations
London headquarters, 402

offices in 81 countries and
14,000 employees
Web site
www.groupm.com
GroupM is the worlds leading media buying

organisation, created by advertising agency
giant WPP. In addition to GroupM,
Mediaedge:cia Global, Mindshare Worldwide
and MAXUS, are part of this group.
Steve Goodman is the managing director of
print trading for GroupM, the largest printbuying agency in the United Kingdom, buying
about 25 percent of all print in the country.
The outlook for print buying in the United
Kingdom is soft for 2009, says Goodman, who
expects the global recession to lead to the print
buying forecast being down 10 percent.
Its just so hard to predict the next year.
Anything we say would be foolhardy. I
wouldnt want to hazard a guess.
Unemployment in the UK could come to 3
million, and could be a deepening recession in
2010, he says.
We are revising our forecasts all the time, and
its potentially a lot worse. I think newspapers
have an opportunity to improve their share,
Goodman says, blaming the downturn on the
recession. The Newspaper Marketing
Association is doing a lot to improve their
30
potential. They are getting more details,

comparisons and up-to-the-minute facts and
figures, which is hard to do on radio and TV. If
they play it right, they have a lot of potential.
At the moment, some clients are cutting their
advertising budgets, particularly in the motoring
section, he says. Thats where the press could
do some good, moving stock waiting to be sold.
While branding might suffer a bit, that might
be made up with shorter term productions that
lend itself well to national press.
Internet has stolen a small share from
newspapers in the market in the past few years,
particularly with search, but while online has
grown, it really hasnt been at the expense of
newspapers, he says.
Newspaper display on publishers sites has
good potential, but hasnt grown much.
Everyone is trying to get their heads around
the way Web (advertising) is sold. It is wise for
newspapers to get more behind the national
readership survey (NRS) to determine the
duplication between online and offline, the
cornerstone of newspaper planning.
I am surprised newspapers are not behind this
100 percent. They do get bigger numbers from
comScore, and perhaps dont want to promote
something with a lower number. The
readership survey is better because they can go
to clients with a portfolio sell. Thats where the
big exciting research is ... it shows the real
value the Web to the printed format.
As digital advertising becomes a growing
presence and is tied to traditional media
brands, agencies around the world are starting
to merge their print and online buying
operations, including GroupM. Goodman sees
value in media companies and associations
providing ongoing print-Web audience metrics
and media companies providing cross-media
advertising packages for agency clients to
purchase.
The Times and Times Online, Guardian and
Guardian Unlimited and the Independent are
just a few UK companies that are offering
cross-media advertising packages to agency
clients.
I think if we can get this NRS thing up and
running, what will happen is that the planning
department will plan schedules that are
multimedia, and we will look at the entire
brand for media measurement. It would make
sense to negotiate price in terms of impacts

across brands, he says.
a number of other loopholes. We want them to

be more transparent about what theyre doing.
At the moment, there is no ideal form of

measurement available for newspapers in the
United Kingdom, he says. Goodman would
like to see research about readership for
individual days of the week, rather than
combined weekly totals.
Newspapers also can do a better job at building

relationships and informing young media
planners and buyers about the strengths of
print media, he says.
Overall, Goodman thinks the relationships

could be better. Sometimes it feels like two
warring parties are getting together, he says.
Goodman thinks one strategy might help
assuage problems and facilitate
communications. News International has just
hired a new agency liaison to encourage a
healthy discourse between agencies and the
companys newspapers.
Its all about trading, to find out what they are
after the sale, how to find efficiencies, he
says. That could be a very good move.
Another idea that would improve relations
would be to follow up with clients after the
campaign or event. They could sell
themselves after the event. They kind of forget
about it after the event. We have to follow up
but newspapers dont do it with us or our
clients. I almost think they should do this as a
matter of course, to sell the good stuff they
have, to the agency, to the client, or both.
Goodman recalls one anecdote about a client
that has spent millions of pounds on print
campaigns, but the media owner hasnt been in
to see the client for four years. I think its
outrageous.
Goodman also thinks newspapers dont do a
good enough job at promoting themselves and
their virtues, compared with other media. We
can have copy written up at 4 p.m. and run it
the next day. You cant do that with TV and
radio. Also the amount of detail you can
publish in a campaign. Its the right
environment to engage in.
Transparency is another improvement that
Goodman suggests. Transparency over ABC
figures ... at the moment we get an average
over the month of their readership figures.
With the other media getting more accountable
and transparent, It gives us pause they are
trying to hide something, selling more on
Tuesday than on Saturday, for example. We
have to know what were paying for. There are
You should sell some of the key golden

nuggets about newspapers to junior people to
get them to engage in core strengths of
newspaper demographics and total number of
readers. There are some clever ways to do that,
to fix an image of who their readers are.
Horizon Media
Interview with
Debbie Sklar, vice president

and director of print services
Headquarters
New York City, United States
Web site
www.horizonmedia.com
Until recently, Horizon Media handled the

Harrahs Casino account, which owns 30
casinos in the United States, mostly in Las
Vegas. Harrahs favours print advertising, and
publishes ads in more than 500 publications
across the United States. Horizon is a media
buying agency, including direct response, print
and broadcast buying.
Sklar is a veteran media planning director
previously overseeing Ace Hardware,
Bloomingdales and Meineike Muffler, among
many other retailer advertisers. Sklar also is
active in the Newspaper Association of
Americas advertising agency committee,
which opens a line of communication between
agencies and newspapers.
As a part of the NAA relationship, Sklar gave
a presentation at a recent NAA conference
titled What Agencies Need from Newspapers
& Best Practices. In the presentation, she
praised newspapers for their strengths in
regards to advertising:
Retail-Driven
Recency
Local market reach potential
Multiple product offerings
Run of paper, pre-prints, polybags
Targeted products
Weekend sections, Lifestyle, magazines
County/Zoned Coverage
Flexible deadlines
Online growth
31
However, Sklar pointed out a variety of issues

that need to be improved upon:
Rate cards are confusing
Category rate cards need to be streamlined
Account management needs to be decentralised
New commission structure needed
Address decline in circulation
Need more flexibility with contracts
Explore details of print and online campaigns
Provide streamlined invoicing and electronic
tear sheets
Sklar says she recognises that the relationship
between agencies and newspapers is one that
must be balanced on a daily basis, but has a
variety of observations from her years of
experience working with newspapers, which
fall into six areas of needs for agencies:
Regarding market information conveyed to
agencies, Sklar posits that newspapers need to
sell their strengths, promote product offerings
and maximise market coverage.
Sell your strengths: Local market reach, new
creative units and provide testimonials about
client successes
Promote product offerings: Polybags, post-it
notes, special sections, female and youthtargeted products
Maximise market coverage: Promote zone
products to stretch budget, key in on special
postal codes and retail locations
Sklar says transparency is key when
communicating with agencies about
circulation declines.
32
Newspapers have not addressed the

circulation problem, why rates are going up
when circulation sales are going down and
there are layoffs at the paper, she says. The
clients think we can write our own ticket.
Rate cards are another important issue for
discussion, and issues fall into four categories:
Flexibility, colour charges, rate card
consolidation and commissions.
Flexibility: Sklar says there are large gaps
between agency contract levels, and that it
would be ideal if agencies and newspapers
could discuss more mid-range levels.
Colour charges: Sklar asks why colour
charges go up when printing technology has
brought the cost of colour down. Colour
pricing should be aligned to frequency and ad
size, she says.
Rate card consolidation: Sklar suggests that
there be a rate card consolidation, and asks
why national advertisers are penalised with
higher rates.
Commissions: The days of 15 percent
commissions are over, she says. Sklar suggests
newspapers divulge net dollars spent, and let
agencies add fees. If newspapers are going to
add commissions, be consistent in the way it is
done, she suggests.
Regarding contract negotiations, greater
competition among media makes necessary a
more competitive offering than ever for
newspapers, Sklar says. Four areas are worth
exploring: Flexibility, contracts, value added
and efficiencies.
Flexibility: Rate cards are too rigid, and need

