The Evolution of Media Buying and Technology: A Contracting Dilemma

Abstract

Advertisers were once able to target sixty percent of all U.S. households by running an advertisement (‘advert’) during the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. With the increase of media channels available to consumers, driven primarily by the growth of cable television beginning in the 1970s and the mass adoption of the internet that occurred in the 1990s through today, audiences have become increasingly fragmented, making it significantly more challenging for advertisers to find their target audiences. As consumers have moved to a digital world, the rest of the advertising industry has had to do the same. No longer are adverts limited to newspapers, television and magazines. No longer is it a matter of advertisers blindly turning over advertising budgets to agencies to increase brand awareness. And no longer are advertisers unable to determine which half of their marketing budget is wasted. Advertising has moved into a complex digital world driven by technology and data, often operated by advertising agencies and technology providers on behalf of their clients. Online media channels are now an integral part of advertisers’ media plans and marketing campaigns that are necessary to capture target audiences.