Media agencies are ‘bland’ vanilla ice cream, says Initiative’s Mat Baxter
“There aren’t many disruptors in the media agency space anymore. Everybody is pretty boring and bland,” global CEO of media agency Initiative Mat Baxter told the out of home industry at a fireside discussion yesterday.
And his chief strategy officer Sam Geer took it one step further. “This is how we see the media agency market,” Geer said, pointing to an image of a dessert. “That’s vanilla ice cream. Homogenised, standardised product … It’s the same shit.”
Initiative’s global CEO, Mat Baxter
Geer said most agencies trumpet meaningless promises, like: “‘We’ve got the best data … we can give you guys one to one, hyper-personalised ultra efficiency like no one else can’ and it’s a race to the bottom. It’s the same rubbish”.
The mission for Initiative then “is to try and bring the colour back, is to do something, is to challenge our clients”, according to Geer.
“I think there’s far too much subservience in this industry,” he said.
Geer tells the out of home audience that Initiative is striving to “bring back the colour” to the vanilla ice cream media agency landscape
Both Geer and Baxter acknowledged that Initiative hasn’t always met this new mission.
“We are a new Initiative, different from the anaemic Initiative of past,” declared New York-based Baxter, who is in Australia to appear at Mumbrella 360. He pointed to the fact that the media agency has seen 14% growth year on year as proof of that.
“We went through, just locally, lots of different leaders … new business wins were not particularly impressive, and honestly, the agency had had stagnant growth for a long period of time.”
But the theme wasn’t just for Initiative to do better, but to also demand better from clients.
“The fact that clients are relentlessly expecting us … to underwrite their new business growth and their agency appointments, which I think the time has come to call that out publicly and start to really put some pressure back on the client for that behaviour to stop,” Baxter said.
He also criticised new CMOs who think a new strategy needs to come from a new agency.
“You’ve got to plan for the long term. Changing your agencies like you change your underwear doesn’t get you stability, consistency, long term growth,” he said.
“Every time a new CMO comes in, the order of the day seems to be ‘I’m gonna swap my agency out’. And when the average tenure of a CMO now is maybe two to three years, that’s changing your strategy a lot.”
The answer for agencies? According to Baxter, it’s simple: have good ideas.
“And those good ideas are disappearing. Because we’re investing all our time and money in data and analytics, and all of that energy and effort has been diverted from the core pursuit of what we should also be about, which is creativity,” he said.
“If you look at the composition of media agencies, they’re heavily weighted now to that [data and analytics] end of the business. And you look at how many agencies are investing in strategy, genuine strategy. And you can count them on one hand.”
But he was quick to establish that originality doesn’t always mean innovation, and innovation doesn’t always mean success.
“Innovation is overdone. Just because you can innovate it, doesn’t mean you should, or that it’s any good. And I think we over-innovate often,” he said.
“Old isn’t bad. Old actually sometimes can be great.
“You don’t need to be new. You don’t need to be media first. You don’t need innovation. But you do need brilliant execution.”
Baxter emphasised the need to focus less on “the shiny, sparkly objects” and more on “the most obvious solution right in front of us”.
And Geer agreed, arguing that, ultimately, the out of home game is simple: “You sell rectangles and we buy them.”
Brittney Rigby was Mumbrella's deputy managing editor - news and analysis. She left Mumbrella in April 2021.
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So if in a desert of homogeny, you do not need innovation, and all you need is “brilliant execution”, and to look at “the most obvious solution right in front of us”, then why would a client pay for a media agency strategy or ideas. Just buy cheap spots and dots – job done.
This interview makes no sense.
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More confusing, soundbite, contradictory claptrap from Matt.
It’s not us, it’s them, well, it’s also kinda us but not anymore, or at least it wouldn’t be if it weren’t for the clients that don’t pay enough/don’t like our ideas enough, and it’s all about strategy and being creative at our core – we have three cores: data, science, creativity and execution (ok, that was 4 but were innovating all the time) – but not shiny stuff, the real stuff, sometimes it can even be old like the standard, homogenised vanilla ice cream we’re absolutely not because it’s shit, and because swearing every now and then proves our pashun and commitment to be who we’re not in an innovative (but real) way like a new type of un-shiny gold we will probably make our strategy and add to our core, giving us 4 which is a lot more than other media agencies.