to be structured for todays buying needs, she
says.
Include all products and discounts, including
polybags and Post-its.
Contracts: An industry standard contract is
needed, she says. Minimise disclaimers, and
include all product offerings in contract
discussions.
Value-added: Clients are always looking for
more value. Consistently include value-added
offerings during negotiations.
Efficiency: Buyers, planners and clients are
always looking at cost per thousand more
closely than ever, she says.
Digital media creates new challenges and
opportunities for the relationship between
agencies and newspapers. Sklar says she
wonders what effect online advertising has on
the print product, especially in terms of the
new audiences that are served with digital, and
any possible audiences that are lost with print
with the proliferation of digital. Digital also
opens up the possibilities to new platforms,
including video, podcasting, social networking
advertising, geo-targeted advertising and thirdparty ad-serving.
Sklar believes that all print and online
advertising with a single newspaper company
should accrue toward one contract for
fulfillment, and that buys from online
networks should accrue. Lastly, for those
newspaper companies that do not have online
advertising sales people, Sklar believes that a
dedicated person is a good practice.
Regarding invoicing and tear sheets, Sklar
believes these should be electronically
transmitted, and should also be part of an
industry standard with consistent invoice
numbers that can be accessed easily through a
database. Invoice payment terms should be 45
to 60 days, so there is enough time to capture
and bill ads ordered at the end of the month.
Finally, newspapers should follow industry
best practices in the areas of contracts,
insertion orders and standard ad formats.
Contracts should be standardised, including
contract levels, rates and conditions. For
insertion orders, newspaper representatives
should sign the IOs and send back to agencies
to confirm receipt and rates. She says some
newspapers have strayed from the agreed-upon
Standardised Ad Units, which for years
served as best practices, and wishes these

standards would return.
Davis Harrison Dion

Interview with P. Susan Harrison, partner
Headquarters
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Web site
www.dhdchicago.com
Davis Harrison Dion's account base is about

65 percent business-to-business and 35
percent business-to-consumer. The group
works with hospitality, retail, financial and
senior housing and living businesses, and has
taken an integrated media mix approach from
the start, says P. Susan Harrison, partner of
the firm.
Print advertising buying as part of the overall
advertising landscape is the least cost
efficient, Harrison says. Because we take a
cross media approach, it's cheaper to be in
other areas. Reaching the audience and
repeating the message to them is the agency's
goal, and offline pushes online, she says.
If we're offline with our promotion, we see
increased activity with search, with the Web
site, etc.
The obvious benefit of Internet advertising is
that it proves the relationship between
advertising and sales, but the difficult part is
that a lot of customers think it's better and
cheaper to go online-only, and that everyone
comes through the Web anyway. However,
many times coming to the Web is the last
stop. Even if a purchase is made there,
something likely drove the consumer to the
Web, she says.
Harrison says she thinks buying a newspaper
campaign can be made easier by:
Being more open to negotiating with the
buyer. Newspapers aren't negotiable, while
agencies are. Finding opportunities to bring
the cost down, or figuring out discount
structures would be optimal, she says. Our
buyers are planners as a result they can slide
money around if it warrants it. Negotiating
when appropriate, or to get new business, is
always helpful, and as online becomes an
increasingly separate profit centre from
newspapers, advertisers will look for that.
Appropriate staffing levels in newspaper
advertising departments. One of the biggest
33
issues is that staff is really thin these days. It

usually takes a couple of days to even get a
rate or quote on the local level, Harrison
says. Customer service has slid dramatically
in the last year and a half, and quite a bit
over the past three years, all due to losing
staff and not replacing people. Meanwhile,
it's apparent ad staffs are under more
pressure to do more with less people. Do
they enjoy what they're doing when they're
selling? Sometimes it feels like no.
Make sure ad staffers are educated and upto-date on what agencies are doing, and be
proactive in letting agencies know good
news. They need to educate the people
calling on you more. We've had meetings
where they're so far behind our knowledge, it
was embarrassing. Recognising the level of
knowledge the people you're calling on is
extremely important. Meanwhile, let
agencies know when good things are
happening, such as if circulation is up, or if
new data has been released showing a new
trend in readership, she says.
Be more responsive. Getting information to
the agency as quickly as possible and trying
to work something out for a particular
audience or target is key, but currently
getting information, such as having a
question about production answered, can be
difficult. Meanwhile, be more responsive
with providing data for online, showing how
the content is being consumed, who is
consuming it and how that audience can be
evaluated.
Respect the relationship with the agency
and client. For example, Harrison says DHD
has a pay schedule, in which they pay exactly
40 days after the day the ad runs. Even if that
has been discussed with the newspaper, the
agency is still likely to get calls from the
newspaper before the 40 days is up asking
for the money. That's an irritant to the
relationship, especially when the agency has
a history of on-time payment with the
newspaper, she says.
Get rid of silos. A buyer almost always has
to talk to different representatives for
different categories, as well as different
people for print and online, which is a
nuisance that takes up too much time.
Training people in print and online is a
tough issue, but it's not that complicated. You
34
can teach old dogs new tricks buyers had to

learn print and online too.
Promote the value of the newspaper. It's
easier to buy a newspaper campaign if
research can be made available to show the
value the newspaper can give the customer.
Meanwhile, don't allow cost-cutting
measures to reduce the value of the paper.
Invest in editorial product that's what
advertisers want to be next to. They don't
want to be in a paper full of ads and little
editorial, Harrison says. They've done a lot
to build up the franchise of individual editors
and expertise that's their gold. Its not that
they have a print vehicle to put ads in ...
editorial staff (is) the unique benefit
newspapers bring.
Compared with buying other media, buying a
newspaper campaign is not necessarily
more difficult, but maybe less graceful, in
terms of getting research, ideas and data,
Harrison says. For example, syndicated
research for television, such as Arbitron or
Nielsen figures, is more accessible, while
newspaper data isn't as deep.
Drilling down below major markets, there
are a lot of options for buying the market and
buying regionally, she says.
Pricing print by cost per inch is working just
fine, Harrison says. If sizes are limited
because of layout, cost or budget, it gives
flexibility to the planning process. However,
pricing should not be the same for each
advertiser.
A lot of times we're looking for a portion of
that audience, so you can price it more
effectively in a target audience, which is how
you negotiate with other media, she says.
Opportunities to reach a certain audience are
how newspapers should be negotiating,
because that's how agencies work for their
clients.
Although newspapers offering ideas to
agencies are a rarity, it is always appreciated,
Harrison says. Newspapers should also try to
schedule a meeting at least once a year,
showing off their product, giving agencies
the lay of the land and updating them with
what has happened, and what the
newspaper's future plans are.
Make it real give us the inside story, she
says. Help us sell you.
ZenithOptimedia
Interview with
William Ames, media buyer
Headquarters
London
Web site
www.zenithoptimedia.com
In order to improve relationships between

