Principal-based media buying is all the rage among the big ad holding companies even though many of their clients see it as a swizz. Essentially it means agencies buy media in bulk and flog it on to clients at a profit. Media broking in other words, traditionally frowned upon but the agencies need to make their money somewhere – don’t they?
It used to be the case that clients would insist that their media budgets were spend on proven media than performed best for the brand. But amid the digital tidal wave – where nobody seems to know what exactly they’re buying, they just want lots of it – most clients will go along with principal trading if they think (or are persuaded) that it’s cheaper.
Now there appears to be another hunky big beast in the mix – Facebook owner Meta. Meta has risen to global dominance by being able to evade the big media agencies: SMEs in particular can buy a Facebook package without paying extras. Obviously it deals with the big ad holding groups too but they have precious little leverage over Mark Zuckerberg’s grasping empire.
Now though, according to reports, it’s actively talking to the big holding companies about buying Facebook and other Meta platforms in bulk and selling it on.
On the face of it, this doesn’t sounds very Zuckerberg (above) at all (Meta loves its margins) but if there are big bucks in it, Meta seems keen to trade.
With matters online there’s usually a fly in the ointment and in this case it may be that Meta will say you only get the best deals if, indeed, you do buy in bulk. Thereby leaving less for competitors like (in the West at least) biggest rival TikTok.
For some media agencies anyway it does, for the first time in years although possibly not for ever, put them back in the driving seat. Clients may moan and groan but that’s modern media life for you.
