The pitch: Grab media saddle for advertising's wildest ride

By KEVIN MALLOY*

It wasn't that long ago that a job in an agency media department was a mixed blessing.

It was seen as a great way to get your foot in the door, but really, who wanted to stay in media and be a geek and a number cruncher?

The real action was being a creative or better still, an account executive.

The world has changed. Today some of the most high-profile, challenging and highly paid jobs in the industry worldwide are in media.

The two biggest assignments in advertising history - P&G's buying in the United States and GM's planning in the United States - were both media-only pitches.

The winds of change first blew through Europe - and in particular, the United Kingdom - in the early 1980s.

Clients felt they were no longer getting the best creative and media talent from under the same roof.

They decided to go a la carte and appoint agencies for media-only assignments.

So, media independent companies such as Carat swept across Europe, taking media assignments from traditional full service agencies.

When agencies finally caught on to the threat, it led to the unbundling of media departments from ad agencies and the formation of separately branded (and in some cases financially autonomous) media operations under the holding company umbrella.

The United States was slow to catch on, but now media powerhouses such as SMG (Publicis), OMD (Omnicom), Mindshare (WPP) and Universal (IPG) dominate the landscape.

Today virtually every major multinational in the United States has a dedicated media agency.

Despite this, there are still those in the industry - mostly agency heads - who bemoan the breakdown of the full-service approach.

They often point to a loss of integration with the removal of in-house agency media departments.

What they are really bemoaning is a loss of power, control and, most significantly, money.

In my experience, a financially independent media operation is more likely to be treated as an equal partner in the communications process.

It will always be better resourced with tools, systems and thinking that adds value.

The challenge now for media companies is to step up to the next level. To move on to the next stage of development, because the smartest and most demanding clients are no longer satisfied with services that operate within the traditional boundaries of media planning and buying.

They no longer want their media partner to think within the confines of language such as reach, frequency, efficiency and cost per thousands.

They want a partner that understands relevance, attentiveness, effectiveness and return on investment.

They want a partner that will operate upstream as part of the strategic process.

But for now, anyone offered an opening in the media side of the advertising world should grab it with both hands. They will be in for a wild ride.

New Zealand punches above its weight in the international creative world, there's no reason why this market can't also be a hothouse for smart, innovative media thinking.

* Kevin Malloy is Chief Executive of Starcom Mediavest International