agencies and newspapers, newspapers need to
become more flexible and competitive in the
marketplace, says William Ames, media buyer
for ZenithOptimedia in London.
We have a long way to go, because editors
rule the roost, says Ames. When proposing
new and innovative advertising units, its
typical to get the ideas shot down by editors,
he said. If newspapers are to survive, they
must become innovative with advertising
units.
Changes should be made with the editors and
the control they still have. They can still reject
an ad after it is submitted, and after they got
permission, Ames says. He uses the example
of a U-shaped ad submitted to a large UK
newspaper, which was rejected by an editor
who changed his mind after it had been
approved.
Another area of demand from agencies is more
accountability with print advertising
performance, Ames says.
There are numerous things you can do (to
achieve accountability). You can do direct
response, like place a Web address at the
bottom of the ad, and measure product sales,
he says. Measurement is embarrassingly poor.
The medium is working, but you cant show
which advertisements are working.
Mediaedge:cia
Interview with
Bryan A. Jackson,
senior partner and director
in newspaper investment
Locations
250 offices in 84 countries
Web site
www.mecglobal.com
Mediaedge:cia is a global communications

planning and implementation agency, which
had billings of US$17.9 billion worldwide in
2006. It offers services including brand and
consumer insight and ROI, communications
planning, media planning and buying,
interaction (digital, direct, search), sport,
entertainment and cause partnerships, retail

consultancy and Hispanic marketing.
Print advertising scale is slightly down in
2008, year-over-year, and at national papers
more than local papers, says Bryan A. Jackson,
senior partner and director of newspaper
investment. Meanwhile, he says that print
products, excluding online, are expected to
decline in next three to five years as circulation
declines.
One of the biggest frustrations or challenges
we had with publishers is that although
some of them are very good, really responsive,
but still some are just not willing, or not
capable of competing in the business like they
wish they would, he says. They are
sometimes unresponsive to our requests I
guess they did not realise the fact that their ad
share of media dollars diminished year-overyear.
So far, Mediaedge:cia uses price by
space/inches as their basic pricing method.
However, according to Jackson, some
performance-based pricing should be more
measurable and make more sense. But some
newspapers are reluctant to do so, and it seems
that it does not work for networks.
More and more newspapers nowadays are
proposing cross-media solutions, combining
print and online products. However, just like
print, there is not a lot of standardisation.
In terms of emerging advertising opportunities,
such as Google PrintAds, Jackson said its
good for non-traditional advertisers to be
introduced to newspapers. However, I dont
think a big, traditional agency print client will
go to Google PrintAds for the request, as
some of the advertisers still have a variety of
media needs, as well as performance
measurement. But for a smaller business
operating primarily online, which just wants to
be easy or a one-stop-shop, I think its a great
thing.
Jackson says newspapers still offer reach into
local and regional markets.
Well continue buying newspapers, Jackson
says. I think what newspapers can do is not
only offer us a reasonable return on our media
investment, but also reasonable relative to the
audience as the performance of a media.
35
36
3. Survey Overview
In order to better understand the relationship
between advertising agencies and newspaper
publishers, the World Association of
Newspapers conducted an online survey
targeting media buying decision-makers at
advertising agencies worldwide. The
respondents to the survey opted to respond
anonymously to the same set of questions as
the in-person interviews chronicled in Chapter
2. While the detailed survey only generated a
handful of respondents, the anecdotal responses
were useful and productive measures of media
planners and buyers thought processes,
reflecting almost identical conclusions as the
personal interviewsconducted by the SFN team
in Chapter 2.
Media Buying Landscape
The survey was conducted from October to

December 2008, and covers the following
topics:
New media, such as the Internet and mobile,

however, only generated a small percentage of
the billings, according to the survey results.
Media buying landscape

Advertising revenues: Print vs. digital
Working process
Pricing
Cross-media advertising campaigns
Agency relationships with newspaper publishers
The survey also asked about the change of each

mediums spending in 2008 and 2009, and found
that magazine and newspaper ad spending are
generally expected to move downward. The
two Swiss respondents said magazines
spending stayed the same in 2008, but will
According to the survey responses, newspapers

still played an important role on these
agencies ad billings in 2008. A respondent in
India said newspapers and cable TV both
contributed about 40 percent of the total ad
billings in 2008. One of the two respondents in
Switzerland said newspapers generated 70
percent of the total billings, while another
pointed out their biggest contributors as being
newspapers and broadcast TV, with 35 percent
and 33 percent, respectively. An Italian agency
said their ad billings in 2008 primarily came
from magazines (48 percent) and newspapers
(44 percent).
37
Question: Please Estimate the Percentage of Each Mediums

Contribution to the Total Amount of Your Company's Advertising Billings
in 2008
%
80
Mobile
Newspapers
Outdoor
Radio
Broadcast TV
Cable TV
Cinema
Internet
Magazines
70
60
70
50
48
44
42
40
40
35
33
30
20
10
0
15
15
10
1 1
5
1
0 1
India
4
0
Switzerland 1
7
2
TV media are generally promising, according

to the survey results. Respondents from India
and Switzerland all agreed that broadcast TV
grew in 2008, and will continue to rise in the
next year. Cable TV spending is expected to
grow next year in India.
0 0 0
Switzerland 2
Source: Building Relationships with Agencies Survey, Shaping the Future of the Newspaper, 2008
decrease in the next year. The responding

Indian agency said newspaper spending
remained flat in 2008, but will drop in 2009.
0 0
Italy
Outdoor is another bright spot in India, while

the Swiss respondents expected it to be flat in
2008 and 2009.
Radio and cinema are expected to perform
better in India, while in Switzerland, they are
predicted to be flat or declining.
In general, responding agencies are optimistic
about new media such as the Internet and
mobile.
Question: Based on Your Company's Spending, which Mediums

Spending has Decreased, Stayed the Same, or Increased in 2008?
Which Medium is Expected to Decrease, Stay the Same,
or Increase in 2009?
Response Broadcast TV Cable TV
India
2008
Increased
Stayed
the same
2009
Increase
Increase
Switzerland 1
2008
Increased
N/A
Cinema
Internet
Magazines Mobile
Newspapers Outdoor
Radio
Increased
Increased
Decreased
Increased
Increase
Increase
Decrease
Increase
Stayed
the same
Decrease
Increase
Increase
2009
Decrease
Stayed
the same
Decrease
Stayed
the same
Increase
Decrease
Stayed
the same
Stay
the same
Stayed
the same
Decrease
Increase
Switzerland 2
2008
Increased
N/A
Decreased Increased
2009
Increase
Increased Stayed
the same
N/A
Decrease
Italy
2008
2009
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Increase
Decreased Stayed
the same
Increase
Decrease
N/A
Decreased
N/A
Decreased
Increase
Decrease
Stay
the same
Decrease
Increased
Decrease
Increased
Increase
Decreased
Decrease
Increased Increased
N/A
N/A
Decrease
N/A
38
Decreased
Increased Increased
Newspaper Ad Revenue:
Print vs. Online/Digital
According to the survey responses, print ads
still accounted for the majority of overall
newspaper company ads. The Indian
respondent said newspaper ads in 2007 and
2008 totally came from print. One agency in
Switzerland reported online/digital ads
accounted for 10 percent of overall newspaper
ads in 2007, and expected them to grow to 12
percent by the close of 2008. Others agencies
only reported a very small portion of
online/digital ad in 2007 and 2008.
Newspaper Ad Planning
The survey also covered the challenges
agencies face during the ad process, and how
they think the situation could be improved.
Based on the survey responses, the three most
common challenges during the process of print
planning and buying are restricted budgets,
inflexible pricing and lack of performance
indication.
In order to realise better planning of the
market, these respondents mentioned several
kinds of information they need from
publishers, including subscriber demographic
data, reader media usage information and
frequently updated media data.
Updating reader data is important, said one
respondent from Switzerland. Versus TV or
other electronic media, print data seems to be
outdated.
We need more information on page-wise
readership, supplement readershipetc., said
the Indian respondent.
Newspaper Ad Buying & Pricing

