More and more advertisers use the services of a media agency for their media work
The Media Research Group has released its annual ranking of media agencies. The top three spots are occupied by the same agencies as last year.
By Walter Weder, Media Research Group
Some «experts» believe that the media agency is a thing of the past. However, developments in the Swiss advertising market over the past few years, at least, paint a completely different picture. The number of the top 750 advertisers working with a media agency has surpassed the 500 mark for the first time this year. In 2014, the figure was 457 (60.9 percent); last year, it was 485 (64.7 percent); and now, in 2016, it has already reached 511 (68.1 percent). Of these, slightly more than half (52.5 percent) work with a media agency that belongs to an international network, while 47.5 percent work with a national media agency.
The Media Agencies Rating, which has been conducted by the Media Research Group since 2003 among the top 750 advertisers in the Swiss advertising market, consists, on the one hand, of questions on which all advertisers are allowed to comment (brand awareness, overall impression, and recommendations) as well as questions about specific agency services (strategy, creativity, consulting, and media buying), which may only be answered by those who actually use these services as clients of the agency being evaluated. The former reflect an agency’s growth potential, while the latter reflect client satisfaction with their agency.
Mediaschneider and Mediatonic are the best-known media agencies in the Swiss advertising market
When asked a question designed to determine an agency's name recognition, the respondent can provide information about any media agency,
– he knows what this agency stands for,
– he is familiar with some of this agency's projects/clients,
– he only knows this agency by name, or
– He doesn't know anything about that agency.
Mediaschneider remains the best-known Swiss media agency, but it has lost some of its absolute dominance. While 91 clients said a year ago that they knew exactly what this agency stands for, only 76 said the same in 2016.
A year ago, 50 clients said this about Mediatonic. Now there are already 61. The two best-known media agencies in the Swiss advertising market are therefore agencies not affiliated with an international network. They are followed in third through sixth place exclusively by network agencies (OMD, Havas Media, ZenithOptimedia, Mindshare).
Mediaschneider and Mediatonic are the most frequently recommended
The picture is practically the same when we ask clients which agency they would recommend to a colleague. mediaschneider is most frequently recommended to a colleague. But here, too, it has lost its big lead. Last year, mediaschneider was recommended by 67 clients, in 2016 only by 55. mediatonic is getting closer here too. In 2015, mediatonic received 49 recommendations, now it has 51. All other agencies receive less than half as many recommendations as the two frontrunners.
The overall picture of the assessment is characterized by great stability
The average score for the overall impression of all agencies remained exactly the same as last year at 7.55 points. This is despite the fact that some agencies saw strong gains (PHD +0.56 and Mediakanzlei +0.32), while others suffered significant losses in some cases.
There were also extremely minor changes in the average scores for the four categories: strategy, creativity, consulting, and media buying. The score for strategy remained exactly the same as in 2014 (8.37). The score for creativity has declined slightly, by 0.01 (7.64). Media agencies have improved very slightly in media buying (by 0.04 to 8.63). However, in the area of consulting, they have now suffered a decline for the second time in a row (down -0.18 to 8.43).
The same agencies are on the podium as last year
As has been the case every year since the “Media Agencies” agency rating was first published in 2003, mediaschneider has once again claimed the top spot on the podium this year. The victory is clear, but not quite as overwhelming as last year’s. The total score across all 7 categories has declined slightly, by 0.31 points, but remains well above the 2014 score (5.83).
Mediatonic, the perennial runner-up, managed to narrow the gap with mediaschneider by 0.8 points, but still trails by 4.2 points. Things get interesting starting with third place. Havas Media has closed the gap on Mediatonic by 2.8 points while simultaneously extending its lead over fourth-place Konnex by 2.0 points. The top three spots thus appear to be firmly established for the foreseeable future. The top three agencies did not achieve their high rankings simply because they were rated by only a few „favorable“ clients. Quite the opposite is true. They are all among the most frequently rated agencies. Mediatonic, for example, has 49 client reviews.
