Media Buying Briefing: Where media agencies will focus their energies this year
This year, 2023, might offer the murkiest start to a year in recent memory — it’s simply unclear where the brand marketing ecosystem (and all its participants) will end up financially, even though we know it’s not starting from a great place.
Clients of media agencies remain uncertain about business conditions in 2023, and as a result have delayed decisions on marketing budgets, as well as where to spend those budgets given the huge increase in choices they have and decisions they have to make. At the end of last year, media agencies prognosticators predicted a decent year in media spend this year, in the higher single digits — but scaled back from larger increases they had called for earlier in 2022.
In this column this week, we’d like to establish the biggest opportunities and challenges that lie ahead in 2023 for all media agencies, whether holding-company-owned or independent. But before we get to that, and speaking of holdco vs indie, what remains unchanged is the constant tussle between the two as the latter try to steal away a larger share.