Model
In terms of newspaper buying, most of the
respondents mentioned that current pricing is
an issue.
According to the three responses to the
question, all said they currently used the
pricing model by ad size. Two also used cost
per thousand, while performance-based pricing
was only adopted by one respondent.
On a five-point scale, all the respondents said
they think current newspaper advertising
pricing is expensive. They also think the
pricing is too rigid.
We need flexible rates, such as performancebased pricing, a Swiss agency said.
What really hinders print usage is pricing
We want better rationalisation of rates based
on readership, rather than increasing rates
arbitrarily due to input costs like newsprint
going up, the Indian agency stated.
Two of the respondents said cost per thousand
will be most reasonable pricing model in the
future. It is based on an accountable metric
that works for the brand and its target
audience, said the Indian respondents. Its
39
fair to all partners, according to one Swiss

respondent.
However, according to the other respondent from
Switzerland, performance-based pricing is the
most reasonable. Clients expect ROI Most
other media's pricing is performance based.
One Swiss agency said it needs help from

publishers for supporting/establishing
methods for measuring performance of print
ads/campaigns.
Satisfaction of Working
with Newspaper Publishers
Newspaper Ad Evaluation
Two out of the three respondents said they
measure newspaper advertising performance.
We evaluate product sales pre- and postadvertising, as well as performance measuring,
said one respondent from Switzerland, while the
India agency uses response-based evaluation
and ad awareness/brand equity parameters
intermittently as their measuring criterion.
We need more knowledge exchange on how
print advertising results can be measured innumerable cases available for TV ad
tracking, said the Indian respondent. It will
be great if publishers could co-fund brand
related research to build industry case studies.
Based on the three responses from India and

Switzerland, their overall experience in
working with publishers is fair.
The Indian respondent is dissatisfied with ad
package versatility, price flexibility and ad
schedule and placement flexibility. That
agency thinks newspapers did better in sharing
information, and has a neutral opinion in
responsiveness.
The two Swiss agencies said they are
dissatisfied with price flexibility, but satisfied
with ad placement flexibility. They have
neutral opinions on responsiveness, ad
package versatility and shared information.
Agencies Ratings of their Experiences

in Working with Newspaper Publishers
Question: On a scale 1 to 5, where 1 means very dissatisfied, 2 means dissatisfied,
3 means neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 4 means satisfied and 5 means very satisfied,
how would you rate the experience of working with newspaper publishers
in terms of the following aspects?
India
Switzerland 1
Switzerland 2
3
3
3
3
3
3
Overall
experience
Responsiveness
2
Ad package
versatility
3
3
1
Price flexibility
2
2
2
2
Ad schedule
flexibility
3
2
Ad placement
flexibility
4
4
4
Shared
information
3
3
0
1
very dissatisfied
2
dissatisfied
3
neither satisfied
nor dissatisfied
40
4
satisfied
5
very satisfied
Cross-Media Ad Campaigns
The respondents agreed that newspaper
publishers should propose cross-media
advertising solutions.
Consumers are not thinking in media
categories, one Swiss agency said. Most
publishers do not only publish newspapers but
radio, online, etc. So they are in a preferred
position to offer cross-media solutions, said
the other agency in Switzerland.
Media solutions today are all about media
neutral consumer engagement, the Indian
agency stated.
Although newspaper advertising still accounts

for the biggest contribution to the survey
respondents billings, newspaper advertising
volume is expected to diminish in the next few
years. Conversely, mobile and the Internet
represent a small percentage of billings, but
are expected to grow strongly for the
foreseeable future.
According to the respondents, the top three
challenges during the process of print planning
and buying are restricted budgets, inflexible
pricing and lack of performance indication.
These findings reflect the same sentiments as
those uncovered during the personal interviews
with media buyers and planners chronicled in
Chapter 2.
One of the greatest impediments to print
buying is pricing. All of the responding
agencies said current newspaper advertising
pricing is both too expensive and too rigid. The
respondents said a better rationalisation of
rates, such as performance-based pricing, is
needed.
Even though ad pricing by space is still the
most commonly used, a flexible pricing model
is preferred, such as performance-based, or
cost per thousand.
41
Recommendations for newspapers

on how to improve relationships with agencies:
1. Improve transparency on everything from
decision-making processes to rate changes.
If agencies understand why something is
happening, they are in a better position to
negotiate and work with you, instead of
resisting changes they don't understand.
2. Create an accurate invoicing scheme with
3. Make advertisers and agencies aware of
your value sell yourself! Showcase the
newspaper brand's entire reach and value
propositions across all print and digital
channels, rather than just circulation alone, or
online traffic numbers alone.
4. Make better and more scientific
accountability available to agencies about
newspapers' reach, frequency and advertising
campaign success.
5. Connect data on the newspaper brand's
reach to advertising opportunities through
fresh, detailed statistical analysis.
6. Streamline processes. This can include
reducing the number of rate cards and
ensuring they are logged into the newspaper's
database, switching to electronic billing and
payment and one-stop shopping on the
national level.
7. Be responsive. A trend in reducing staff
numbers has led newspaper advertising
departments to become less responsive to
agencies' requests, simply because there are
fewer people to do the same amount of work.
But whether ad staff numbers have remained
the same or been cut, responsiveness and
communication should be a priority, and
should be factored in when streamlining
processes to help ad staffs make the most of
their time.
42
10. Understand the typical media agency

structure, as well as any variations in that
structure when working with each ad agency,
as each is sure to be slightly different. If each
position in that structure is understood,
pitching to an agency can be done better and
more efficiently.
11. Take part in the media buying process at
an earlier stage by maintaining the
relationship with agency decision-makers,
and by providing the agency with campaign
ideas.
12. Forge a mutual understanding with the
agency on how to best meet the advertising
client's needs for each campaign.
13. Make sure your advertising pitch is
relevant, while also adding value to the
communications strategy of the brand you're
pitching for. At the same time, turn
presentations and pitches into discussions
and welcome suggestions from agencies.
14. Train sales representatives as thoroughly
as possible on pricing, offers and newspaper
audience reach before they call on agency
accounts.
15. Help agencies respond to new market
conditions, such as helping them factor new
channels into campaigns.
16. Reach out to consumers by taking
advantage of subscriber and user lists for a
better connection with them, without being
intrusive.
17. Add agency liaisons to the newspaper
advertising staff to facilitate better relations.
18. Promote product offerings, such as
special sections, targeted products or
polybags.
8. When assessing pricing, consider dynamic

pricing schemes based on each agency's
yearly or monthly contract volume.
19. Drill below major markets, to give

agencies more options to target through
buying specific markets or regions.
9. Be competitive in the advertising buying

landscape. Recognise the growing
competition for advertising dollars, and
provide more value in order to stand out in the
crowd.
20. Look at agencies individually. Although it's

important to be fair to all agencies, each
should be treated on an individual basis,
based on the present and future value to the
newspaper.
4. What Newspapers Want

from Agencies
Some agencies collaborate with us. Others

are just bullies.
Some agencies are hard to deal with. They
are only interested in price.
environment and not sales
Agencies dont trade on value. Thats just gone,
gone, gone. If we could trade on the true value
of our brands, it would be a better scenario.
Agencies ultimately need to discover a business

model that worksagencies are terrified, they
are doing more and more for less and less.
next campaign.
We want agency and publisher to act on

behalf of the customer.
We want to get into the campaign during the
request for proposal process.
The SFN team conducted interviews with

newspaper advertising executives and
determined that if newspapers could change
how they work with agencies, they would
improve a variety of factors, including:
We should make advertisers and agencies

aware of our value.
Based on the experiences working with
agencies, they primarily think we are a
newspaper. What we are doing is to build an
understanding with them that we are much
more than that.

