The Upfront section of the June 13th issue of AdWeek has brought to light an issue that has perplexed me for nearly 20 years. The article discusses the recent ANA eight-month study focusing on media buying practices. The study has highlighted some “disconnects” between media buying organizations and their clients. One of the major concerns addressed is the fact that many media buying organizations regularly receive kickbacks and rebates from the media as an incentive to buy. From what I’ve observed, as unethical as this practice seems to me, it should come as no surprise since those who partake of such ill-gotten gains are in no way trying to hide the fact.

I have heard stories of media buyers given elaborate “gifts” from the media vehicles they buy and that has always been a mystery to me. I have always worked for ad agencies that would dismiss anyone who accepted anything more than a generous holiday lunch or an occasional platter of cookies.

On more than one occasion, I have been stunned by stories of broadcast executives inviting a media buyer and their entire family on an elaborate cruise. I have always wondered how a buyer can claim impartiality under those circumstances. It is such a huge conflict of interest.

A few years ago, we won a sizeable media account. They came to us because their former agency was posting at about 75% on average and they wanted to push that up into the high 90’s. One day during the transition, they mentioned in passing that they were getting sick of visiting their former media buyer and seeing all of the photos of the various cruises she’d been on – as a result of their media spending.

My only real question is, how has this gone unchecked for so long?

My suspicious nature makes me doubt Gary Vaynerchuk’s apology regarding his agency’s epic gaffe. Is it possible they were able to find the one event planning vendor who’s been living in a cave for the past 50 years, Read More

Everyone in the office knows. They are okay with it.  And they didn’t tell me.  Read More

I’m wondering if it’s a good thing to comprehend great differences in the creation and delivery of advertising content over the past – yikes – 35 years. Read More

Omaha-based creative marketing communications company Bozell introduces its 2016 summer interns. Read More

Instagram has become known as a collection of colorful images and videos published with varying hues. Their updated logo and app now match this vivid community. 

As detailed in Instagram’s blog post on Wednesday, “The Instagram community has evolved over the past five years from a place to share filtered photos to so much more – a global community of interests sharing more than 80 million photos and videos every day. Our updated look reflects how vibrant and diverse your storytelling has become.” 

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Creative marketing communications firm Bozell received fifteen industry awards at the 2016 American Marketing Association (AMA) Omaha Pinnacle Awards on Thursday. Read More

Creative marketing communications firm Bozell received multiple Service Industry Advertising Awards including a Best of Show award for their work on First National Bank’s Unforgettable Firsts Integrated Campaign. Read More

Traditional definitions of what it means to watch TV are changing. And changing rapidly. Today subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services are nearing majority penetration of US households, and nearly two-thirds of global respondents in a recent Nielsen study say they watch some form of video-on-demand programming (long- and short-form content). Read More

Magazines were always a big deal to me when I was a kid.  First was Highlights with the hidden picture games and stories.  Eventually Teen, then Seventeen came along.  I felt excited anticipation when the new issue of my favorite magazine arrived in the mail. Read More