IPG Mediabrands Releases First-Of-Its-Kind Partner Survey, Following Launch Of Media Responsibility Index

Following the launch of Mediabrands’ Media Resposibility Index last year, a social media platform audit based on Mediabrands’ Media Responsibility Principles, geared towards protecting brands and the communities that a brand serves, the Mediabrands UK team have launched the Partner Survey, as a way of embedding the agency’s Media Resonsibility Principles (MRPs) into their broader partner ecosystem.

The Mediabrands Partner Survey is an assessment of partners that Mediabrands works closely with, marked against their adherence to the MRPs, as well as the transparent and ethical approach to advertising that the partner demonstrated.

The Partner Survey is part of a larger effort aimed at enhancing brand safety and media/corporate responsibility in advertising, and offers Mediabrands a clearer understanding of their media partners. The survey included a comprehensive questionnaire assessment of all vendors, scored by MAGNA. This provides Mediabrands the opportunity to make more informed media planning and buying decisions on behalf of clients, as well as offering greater transparency of supply chain, deals and trading approach.

Split into six categories, the survey asked questions around Responsibility, Pricing/Value/Transparency, Inventory Quality, Data, Reporting capability and Creative, of more than 100 regional and local partners across 7 of our EMEA markets. This enables Mediabrands to have the most comprehensive view of partners in categories which are crticial for clients as well as the broader industry.

Key findings of the Mediabrands Partner Survey include:

• A number of partners fell short of the new standards that Mediabrands have implemented through their Media Responsibility Principles strategy
• Even where responsibility policies exist, there is very little in the way of accountability and policy enforcement.
• The majority of respondents do not yet have a strong stance on the environment and sustainability
• Many of the top-scoring partners hail from ‘traditional’ media backgrounds, such as TV and print
• Premium content providers, such as Newsbrands, score well – reinforcing the drive for premium, curated marketplaces Distributors need to take greater ownership of monetized content, despite not being the content creator or having ownership of the end platform