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How freedom from media buying allows LA, west coast agencies to drive more creativity

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By Natalie Mortimer | N/A

September 29, 2016 | 3 min read

The low number of media buying agencies based in Los Angeles and along the US west coast, is leading the city’s creatives to drive more creative results for their clients.

Los Angeles

How freedom from media buying allows west coast agencies to drive more creativity

With the majority of media agencies based elsewhere in the country, creative agencies are harnessing the freedom of not being bogged down by thinking about channels and, as a result, are coming up with more creative work.

For Lisa Marchese CMO of The Venetian, The Palazzo, Resort Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas working with west coast agencies feels less “media driven”.

“I think that you can find great creative anywhere in the world, I’ve had agencies in Minneapolis, San Francisco, but there is a gravitas or a critical mass in LA of amazing agencies,” she said on a panel at Advertising Week New York.

“The other thing from the client side is that it doesn’t feel so media driven, the conversation with a west coast agency doesn’t feel like it’s about ‘what are you going to buy and what are you going to place?’, it’s really more about how do we craft the idea, and the story and we will get to the media.. but being disassociated from the channel owners helps the outcome.”

For Culver City based agency Pitch the less direct connection to media buying presents both a challenge and an opportunity, because while the idea for a campaign takes the spotlight, in many cases, brands are looking for an agency that has media buying in-house.

“Most of us are little bit more on the idea, and it is up to us to drive our people to stay on top of the freshest thing in media, and how customers are receiving messages,” said Rachel Spiegelman, president, Pitch. “Something that happens is we will get invited to search consultants who are helping brands that are looking for a nimble and entrepreneurial spirit, and then they say it would be great if you had media buying… inevitably 99 per cent of the brands pick an agency with media buying in house.

“I do think that LA is different from New York in that our connections to media buying is not as direct, we all do comms planning and its really about driving that communications strategy and so it’s about hiring the right strategists, and making sure your creatives know why this brand is on Snapchat.”

TV Media Planning Creative Advertising Week

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