It’s laughable, naive, wholly unsurprising and entirely why media agency fees will continue at rock bottom.
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I agree. Every single agency does the same thing. It must be a hilarious for a client pitching their business – 5 agencies walk in with the same product. I work in an agency and I’d be attracted to another agency with a clear plan of how they’re going to disrupt – even if its not successful at least it would be interesting.
Mat has always been ballsy with his ideas and been outspoken, I wish more agency leads would follow that form.
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“We are a new Initiative, different from the anaemic Initiative of past”
So how do you think clients like Bunnings (still can’t work out the Amazon conflict here??) Officeworks, ISF, Specsavers etc feel when they hear that . They’ve stood by your agency for years . Are you going to credit them back for the years of anaemia?
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This website really should have a like button. Well done for making me laugh on such a dreary day.
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How does the New Initiative feel about Chip Tuesdays?
Asking for a mate.
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UM must be feeling great right now being referred to as bland.
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this has been Baxter MO for years – walks into Mediacom “we are no longer the shit Mediacom we were” … then walks into UM “we are no longer the shit UM of my predecessor” … then into Initiative “we used to suck but now we don’t such as much, apart from when we do.”
Let the work do the talking … the points he makes generally are spot on but the habit of trashing his predecessors is tiring.
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Look out everyone, Mat’s back in town and looking for a headline!
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Dear Matt,
Here’s a thought . When you’re on stage tomorrow please confirm that non of your agencies would ever place a cent of your clients spend with a media owner that doesn’t result in your agency or IPG receiving some sort of incentive for an increase of share or hitting a revenue target.
Once you’ve done that you can keep preaching to us mere mortals .
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The only thing ‘bland’ is the fact Baxter is white, pale and stale. How about some diversity in the leadership of media companies?
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So much posturing and chest beating from all sides. Lets face it – media agencies or any other silo are no better than each other. My advise to clients has always been to ignore the agency brand and find out about who is going to be working on your business day to day – that is what will make a difference to your business. There are plenty of below average operators in great agencies and great people working in average agencies – seek the good ones out and incentivise them to stay on your business (and pay the agency fairly to resource your account adequately).
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Word!!
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Articles like this are why I hate agencies and their staff in general.
Thank god most businesses are moving to a client direct service model and providers are no longer at the whim of a 22 year old planners current mind state – e.g – whether they have had a big weekend, broke up with their bf last night, feeling magnanimous and want to dish out $15k, etc
PS – how good is it working with smart, considered marketing professionals these days!
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Wow. Who hurt you
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I thought it was all Facebooks fault?
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Brutal, but also true.
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Again no work to back up Baxter’s hyperbole. How many presentations / talks / articles will there be without a single example of his less vanilla work. Saying the agency has grown by 14% is not a prof point in such a commoditised industry. Show us the work (not the money)
But please let us see examples of Initiative rum n Raison flavoured work?. It’s certainly not on their generic website.
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yep – spot on
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Keep it nice mate OR if you wanna be rude to the people who work long hours and very hard to achieve in agency world at least put your name to your insults…
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[quote] “it’s the same shit”………”its the same rubbish” [unquote]
Vanilla ice cream is the most popular and enduring icecream available.
Think ice cream, think white vanilla orb sitting on a cone. Think cheese, I bet it’s a wedge of Cheddar. It is more than a coincidence, that anyone who claims to have a new idea or a better mousetrap, begins by denigrating the classics and the status quo.
About 45 years ago, I remember a man in a three-piece suit giving a television interview which was actually a disguised commercial for his products, which were sheets and pillowcases. The theme of his blurb was “The term Manchester is dead” I don’t know what he and his bedding are doing today, but the term Manchester endures.
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i don’t get your reference to underpants and clients changing agencies. you say client shouldn’t change as often, but the average is every 4 years.
I’d hope you change your pants more often than every 4 years MB.
Lots of what you say i do agree with, but the way you say it is un-refined, undignified for a CEO (more akin to a door to door salesman and un-substantiated. I think your website idea is going to back fire very badly. It’s a pants idea.
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