Maxus global CEO admits media agency standards have not been good enough

October 26, 2016 10:24

The global CEO of WPP’s media agency, Maxus, has admitted that media agency standards of reporting and transparency have not been good enough and more needs to be done.

Pattison: “Industry standards have not been good enough”

However, Lindsay Pattison said in the wake of scandals such as the local revelation of value banks and other questions about media agency practices, Maxus’ parent, Group M, is now taking a “market leading stance” on the issue.

Speaking at the AANA Reset conference in Sydney, Pattison said that there was also an urgent need for third party verification and that media platforms could no longer “mark your own homework”.

Subscribe to keep reading

Join Mumbrella Pro to access the Mumbrella archive and read our premium analysis of everything under the media and marketing umbrella.

Simon Canning

Simon Canning was Mumbrella's marketing and advertising editor from 2015-2017. In a career spanning journalism and communications over more than 30 years Simon has become one of Australia’s most respected analysts and commentators on the advertising, marketing and media industries. A regular commentator on radio and TV, Simon has also worked in media in the US and UK .

Topics

AANA compliance Lindsay Pattison Maxus media transparency RESET WPP

3 COMMENTS

Tom Rice 26 Oct 16

You have to admire GroupM for the PR job they have done in turning their reporting scandal into a market wide issue that they are taking the lead in.

User ID not verified.

Global Auditor 26 Oct 16

We agree Tom. And the irony is that Group M would have some seriously big ‘value bank’ balances courtesy of the old ‘slip discounts’ they instigated with media owners in the early 2000s’ I wonder what will become of that inventory..

User ID not verified.

Y Axis 27 Oct 16

You can’t mark your own homework – that is unless you are marking your own black box programmatic product. Then it’s fine.

User ID not verified.