Print publishers reacting to a changing distribution and advertising market — what to try when Google is getting all the ad dollars: Publishers Creating Their Own In-House Ad Agencies
Like executives at advertising agencies, Richard D. Beckman and his team talk to managers at consumer brand companies about the customers they want to reach. Four to six weeks later, they present a marketing and advertising plan.
But Mr. Beckman does not run an advertising agency. He is the president of the Condé Nast Media Group, a division of the magazine company that publishes titles like Vogue, Wired and The New Yorker. Over the last five years, Mr. Beckman has developed an agencylike business within Condé Nast’s ad sales unit, generating new revenue by planning events for advertisers and creating advertisements that help sell more magazine pages.
[…] Mr. Beckman’s unit also has the ability to approach celebrities who would do not often work directly with advertisers. For example, Condé Nast arranged for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to appear in an ad for Lexus that also showcased the Waterkeeper Alliance, a water protection group that Mr. Kennedy heads.
However, there’s a troubling perspective at the heart of this:
Hearst also has a division that does creative work for its largest clients, in formats that include print, online, video, mobile and outdoor. Hearst has modeled its marketing division after an ad agency, said Jeff Hamill, senior vice president of Hearst Integrated Media, complete with a sales staff that serves as account directors, creative teams and researchers.
Mr. Hamill said that agencies that buy ads are often involved in the process, but agencies that create ads are not, since Hearst can do that work.
[…] The rate structure means that Condé Nast can often beat ad agencies on price, Mr. Beckman said.
“We don’t have to make money from our creative, because we make money from our media,” he said.
Some advertisers think that’s the way it should be. […]