Interview with
Denise Warren,
senior vice president and
chief advertising officer
Headquarters
New York City, United States
Parent company New York Times Co.

Source: New York Times Company Web site
43
The New York Times has long recognised the

value of building relationships with advertising
agencies, as it relies on agencies for most its
revenues. For years, The Times' advertising
department has had an advertising agency
relations group for maintaining and building
relationships with decision makers at perhaps
every domestic ad agency in the United States.
The print group has been so successful in
bolstering relationships, The Times has
recently launched a new group to develop
relationships with digital advertising agencies.
(The groups are) very tactical but very
important to maintain relationships and attend
events, says Denise Warren, senior vice
president and chief advertising officer of The
New York Times Media Group, including print
and Web for The New York Times and
International Herald Tribune newspapers and
digital operations.
The advertising department, which merged
print and digital operations and cross-trained
sales representatives in 2006, is organised by
industry. Sales representatives become experts
at the industries they sell to, so they can better
serve clients by partnering with agencies to
find unique solutions and innovative ideas
for advertisers, along with ad agency partners.
The Times 300 sales reps are divided into 20
industry categories, including auto,
manufacturing, real estate, finance, luxury
goods manufacturers, fashion, media and
entertainment.
Two Times advertising agency liaisons work
with agencies, while the whole staff works
with agencies on the marketers behalf.
We have done some unique projects where
there are some sweet spots to partner on,
Warren says. Among the nature of the
partnerships are customised research, research
& development and innovation in technology,
she says.
One challenge to partnering with agencies is
the disconnect between newspapers and
agencies when it comes to an integrated sales
approach. The Times integrated its sales staff
more than two years ago because marketers are
becoming more integrated, Warren says. The
problem is, the agencies are not organised that
way. Some are more silo-based and some are
integrated in all manner of ways. We have to
be flexible and accommodating. There is not a
perfect way they are organising.
44
Were seeing our clients demand work in an

integrated way at agencies. They are
demanding that, she says. Marketers are
moving in that direction, but it will take a long
time to reach nirvana.
The way The Times works with an agency and
advertiser is generally very client-centric,
Warren says.
Ill be careful not to generalise because there
is no one way of what is indicative of what is
happening today. We take a marketing
consulting approach to the business, and we try
to bring agency partners and client partners to
address their marketing issues. For every single
marketer, there are many ways to address the
problem with our services and our markets.
Warren says the agencies that are easy to work
with are those with the same best interests as
the Times; that is, to act on behalf of the client.
But there are those agencies that bully the
publications, and you have more of an
adversarial relationship in order for them to get
the best rate, she says.
A key objective in building relationships with
agencies is to get ahead of the RFP process
that is, to be a part of the conversation with
agencies and marketers on exploring the
objectives for an advertising campaign. Too
often, the publishers and broadcasters enter the
process at the media planning stage, and not
during the marketers request for proposal
stage, she says. Getting ahead of the RFP
process by understanding the objectives of the
campaign is the most important stage, that is
the ideal scenario. Thats what we would like
to get to.
You have to constantly build the relationship,
staying on top of the planning strategy and
understanding the customer account, she says.
There is always room for improvement in the
agency-newspaper relationship, and Warren
says she would improve these areas:
Better information sharing
More openness
Be on the opposite side of the table, to the
customers benefit
Develop a real partnership and
information exchange. Share advertising
campaign measurement so everyone can learn
success and failure lessons.
Work toward optimising the advertising
campaign system.
The Guardian
Cox Newspapers
The Guardian
Cox Newspapers
Interview with
Simon Kilby,
advertising manager
Interviews with
Headquarters
London, England
Leon Levitt, vice president

of digital media at Cox
Newspapers, and W. Michael
Clay, senior vice president
& chief revenue officer
at AJC Media Solutions
Headquarters
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Products
17 daily and 26 non-dailies
Parent company Guardian Media Group

Source: The Guardian Web site
The recession and the corresponding

advertising downturn, coupled with a massive
oversupply of advertising inventory in London,
has made the United Kingdom newspaper
advertising landscape challenging, according
to those newspaper advertising professionals
interviewed for this report. Agencies have
found ways to drive down newspaper and
online advertising rates in the midst of the
challenging advertising economy.
Simon Kilby, The Guardians advertising
manager, reports that ad rates have tumbled
over the years, a byproduct of agencies
leaning on publishers in the advertising
buying process. A buyer might say, if you
dont trade with me at this rate, they will leave
them off the schedule, he says.
The buyer's job in the chain of work is to get
the cost down, and that is what they are judged
against, he says. Advertising buying has
become a commoditised task, and not an
exercise of valuing quality publications over
lesser-quality publications. Kilby and The
Guardian team are trying to change the
mindset.
The only way to buy online advertising is
through The Guardians sales team. This is to
protect The Guardians premium product
from the downward price pressure from online
advertising networks, he says.
Its fairly one-sided what we try to do is add
value to the market, talk to planners, to make
them understand more about our products, he
says.
Parent company Cox Enterprises

Web site
www.coxnews.com/
Source: Cox Newspapers Web site

Cox Newspapers, a subsidiary of Cox

Enterprises, is one of the largest newspaper
publishers in the United States. With 17 daily
and 26 non-daily newspapers across the
country, it also owns direct mail businesses,
classified advertising publications, customised
newsletters and one-third of a newsprint
manufacturing business.
The new media landscape has changed the
dynamics between publishers, advertisers and
agencies, necessitating publishers to become
more actively involved in selling advertising,
says Leon Levitt, vice president of digital
media at Cox Newspapers. There is so much
publishers can do. We should make advertisers
and agencies aware of our value Let them
know we are worth different value.
With a variety of products (newspapers, Web
sites, direct mail and other publications), Cox
Newspapers can offer advertisers a suite of
solutions.
We no longer sell products. We are now selling
audience. We can guarantee relevant audiences
for advertisers Thats the most important for
publishers, he says. Our biggest challenges
are to transit display revenues from print to a
combination of print and online, as well as to
create an organisation that knows how to work
with agencies differently.
AJC Media Solutions

Cox Newspapers' flagship title, the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution, is the only major daily in
the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. The
paper also operates several Web sites and
many direct marketing publications.
45
The AJCs online properties include AJC.com,

accessAtlanta.com, and several other online
channels including real estate, autos,
businesses, jobs, health and others. According
to the 2006/2007 Gallup Poll of Media Usage
& Consumer Behavior, AJC Web sites reach
52 percent of Atlanta's core based statistical
area (adults 18+) who have had Internet access
in the past 30 days.
Advertising via the AJCs direct marketing
products also reaches different demographics,
such as Atlanta Savings & Values, Value
Clipper Magazine for savvy consumers,
Comics Wraparounds & Gatefolds for children
and TV Week Wrap or Pop-out for television
lovers. Some of the products also reach nonsubscribers, such as Reach Jacket.
The AJC's total print and online audience
reach is more than 2.3 million people each
week, according to the newspaper.
With its variety of products, the AJC has been
offering cross-advertising solutions for the
local Atlanta market for a long time. However,
in order to bring the three ad vehicles into one
and make it more effective and cost efficient,
the AJC recently decided to reposition and
rebrand its advertising and marketing
capabilities to the local community in an
initiative, called AJC Media Solutions.
What we are working on is building an
understanding with our direct clients, as well
as clients that advertise with us through an
agency, that we are much more that just a
newspaper. Through the use of these three
platforms we can meet a wide range of client
needs, says W. Michael Clay, senior vice
president and chief revenue officer of AJC
Media Solutions.
The initiative launched internally on Oct. 16,
2008, and between November 2008 and
January 2009, the AJC is going to engage
around 1,400 clients face-to-face, Clay says. A
business-to-business Web site,
YourAudienceDelivered.com, will be launched
in late January 2009. Several marketing
communications campaigns via print, direct
mail, e-mails and others will be launched then
as well.
The re-branding initiative is aimed to deepen
the relationship between advertisers and AJC
as well as facilitate the whole ad process.
In the past, we had separate contacts for print,
46
online, and direct mail, Clay says. With the

