Nowhere is this more starkly evident than in the area of media. For media, even more than creative, is an act of faith: you commit a large sum of money based on a bunch of numbers and jargon, and never get to actually see what you approved and paid for, except through another arcane bunch of numbers. All the while, flirtatious agencies come calling, suggesting that you may be paying too much. And in the end it all comes down to rates and agency compensation: how cheap the agency can buy and how little it charges for its service, never mind the quality of its advice about what to buy.
That would be a humbling thought, if those were indeed the right questions.
The trouble is not simply that they are not, but that it is media agencies that drive clients this way. For if the seller talks price and obfuscates value, you can't expect the buyer to do the opposite. What's the rationale for the media mix? Are the recommended media weights appropriate? Is the plan optimum for delivering the weights? Are those CPRPs based on slot ratings or programme ratings? It is to ask the right questions on their behalf that clients hire media auditors.
Regrettably, the response of media agencies in much of Asia to the nascent idea of audit appears motivated: whether it is the suggestion that lack of transparency is a corollary of rates being negotiable; or that a market the size of Japan is not mature enough; or the notion that media auditors are there to catch agencies on the wrong foot. The best, of course, is the if-you can't-beat-'em-join-'em response of a media agency setting up an auditing service and expecting it, presumably, to be considered independent and objective. A CEO who gets his media agency to be his media auditor may as well let his CFO run internal audit too.
Part of the answer lies, perhaps, with the media audit firms, who have the opportunity to set the tone for this as yet new service. This is the time to position their proposition clearly and create the right climate, instead of letting media agencies feel insecure. It is then that the right sort of clients too will see them in the right light. As Erwin Ephron, considered the father of modern media planning, said, "It's a paradox, but you need auditing more when the client-agency relationship is good than when it isn't. Those clients aren't comfortable closely questioning agency claims of superior planning and buying."
As for media agencies, those who are driven by media value, not price, should welcome - even encourage - having on the client's side of the table someone who knows the subject and understand the issues. And I don't know about you, but I would rather negotiate my contract with a media auditor than with procurement.