Admittedly, outdoor is an easier medium than TV or print for advertisers to negotiate directly, but the Unilever deal clearly shows that media agencies can ill afford to sit still in terms of what they bring to an advertiser's table. Media shops will have the business so long as they keep demonstrating that they can make a difference. Otherwise, more deals like Unilever could be in the offing, putting a further squeeze on incomes.
LEADER: Media shops must play up their worth
Unilever's 100 million euro pan-European deal with JCDecaux should have media agencies sitting up and taking notice only because it signals the rather slipperly slope middlemen tread today.