restructure, well have a single point of contact
who will sell our entire portfolio across
platforms. This will secure advertisers to get
more consistent messages and better pricing
efficiency.
Were not intending to compete with
agencies, he says. Based on the experiences
working with agencies, they primarily think
we are a newspaper. What we are doing is to
build an understanding with them that we are
much more than that... We are now thinking
more around solutions, listening to clients
needs, instead of just driving products,
products, products with clients.
5. Can You Sell to Agencies?

By Eamonn Byrne
Since my introduction to the newspaper
business years ago, I have been alternately
puzzled and amused by newspaper companies
efforts to sell advertising to agencies.
Why on earth would it be necessary for any
company to sell to its own agent, I asked
myself?
I realise some readers will consider the idea
that agencies work for the media company
plain wrong, so we had better immediately
clear this up. So riddle me this: If agencies do
not work for media companies then why do
media companies pay them?
Moreover, if they do not work for the media
then why make the payment in the form of a
commission? Why pay commission to a party
you are selling goods and services to? Is it a
bribe? The answer to the riddle lies in history.
In the 19th century, agencies were agents for
the media, who by dint of an inconvenient
geography sold ads on behalf of a newspaper
in return for a commission.
Over time, their empathy for the advertiser

turned to sympathy, and their monogamous,
revenue-inspired marriage to one newspaper
broke down and became polygamous. The
agencies evolved and the peculiar situation we
have today emerged, whereby we in the media
treat them as valued clients and also pay them
for the privilege of serving them.
So, the first thing to get straight before you
attempt to sell anything to your agent is the
relationship. Following the money is always
good advice when exploring relationships.
Of course, the nature of the relationship varies
from market to market and from culture to
culture, but I unilaterally propose the
following:
I will pay the agency commission in return for:
1. The agency bears the financial risk of
collecting the money from the client and
paying me (the media company). In order to do
this I expect financial guarantees backed by
more than goodwill. Hence I expect the agency
to be recognised by a suitably qualified body.
The process of recognition will be ongoing
47
and require the agency to demonstrate its

financial ability to bear client debt and
discharge those debts accordingly.
2. I expect the agency to advise me as to how I
can best earn a place in the clients media plan.
And I absolutely expect the agency to put
forward my proposal to the client in every
particular, or tell me why they will not do so.
If they refuse, and they are perfectly within
their rights to do so, I reserve the right to see
the client directly. I also reserve the right to
meet the client, assuming the client wants to
meet me, whenever I expect to receive full
advertising production materials that meet the
specification of my media on time.
In other words, I expect the agency to earn
their commission. If not, then the commission
will be reduced.
And many readers will observe that all the best
agencies have no problem with any of the
above.
The relationship is properly a partnership,
between the agency and the media, both of
whom are working on behalf of the client.
3. Much of what is written about selling to

agencies dwells on the importance of the
relationship. OK fine. But I expect grownups to get on well together, especially if they
are being paid to do so.
Good relationships are a pre-requisite to
maximising sales opportunities but a good
relationship is about far more than being
liked, or friendly.
It is a very big mistake to think that getting
on well with the agency is the same as
selling to them. Those who delude
themselves that it is are foolish, and those
who pay them, fools.
4. Ad salespeople should know as much
about advertising and their media as
possible, including the currencies and the
practices of planning and buying. Media
currencies are the standard audience
explanations that media planners and buyers
use to plan and buy media.
Reach (number and percent of the target
audience reached)
Frequency (Gross and average)
To understand how media buying and
planning works, the above is a minimum
level of understanding for a salesperson to
sell to a professional agency.
5. Many agencies are struggling with
integrated media planning. Take your pitch
for a multimedia package to the client, and
you may have a better chance of success.
6. Agencies crave ideas that incorporate all
the media channels the newspaper company
has access to. Again, involve the client in this
plan.
The next big theme is understanding the

structure of the agency and where the
decisions are made.
Typically, by the time the newspaper
salesperson arrives at the agency, the media is
already selected for the campaign.
These are my rules for a mutually beneficial
partnership with agencies, derived from
experience:
1. Remember, you have rights when dealing
with agencies you do pay them, after all.
2. Understand the structure of the agency, and
determine where you can best influence the
agency.
48
7. Know as much about your key competitor

media as you do your own and in particular
see point 4 and apply it meticulously in
regard to your competition.
8. Be aware of the current fashion. Integrated
media packages are currently vogue in the
United States and Europe.
9. Also, use the words audience and
engagement a lot. Multimedia works harder
at engaging audiences so big multimedia
ideas are often well received.
10. Despite all of the advice you receive to
the contrary, in my view it is usually a
mistake to keep salespeople servicing the
same agencies for too long. After a short
while they become so immersed in the

agencies views they begin to represent the
agency and sell the agencies' views back to
the newspaper. I recommend moving
salespeople around at least every 12 months.
The following report is from the Media Skills
Qualification, Module 2. This is an eight-part
training programme inspired by agencies and
media in the United Kingdom.
Principles of Selling to Agencies

and Key Clients
A recent survey conducted for MediaWeek
cited lack of knowledge as the main
complaint media planners and buyers have
about media owners. They also said that they
would like to see more time spent asking
questions and listening, to see more creative
ideas and use of case studies, together with
less of the standard facts and figures.
Listed below are recommendations to assist
newspaper sales representatives in making
your face-to-face discussions with both agency
and key account customers more successful.
1. Maximise each contact: If you are seeing
the real decision makers, the people whose
input really counts, then appreciate that time in
front of them is valuable, and get the most
from these very limited opportunities. By the
same token, do not waste their time with a
scantily prepared presentation and no real
value to them in seeing you.
2. Understand the formal structure and the
informal power base: This is the only way you
will be able to get under the skin of the
decision making process. You may well have
to respect the reporting lines within the formal
structure, and it does no harm to do so. The
key to success, however, is to know who really
counts and to ensure that they are not excluded
from any opportunity to develop business.
3. Speak their language: This applies both
literally and metaphorically. Language is a
powerful indicator of intelligence, experience
and understanding, and using the same words,
phrases, etc. (in the appropriate context), as
another party creates positive impressions.
With agencies, failure to understand industry
terminology and abbreviations, or to be unable
to use it appropriately, constitutes a barrier to
communication, to credibility, to business

