The discussions around principal media have grown steadily over the past 12 months.

It was less than a year ago I was penning explainers for Mumbrella in the wake of the ANA report on the evolution of principal-based media. As I noted, at the time, the evolution of the rebate into a new form was raising serious questions for marketers, but many were unaware that the rebates and value banks of old had evolved.

Now barely a day goes by when a client or agency doesn’t raise it. It’s become one of the most written-about topics in recent months both globally and increasingly locally. Then this week, at the Future of TV conference, the topic broke through in a way it hasn’t in years, when senior agency leaders Mark Coad, Amy Buchanan and Chris O’Keefe were asked about it on stage.

Principal media refers to the ‘non disclosed’ means by which holding groups are now trading on behalf of their clients. Now to be clear there’s nothing inherently wrong with the practice – if it’s disclosed to the client.

One thing that has been fascinating about this discussion is that it’s been framed as a battle between good and evil. I’m not sure that framing is entirely helpful. There are marketers out there who knowingly enter principal media arrangements fully aware of what they are and how they work and see benefits.

There are also many marketers who worry that they are being pushed into arrangements that are not transparent and where the benefits to them, as the client, are far more murky. This is what I think independent agency leader O’Keefe is referring to when he says principal media is “80% evil”. We should acknowledge the fear many CMOs have: that principal media are deals so good they really have to be kept secret from the advertisers who are funding them.

TrinityP3’s Stephen Wright

A quick refresher for those who might have forgotten: principal based media trading emerged from agency holding groups who established stand alone trading entities through which their media agencies purchase activity for clients.

These trading divisions would then broker favoured deals with media owners guaranteeing volumes of inventory across the group in exchange for additional commissions and incentives.

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