Why size doesn’t matter
Media agencies, be they independent or multinational, are often very focused on the size of their overall billings. Match Media founder John Preston argues that the industry’s preoccupation with billings is unhelpful, particularly within the independent media agency space.
There appears to be a fair amount of preoccupation at the moment around size… i.e. size of billings rather than the quality of work created. And, the size of billings seems to be a shout-out from some media independents.
The only media independent that had the right to claim the scale argument was Mitchell Media.
Under Harold’s rein he was all about size and I don’t mean that in a rude way. He was a viable contender on scale with the multinationals and that’s how he played to win.
Well said John. A great article and so true. I’m happy to sing from that same hymn book.
James Fitzgerald
Managing Director
Media Merchants
Nice one John.
Nic Halley
Mindbox
yes, well said John. Total billings are to media agencies what awards are to creative agencies – a deceptive, lazy, manipulatible and ultimately meaningless tool used to market services to lazy and manipulatible clients who couldn’t be bothered understanding and articulating their own needs and measures of success
Age old ‘quality, not quantity.’
Still a pearl.
Well said. And 100% true. Great stuff.
John, your argument is logical but limited. How do you measure “best quality”? Sounds like a subjective debate no one wins. And surely billings growth is a strong indicator the agency is doing good work, for their clients. Also, if billings size isn’t important, why did you quote the numbers in your article?