relationships and ultimately to sales
effectiveness.
No one expects you to possess the same level
of knowledge about the clients business, but
demonstrating a working knowledge of how it
operates (and using terminology appropriate to
their business is one way of demonstrating
this) will help to build their confidence in you,
which of course carries through to confidence
in your sales proposition.
4. Be memorable: In the right way! Rather
than simply going in with the stock in trade
selling points, look to make your
communication unique in some way. Finding
new, relevant selling points about your title(s),
a creative presentation or style, genuinely new
ideas, or really developing and becoming
known for a particular skill, such as use of
research, will help you to stand out from the
other sales executives looking for a share of
the business.
5. Present figures at the right level: It is your
responsibility to be able to interpret and
work with data at the very highest level.
Many planners and buyers expect it. Not
every client is as media literate as this, and
there are times when it is more appropriate to
be able to select some top-line information
and present it simply, in a context where it
makes sense and has impact. You may be
able to find out from the agency what the
clients level of familiarity with industry data
is, or you may have to ascertain this when
you establish contact and pitch your
presentation accordingly.
6. Present relevant, accurate data: There are
few things more damning than to present
information that is then contradicted by the
person you are selling to! Make sure that facts
and figures you present are accurate, and as up
to date as possible. Always know your
information sources and be able to explain
them and stand over their validity. Whilst
being able to demonstrate a working
understanding of a clients business is a must,
remember that they are the expert in their field,
as you should be in yours. In other words,
dont try to tell them how their business works,
or quote figures about sales and market share
as if you are the world guru on them!
7. Present data persuasively and make it
interesting: Figures do not just speak for
49
themselves they work best if their

significance is clearly and concisely explained;
if they are put into a meaningful context with
analogies and examples.
is a strategic reason to do so. Keep tabs on

what is happening, work with wholesalers if
you can, but dont keep going over the same
ground. Think of yourself as a brand:
8. Dont bullshit: If you dont know, admit it.

Responding with a quick answer off the top of
your head, and then expanding on it is usually
transparent, and there may well be someone in
the meeting who does know the answer and
may or may not choose to show you up. If you
can make an educated guess at something, then
by all means do so, but make it clear that that
is what you are doing and always check it out
afterward.
What do you want the brand image to be?

How do you achieve stand-out in the mind of
the customer?
9. Sell in advance: Most decisions need to be

made in advance and the earlier you can
present ideas, the better. Money can often be
found for a real too good to miss, but there
arent many such opportunities around, and
more often than not, a late pitch means even
more pressure than usual for discounts on the
basis of it being a late, unplanned activity.
10. Admit weaknesses and promote
strengths: No title or medium is perfect. If
you are confronted with a valid criticism
about your title(s), acknowledge it, but put it
in the context of the most attractive positives,
and/or what is being done to address this
limitation.
11. Know your product inside out and upside
down. This is the one area above all others
where you must know more than either the
client or the agency. It is not enough to simply
be able to churn out topline information the
client or agency could access themselves. For
their time with you to carry real value, you
should be bringing something more to the
party. This could include a better feel for the
title's character, new data, a different slant on
existing information, special areas, editorial
and a real qualitative comparison with the
competition.
12. Dont act as if you have a divine right to be
on the schedule: This has tended to be a
criticism of some of the bigger media owners,
but given the breadth of media choice no one
can afford to be complacent.
13. Be realistic: Dont keep knocking on the
same door if nothing has changed. If a client
does not have distribution in your area, it is
highly unlikely they will use you unless there
50
14. Create opportunities for contact: Provide

cuttings about their clients. Keep abreast of
changes within the agency. Follow up trade
press references to activities affecting them
or their clients. Use these to follow up
whatever stage you are at in developing the
business.
15. Dont discard smaller agencies: Small
accounts do grow. A small agency may handle
a piece of a bigger account and be able to
assist you with other parts of it. Small agencies
are often staffed by senior people who have set
up a business for themselves and have a raft of
experience and contacts that can work in your
favour.
The Agency-Client Relationship:

When to Involve the Client
Media owners and publishing groups have
different attitudes about making direct
approaches to advertisers whose business is
generally placed through a recognised
advertising agency.
These range from a no contact to an at your
own discretion policy, with most falling
somewhere in between. While you must
respect whatever guidelines you are given, it is
imperative that you understand the following:
That the advertiser is not the exclusive
property of an agency, whatever they may like
you to think!
Advertisers are businesses that work hard to
get the best returns on their products and
services. They may use one or more agencies.
They may change agencies. The relationship is
neither taboo nor immortal. Many advertisers
actually do want to have contact with media
owners. Meanwhile, many media owners are
capitalising on this by developing teams who
work with both the agencies and the clients, in
whatever way is most appropriate, to develop
and implement better solutions and ideas for
all parties.
Given the pressures clients are under from

increased brand competition, advertising
clutter in some channels and the ad avoidance
of time-pressed consumers, the need for
creativity and strategic solutions is arguably
much greater than it would have been some 10
years ago. It requires in-depth mutual
understanding between the media owner of the
brand objectives and the client of the solution.
Some lucrative and high-profile business is
handled directly between the media owner and
the client. For example, on Tesco TV, 60
percent of advertising is booked direct. IPC
did a 750,000 deal direct with McDonalds, as
did the UK National Magazine Company with
Proctor & Gambles Head and Shoulders a
move initiated by the brand contacting one of
the magazines directly. Consider also that
some of the biggest advertisers in the business
habitually work directly with media owners. In
the United Kingdom, for example, this
includes furniture center DFS, supermarket
chain Lidl and opticians stores Specsavers.
Direct contact with the client is becoming
more prevalent, and according to recent
research conducted by Emap Advertising and
the London Business School, nine out of 10
Marketing Directors expect to work more
closely with media owners in the next five
years (MediaWeek, March 2005).
The agency is, however, our principle in
placing business on behalf of the advertiser
and, as such, we should respect the importance
of their relationship with us and with their
clients. The key to success is understanding the
nature of the relationship and making a
professional approach, which works for all
parties.
consistently rejected by the client (allegedly)

or by the agency with (apparent) excuses
rather than reasons, then discuss with the
agency the option of presenting to the client
alongside them.
If an account is under review and the agency
is reluctant to pursue initiatives and proposals,
you may also wish to approach the advertiser.
This is obviously easier if you have managed
to build up a relationship with them in the
meantime, and the agency will either accept it
or take action themselves.
If the agency seems to be blocking ideas
and/or trying to block you from seeing the
client, then there is no reason for you not to
directly approach the client. Remember,
however, that the advertiser employs an agency
for a reason. Such a move will certainly
aggravate the agency, so think carefully about
your reasons and the implications of doing so.
Never approach the advertiser without
making the agency aware that you are doing it.
Even if the agency does not like the idea, they
are at least in a position to do something about
it. Going behind their back is cowardly,
unprofessional and likely to backfire,
especially if the agency and advertiser have
any sort of reasonable business relationship.
Eamonn Byrne is the business director for the

