• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, July 8, 2016

Consultant Accenture, which has a huge media audit division as well as a fast growing digital marketing practice has weighed in on the transparency debate, in response to the ANA’s report on the subject that was issued last month. 

The firm lays out several recommendations that it says will maximize the productivity of media budgets.

 The company advises marketers to formalize the process for performing contract compliance reviews on all marketing agency contracts. 

Also, the firm urges advertisers to be certain that “you know how your agency is representing your interests in the market.” Among other things, it said, understanding that will help with agency and client alignment. 

And the firm suggests that marketers have third parties perform financial invoice audits to assess the effectiveness of media spending across the media supply chain. 

Also media performance benchmarking against cost and quality benchmarks should be deployed. “Confirm that any media utilized where the agency serves as principle seller meets your identified quality criteria,” the report states. 

Obtaining an assessment of the entire media landscape would also be prudent, the firm advises. The full report can be accessed here.