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It has been more than 2 months since the world was affected by the coronavirus pandemic, which affects all sectors of the global economy. The world of media and advertising is not an exception and will continue to experience the consequences of this phenomenon for the rest of the year.
This impact is not only related to the type and methods of advertising (creative changes, budget redirection, etc.), but also affects the different relationships clients have with their partners in the communication industry, specially with media agencies.
Media Auditors sees and understands the relationship between the client and agency) evolves. As intermediaries in that relationship, the emergence of Covid-19 has led us to adapt our work structure to ensure that our clients continue to improve their performance and stay competitive in today’s market that evolves rapidly due to extraordinary circumstances.
CONTRACT AUDITS
One of the main aspects that has changed in Media Auditor’s daily activities is our regular work with agencies, and the performance of contract audits. The physical review of the agency’s office is an important aspect of analyzing work teams and deliverables, billing, and rebates.
Previously, we spent several days at the agency’s office to review their contractual compliance with the client. Today, we are performing all these reviews remotely. That is, instead of physically reviewing invoices, we audit them by video call. This is also the case with the increase and decrease of personnel, which we oversee online with the head of the central.
Although initially we believed that our activities would be greatly impacted, in reality we have optimized the processes in a simple and highly effective way. We have not experienced any delays and the agencies are prepared to show us the necessary information and receipts remotely. We are happy to inform that our deadlines have not been at any point.
For us, the current situation has proven to be a very positive and important experience, especially since 2020 is been a year with a high number of contract audits. Not only that, but the advertisers are already considering doing them in the following year and contemplating it in their plans. And how can we not contemplate it?, if evidently 2020 is such an irregular year, which makes it necessary more than ever to be able to corroborate that the agreements with the central have been maintained, that the work team has complied with the agreed time of dedication contractually and that the client is getting what he pays (as it should be).
2019 left us very interesting data regarding the results of contract audits and both this and the next year, clients consider it a basic service in their budgets, since it not only gives them returns against what is invested, but helps them maintain a fair relationship with their media agencies, obtain the agreed commitments and receive recommendations relevant to their current situation.
Some interesting facts about the audits carried out in 2019 by Media Auditors:
- Average team rotations of 45%
- The average investment x FTEs (Full Time Employee) of 29.5 million Mexican
- On average, advertisers receive 4.5% rebates on their media investment.
- 36% of the recovery of the audits comes from remuneration and teams, and 64% from the rebates.
- Audits conducted by Media Auditors for clients generate on average more than 1 million US dollars. The pay back of this service is 13 times what is invested.
AND WHAT ABOUT PERFORMANCE AUDITS
At a time of greater uncertainty and major changes in the market, it is more important to carry out audits and to have clarity of how we are placed against the market, mainly with advertisers of the same investment range and/or sector. This is due to several reasons:
Get the best possible optimizations of your media budgets, since there is an 80% decrease in brands.
The client will obtain a constant update of the market with the changes that are taking place, which are reflected from the way of negotiating with the media that have the highest investment share and knowing how the negotiations are in relation to the market.
The new market dynamic also offers opportunities, such as getting higher quality space in certain media as there will be less saturation. In the case of Television, there has been an increase in audiences in time slots that were less used and, without a doubt, in the case of Digital, more possibilities open up due to changes in consumer habits in this medium.
In addition to these opportunities, the importance of assessing whether the planning has been carried out efficiently both quantitatively and qualitatively and how we are in front of the rest of the advertisers is added.
We must consider that we are in constant change due to the situation in which we find ourselves. There is a before and after in the habits and attitudes of consumers, in the media, the brands and their values. In times of uncertainty, it is important to have a partner that offers an accurate vision of reality.
Crédito de Imagen: «Designed by Freepik»
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