Categories: Articles

What Are Media Planners And Buyers Going To Do?

On a previous Blog posting, Give A Little Love To This Coke Ad, I made some indirect statements pointed to media buyers. I am wondering if people who work on the media side of advertising truly understand the deep consequences of what’s happening now?
I can’t say for sure that Coke, or its agency, posted this Grand Theft Auto-inspired commercial to YouTube. I can say that if the media buyers did not, then they’re stupid.
But who gets the last laugh?
Let’s say Coke’s agency did post the Grand Theft Auto-inspired commercial to YouTube. Now, they’re going back to the client to show the millions of downloads – which does not include the viral component or the many other video game and advertising sites that are now posting it – that cost them… zero dollars. Just some time to upload it, maybe spread the word a little and you’ve got millions of free impressions (and tons of publicity).
Where’s the motivation for Coke to run the spot on TV (which is where the real bucks are made for media buyers)? How can media buyers continue to make their commission if the real traction of these commercials are finding a home online, where it’s free to post and people will engage in it (if it’s awesome)?
This Coke ad is just another ad, in a long line of many, which proves how a 30-second spot with great creative can still work. The challenge is that the spot is working in a medium it was not created or intended for.
What are media buyers going to do if the best creative work is being spread for free and getting the recognition it deserves without a fixed air date or an end?
What service can media planners provide when a quick upload to YouTube will demonstrate (re: test) how much (or how little) the general public cares about an ad?
These are only a handful of immediate questions that I care to post. I guess I am looking to the media people of the world for some answers.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.