The 2016 Agency Rating lists 16 media agencies. New additions include mediafactor and PHD. Both have, for the first time, met the required minimum of 10 evaluations from their own clients. Agencies not listed here have not met this requirement.
Media Cutter 60.20
Mediatonic 55.98
Havas Media 53.34
Konnex 51.01
Mediaplus 50.68
ZipMedia 50.32
OMD 50.22
Media Law Firm 48.02
The Generation Media 47.26
Mediafactor 46.92
TWMedia 45.83
MediaCom 45.61
Mindshare 45.19
Carat 43.66
ZenithOptimedia 42.97
PHD 41.65
Mediatonic – in 2nd place with a balanced score sheet
Because mediaschneider’s overall score dropped by 0.31 points while Mediatonic gained 0.5 points, Mediatonic closed the gap on mediaschneider once again. When asked about overall impression, Mediatonic achieved the highest score of all media agencies at 8.89 and ranked among the top three in each of the four individual performance categories surveyed: strategy, creativity, consulting, and media buying. Mediatonic has thus been the «agency with the most satisfied clients» since 2013.
Havas Media is the best network agency
The top duo of the Swiss media agency scene is completed by Havas Media, which is the only one that can keep up with these two. In contrast to them, Havas Media was able to improve its overall score by 3.32 points in 2016. In 2014, Havas Media was still 0.96 points behind Konnex in fifth place. Last year, it made it onto the podium, 0.33 points ahead of ZIP Media. In 2016, it was able to consolidate its place on the podium. Its lead over 4th place is now 2.33 points. As always in recent years, Havas Media is therefore also the best network agency; once again ahead of OMD.
Konnex, Mediaplus, and Zipmedia—the closest competitors
In fourth through sixth place are three other national media agencies: Konnex, Mediaplus, and ZipMedia. Konnex and ZipMedia have ranked higher in the past, while this is the first time Mediaplus has placed this high. All three have improved their scores, with Mediaplus showing the greatest increase (+3.4 points).
Konnex received the highest score of all agencies for strategy. ZipMedia took first place in two disciplines (consulting and media buying) and also achieved the third-highest score for overall impression. Mediaplus made it onto the podium as the third-best agency in consulting and otherwise secured its top position thanks to a well-balanced performance across all disciplines.
OMD with the largest increase in points
OMD ranked fourth in the 2013 agency rankings, slipped to sixth in 2014, and fell as low as tenth last year. In 2016, it regained its former strength, gaining 4.73 points—the most of any agency—and climbed back up to 7th place. It did not achieve this turnaround simply because fewer clients submitted their ratings. On the contrary. OMD was rated by 31 clients (the third-highest number among all agencies).
National media agencies also in the next four places
In spots 8 through 11, four more national media agencies follow: Mediakanzlei, The Generation Media, Mediafactor, and TWmedia. Mediakanzlei received the highest score for creativity, with 8.77 points. This puts it 1.23 points above the average score for all agencies. The second-highest score (8.62 points) for creativity went to Mediafactor, which was included in the agency ranking for the first time in 2016. The third-highest score (8.45 points) went to The Generation Media, which also took third place for its media buying.
The network agencies are lagging behind
With the exception of Havas Media, which ranked third, and OMD, which ranked seventh, the major network agencies failed to make an impression in this ranking. They occupy the lower ranks or did not even meet the requirements to be included in the ranking. This is not due to a lack of name recognition, as all of the well-known network agencies are found in the top half of the rankings. This unfortunate situation can be remedied primarily by improving their own performance and communicating it effectively.
About the study
In 2016, 352 of the 750 advertisers surveyed participated in the Advertising Market Study, which serves as the basis for the Agency Rating. Of these, 335 answered the Agency Rating questionnaire. A total of 23 agencies were surveyed. Sixteen were rated by at least 10 clients and thus met the requirements for publication of the results. The survey was conducted by the Media Research Group from mid-January through the end of February.
Additional findings from the advertising market study are available here: Mediaresearchgroup.ch
