ContextWeb's Internet Advertising Blog

Interpublic's Quentin George in Interview Prior to September 25th Panel (Part 2 of 2)

Today we are running Part Two of our interview with Interpublic's Quentin George who serves as Managing Partner, Cadreon and Chief Digital Officer of Mediabrands (see Part One here). This is part of our series of Q&As with top agency execs on our upcoming panel discussion, "Agency Demand Platforms: Is Everyone a Media Trader?" during Advertising Week this Friday, September 25th at 11:00am until 11:45am.

George, in charge of Interpublic's "Cadreon" demand platform joins a panel of agency executives with similar responsibilities including Curt Hecht, President, VivaKi Nerve Center, VivaKi (Publicis); Matthew Greitzer, Vice President of Search Marketing and Head of ATOM Systems at Razorfish; Darren Herman, Founder & President, Varick Media Management (MDC Partners) and Nathan Woodman, Managing Director, Adnetik (Havas). ContextWeb's Jay Sears will moderate a discussion about the "demand platform" strategy of each company.

To attend the event as a guest of ContextWeb and the ADSDAQ Exchange, you can register here. ContextWeb's ADSDAQ Exchange is donating $25 for every attendee to GeneratioNext.

We'll be posting Q&A with panelists and further information leading up to this event, so make sure you subscribe to our Internet Advertising blog, follow ContextWeb on Twitter and join the Ad Exchange Traders Group via LinkedIn.

Yesterday, Interpublic's George told us how there are too many "broad reach" networks, that 30+% of their spend (and growing) is with exchanges and networks and how "the traditional planning and buying model is not suited to keep up with the rapid pace of evolution at scale."

Today George describes the new skill sets required within agencies and how he is not purchasing media but audience. George also tells us Interpublic is "simply not willing" to engage in the arbitrage model GroupM's Rob Norman has discussed publicly.

Now, Part Two with Quention George:

As you continue to implement your agency's trading strategy, does it permeate across the agency, requiring new skill sets among employees and new workflow for the purchase and assessment of media? Or is the strategy concentrated in a trading group or division that acts in a service capacity to existing client account groups?

There is definitely a new skill set required for managing these types of demand platforms.  Employees must take into account things like market dynamics, futures pricing and multivariate decisioning in order to execute buys effectively.  There is also a requirement for constant observation and optimization - much in the way a trader continuously observes the stock market today. 

We have chosen to build out a specialized team in Cadreon that is better suited to manage this evolving practice, and we have provided them with a sophisticated technology platform that allows them to execute these new skills effectively.

At the 2008 IAB Annual Meeting, Rob Norman, Global CEO of GroupM Interaction Worldwide said: "Today, we plan and trade on behalf of our clients. Tomorrow and in some places today we also trade on our own behalf where we can create value and deserve our place in the chain... We charge at the moment for the cost of inputs but again if we charge on the basis of the value of the outputs we are perfectly entitled to do that too." Should it be permissible for an agency to conduct arbitrage? -to purchase media for the "house" and re-sell it to clients, making a spread?

We believe that the kind of arbitrage that Rob Norman highlights suggests a potential for conflict of interest that we are simply not willing to engage in.  There are many services that we provide to our clients in the execution of their campaign strategy and the management of this new type of buying, and these new services provide tremendous value.  We prefer to be compensated for these activities that help drive performance and campaign effectiveness for our clients, rather than marking up the cost of inventory.

This is consistent with our business model both in the US and abroad.  While compensation models are certainly evolving, we believe that the greatest benefit lies in new types of services that we can offer our clients and the new relationships those can help us cultivate. 

Agencies should be strategic partners to their clients - helping to drive their business forward - and there is great opportunity in the industry today to move in that direction.

Do you buy media or audience for your clients?

Using enhanced and sophisticated targeting capabilities; we are purchasing audiences for our clients.  We believe that it is more important to hit the right target for each campaign, rather than broadcasting a message out to a large audience.  There is inherent waste in the practice of messaging people that do not fall within a client's audience profiles, because there is a cost associated with every impression served.  If a person is off-target, then messaging them is ultimately wasting money.

Do you believe in the substitutability of media? Quantcast says you can reach 13 million users looking at sports content on ESPN and you can reach 16 million users looking at sports content on the ADSDAQ Exchangeand that both audiences have similar demos. Say pricing for ESPN is $30 (CPM) and ContextWeb's ADSDAQ Exchange is $8 (CPM). Discuss.

The best way to approach crafting a campaign strategy is to strike the appropriate mix between multiple types of inventory sources.  In many cases, it will make sense to execute on both of the above sources - ESPN and ADSDAQ - but the key is determining the ideal balance that will ultimately drive the best results for a particular campaign. 

That balance will also vary greatly, depending on the pricing thresholds, the delivery goals, the success metrics and the overall objectives of a campaign.

Tell us about you.

What's the best conference you attended in the last two years?

TED - most inspiring, most engaging, best content

If you could be appointed to any position in a US Presidential cabinet post, what position would it be and why?

I'm a South African, I'm sure you can find someone closer to home that's better qualified.

Your LinkedIn profile: www.linkedin.com/in/qgeorge

Your Twitter account:QuentinGeorge

Your Company's Twitter account:Mediabrands

Thanks Quentin!

Tune in tomorrow for more Q&A with our panelists in advance of Friday's big event.

Need to register for this Friday's panel discussion, "Agency Demand Platforms: Is Everyone a Media Trader?" during Advertising Week (Friday, September 25th at 11:00am until 11:45am)?

To attend the event as a guest of ContextWeb and the ADSDAQ Exchange, you can register here. ContextWeb's ADSDAQ Exchange is donating $25 for every attendee to GeneratioNext.

We'll be posting Q&A with panelists and further information leading up to this event, so make sure you subscribe to our Internet Advertising blog, follow ContextWeb on Twitter and join the Ad Exchange Traders Group via LinkedIn.

Subscribe to our Internet Advertising blog, follow ContextWeb on Twitter and join the Ad Exchange Traders Group via LinkedIn.