World Association of Newspapers and
managing director of the Byrne Partnership, a
newspaper management consulting firm based
in the United Kingdom. Byrne can be reached
at [email protected].
Guidelines for Direct Contact

with Clients
Be guided by the agency if business is going
well. The client may prefer not to be involved.
Offer opportunities for non pressure contact,
such as invitations to appropriate social
functions or an annual business review
attended by all three parties. You can use these
to dig out more information, build a
relationship with the client and work on future
business from there.
If you are presenting proposals that you are
genuinely convinced are appropriate, and are
51
52
Conclusion
In the real world, however, many

relationships between agencies and
newspapers have become strained, as
miscommunication or lack of
communication, exacerbated by problems
with rate cards, contract rates, lack of data
and invoices pile up over the years, driving
a wedge between the two parties.
No relationship is perfect, and that of the
newspaper and ad agency is no exception.
The SFN team's discussions with people from
agencies and newspapers yielded the following
comments on what agencies wish newspapers
would realise:

systems.
card prices or why prices have inexplicably risen.
... as well as what newspapers wish agencies
would take notice of:
environment and not sales
next campaign.
The common goal between newspaper

companies and advertising agencies is to serve
the advertiser. This service, from print ads to
cross-media campaigns, is the bread and butter
of both parties. In a perfect world, agencies
and newspapers would tackle problems as they
arise, mending any dispute on the spot, in
order to get back to business.
Agencies dont trade on value. Thats just

gone, gone, gone. If we could trade on the true
value of our brands, it would be a better
scenario.
Those at advertising agencies say if newspaper

advertising was easier to buy, and if
53
newspapers provided more data, such as

market information and campaign
effectiveness, agencies would be more inclined
to give newspapers more attention, and
probably more business, due to better data to
back up those purchases.
Newspapers indeed can make changes, which
will lead not only to more business, but also to
smoother, more pleasant dealings with
agencies on a daily basis. Opportunities for
change that agencies around the globe echoed
are for newspapers:
To make buying simpler, with streamlined,
electronic processes and the creation of
networked buys across newspapers in a given
region or country.
To create an accurate invoicing scheme with
To create fewer rate cards, and to ensure that
the rate cards are logged into the newspapers
database.
To assess advertising pricing, and to consider
dynamic pricing schemes depending on the
agencys annual or monthly contract volume.
Inform agencies in detail about cross-media
advertising opportunities through fresh,
detailed statistical analysis.
To train sales reps more thoroughly about
pricing, offers and newspaper audience reach
before they call on advertising agency
accounts.
However, newspapers are doing many things
right and making advancements, such as:
Wide reach in their communities
Easy to attain local and targeted audiences
Value added features, such as post-it notes
and polybags are positive differentiators
Research on newspaper consumers, usage
patterns and lifestyles are increasingly
valuable for planning media campaigns
Newspapers build high reach quickly
Production costs are low when compared to
other media
Newspapers are a highly credible advertising
environment
Coupons lend themselves to direct response.
Newspaper is the new black. It's ripe for
invention, says Kathy Heatley, vice president
and director of local investment for Starcom
MediaVest Group in Detroit.
In the future, Heatley says she thinks
newspapers will need to sell audience, and
price accordingly. Anything that doesn't sell
54
actual audience, such as colour charges or

premiums, is nonsense, she says.
Susan Harrison, a partner at the Chicago-based
Davis Harrison Dion, agrees. Agencies work
for their clients based on audience, and as
more audience data becomes available,
newspapers should increasingly do the same
and negotiate based on audience, she says.
A lot of times we're looking for a portion of
that audience, so you can price it more
effectively in a target audience, which is how
you negotiate with other media, Harrison says.
Or as William Ames, a media buyer for
ZenithOptimedia in London, put it: If
newspapers are to survive, they must become
innovative with advertising units. More must
be done to achieve accountability, he says.
Meanwhile, both sides need to have an
integrated sales approach, says Denise Warren,
senior vice president and chief advertising
officer for The New York Times Media Group,
which integrated its sales staff more than two
years ago.
Were seeing our clients demand work in an
integrated way at agencies. They are
demanding that, Warren says. The problem
is, the agencies are not organised that way.
Some are more silo-based and some are
integrated in all manner of ways. We have to
be flexible and accommodating. There is not a
perfect way they are organising ... Marketers
are moving in that direction, but it will take a
long time to reach nirvana.
Warren says she believes bettering agencynewspaper relationships revolve around two
points: better communication and focusing on
serving the customer:
Better information sharing
More openness
Be on the opposite side of the table, to the
customers benefit
Develop a real partnership and information
exchange. Share advertising campaign
measurement so everyone can learn success
and failure lessons.
Work toward optimising the advertising
campaign system
Solving problems cannot be done only through
change on one side. But, if newspapers apply
appropriate solutions, not only will their
relationships with agencies benefit, but their
own businesses will also see rewards.
THE PUBLISHER
World Association of Newspapers
7 rue Geoffroy St-Hilaire
75005 Paris, France
Tel.: +33 1 47 42 85 00
Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48
E-mail: [email protected]
WAN CEO
Timothy Balding
SFN DIRECTOR
Martha L Stone
[email protected]
+ 1 847 778 9806
SFN EDITORIAL MANAGER

Leah McBride Mensching
SFN BUSINESS ANALYST

Erina Lin
PAGE AND GRAPHICS DESIGNER

Marianne Audouard
GUEST WRITERS
Robert Ray
Eamonn Byrne
World Association of Newspapers

WAN January 2009
The contents of this report may be used in whole or part by publishers in the execution of their business. Use of any part of the
content or intellectual property herein for the purpose of representation or consulting requires prior written consent of the author. Any
reproduction requires prior consent of WAN.
55
STRATEGY REPORT
Shaping the Future of the Newspaper
Volume 8 N2 JANUARY 2009 WAN
ANALYSING STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES IN THE PRESS INDUSTRY
A World Association
of Newspapers
project supported
by four strategic
business partners

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What are advertising agencies and what is their role in media buying?

What are advertising agencies and what is their role in media buying?

What do agencies look for from newspapers?

What do agencies look for from newspapers?

Shaping the Future of the Newspaper

ANALYSING STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES IN THE PRESS INDUSTRY

Volume 8 N2 JANUARY 2009 WAN

Advertising agencies and

WORLD ASSOCIATION OF NEWSPAPERS, 2009

VOLUME 8 REPORT N 2 BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH ADVERTISING AGENCIES

JANUARY 2009 SHAPING THE FUTURE OF THE NEWSPAPER

VOLUME 8 REPORT N 2 BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH ADVERTISING AGENCIES

Sometimes it feels like two warring parties are

JANUARY 2009 SHAPING THE FUTURE OF THE NEWSPAPER

Finally, the report analyses the current and

Buying newspaper advertising is complicated.

Similarly, several newspaper advertising

would improve a variety of factors, including:

Some agencies collaborate with us. Others

The report chronicles numerous interviews with

The report provides analysis and conclusions

VOLUME 8 REPORT N 2 BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH ADVERTISING AGENCIES

In my agency life, I have been lucky enough to

about setting up the deal, rather than managing

JANUARY 2009 SHAPING THE FUTURE OF THE NEWSPAPER

availability and an effective rationing of media

To my earlier point: Why bother building a

The UK national press groups have long

So, after the war and during a period of

In answering this, I have three key points:

1. The benefits of building a

I won't elaborate on these, as they're pretty

VOLUME 8 REPORT N 2 BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH ADVERTISING AGENCIES

2. Getting better receptivity

Have a clear brand and business focus:

the terrible pitches from media owners

agencies buy good people.

we once had a dire pitch from X (a major

casting the wrong people is a nightmare.

There are many factors that make for a

absolutely bloody vital.and passion.

JANUARY 2009 SHAPING THE FUTURE OF THE NEWSPAPER

Every year, we run various industry awards.

3. Things to avoid (like the Plague)

Failing is simply about failing to address what

Robert Ray is the marketing director for the

VOLUME 8 REPORT N 2 BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH ADVERTISING AGENCIES

1. The Advertising Agency

The relationship between newspapers

JANUARY 2009 SHAPING THE FUTURE OF THE NEWSPAPER

Media agency: The players

4. Media Buying and Negotiating: To

VOLUME 8 REPORT N 2 BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH ADVERTISING AGENCIES

Comparative Strengths and Weaknesses of Media

Builds frequency quickly

Source: Media Federation of Australia, industry research

plan. The planner will focus on the consumer

Longer lead time particularly for monthly magazines

World Association of Newspapers 2008-2009