Maarten Albarda

Articles by Maarten All articles by Maarten

• What's Stopping Our Industry From Changing? It's Rigged Against Itself! in Media Insider on 04/11/2025
  

  Each major player often has more incentive to maintain the current state of affairs, instead of seeking better solutions for everyone.

• Normalizing Principal Media Buying Is Not Normal in Media Insider on 03/28/2025
  

  Principal buying is a betrayal. It moves the agency-client relationship from a trusted partnership into a minefield full of conflicts of interest.

• When Regulations And Safeguards Fail, Marketers Must Take Responsibility in Media Insider on 03/14/2025
  

  We are experiencing a moral and ethical crisis in the advertising industry, and we cannot claim ignorance.

• How Toxic Are A Brand's Social Media Mistakes? in Media Insider on 02/28/2025
  

  For most companies, it takes a lot do actual brand damage through a social media faux pas.

• You Invested In Brand Safety -- But Your Ads Are Not Safe in Media Insider on 02/14/2025
  

  Another week, another brand safety and ad fraud avalanche, according to two separate sources.

• Marketers Must Become More Self-Reliant in Media Insider on 01/31/2025
  

  As platforms like Meta stop moderating content, marketers will have to invest in their own brand safety tech and independent monitoring service providers.

• Free Speech Is Sacred -- But Shouldn't Be Without Rules in Media Insider on 01/17/2025
  

  What if a post said that consuming Campbell's Soup is the main reason for erectile dysfunction? There's no place for this kind of "free speech" on a commercially driven platform.

• The (False?) Lure Of CTV in Media Insider on 01/03/2025
  

  There's no doubt CTV is having a moment -- but this "moment" offers both opportunity and threat all neatly bundled into one.

• The OMC/IPG Merger: Its Implications For Principal Media in Media Insider on 12/20/2024
  

  It seems IPG's not being on the principal media buying bandwagon was perhaps one of the biggest drivers for OMC's interest.

• In 2025, Advertisers Want More Performance Marketing -- What About Brand Equity? in Media Insider on 12/06/2024
  

  It's time that we, as an industry, rethink and reset our beliefs about brand advertising and its effectiveness.

Comments by Maarten All comments by Maarten

• How Toxic Are A Brand's Social Media Mistakes? by Maarten Albarda (Media Insider on 02/28/2025)
  

  Ed: I agree but the "snafu" is often not an ad but the CMO or social media manager posting without thinking, or a brand making a decision about something (price, flavor, size, etc.) and "the public" not taking kindly to it.

• Report From Ukraine by Dave Morgan (Media Insider on 02/20/2025)
  

  Thank you for your reporting and I could not agree more with your statements and assessment. I, too, am baffled by the lack of leaders to show up. We are witnessing a wholesale dismantling of all things that stand for compassion, human rights and common decency. It is sickening. Slava Ukraini

• 2024: A Media Insider Review by Gord Hotchkiss (Media Insider on 01/07/2025)
  

  Ha! Angst and despair reign! But seriously, thank you for compiling our collective meanderings. I just celebrated my 12th year in service, having written my first media post for Mediapost on Dec. 16, 2013. Here is to a 2025 that will surprise us all... positively (one can hope!).

• X, Former Twitter, Still A 'Hellscape' by Maarten Albarda (Media Insider on 11/22/2024)
  

  Thanks Tony - I was and continue to be a proud and active member to the Advertising: Who Cares group for Trading, Transparency and Trust. Onwards and (hiopefully), Upwards! And yes, you can find me on Bluesky.

• Campaign Commercials: Bad For America, Bad For Us! by Adam Buckman (TVBlog on 11/08/2024)
  

  Hi Adam - totally agree, and did so here: https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/400580/political-advertising-is-terrible-in-both-content.html

• Political Advertising Is Terrible In Both Content And Volume - Why? by Maarten Albarda (Media Insider on 10/25/2024)
  

  Hi Michelle - thanks for the response and the link. I mentioned in the second to last paragraph that political ads almost always get a pass based on free speech, and that the rules that apply to political ads are different from "regular" ads. What I question is their effectiveness - and my assumption is that they "must be" given the rigorous and continuous testing that these ads are apparently subject to. 

• Calm 'Newsfeed Anxiety' By Reading Them Less -- And History More by Dave Morgan (Media Insider on 08/15/2024)
  

  I just finished A.J. Baime's "The accidental president" about the first 100 days of Harry S. Truman. An exceptional book - and fascinating insight into 100 days that shaped today's world.

• Principal Media Is Growing -- Marketers Need To Take Action by Maarten Albarda (Media Insider on 05/24/2024)
  

  Hey Ed: my experience is that most, especially larger advertisers (who are the most 'vulnerable' to principle media, per the ANA) have typically very smart media teams in house. These media teams are on top of all the agency media strategy, planning and buys, and are the "go-betweens" for the agencies and advertiser brand management teams. While it is true that many companies often still chase "lower cost" or "efficiencies", I think it is unfair to state that (large) advertisers do not pay attention to the quality or direction of their media investments. Low cost or efficiency does not have to mean "crap". I agree with your auditor comment.

• Principal Media Is Growing -- Marketers Need To Take Action by Maarten Albarda (Media Insider on 05/24/2024)
  

  Ed: The key phrase in your comment: "So long as the client clearly knows what is going on why is that information any of its business". What the ANA has learned, and what I have seen in my practice, is that clients often do NOT know, or only know AFTER the fact. There was no choice for the client to determine if the proposed media inventory was a good idea, and there was no way to align on a cost that was mutually agreeable. There was no independent verification to establish if the recommendation befitted the client's strategy, or was in the agency's own financial interest. THAT is the issue the ANA is trying to address.

• Video Audience Measurement Is More Broken Than You Think by Maarten Albarda (Media Insider on 03/29/2024)
  

  Ed, thank you for adding the helpful historical perspective. We columnists are given a 600 word count for our columns. 600! Obviously that's not nearly enough to be nuanced or detailed. The other part of the "briefing" for columnists is (or at least, 'was' when I started) to deliver food for thought and/or be a little controversial. So I always try to at least stir the pot a little.  Having said all of that: my point is that, beyond how video is measured, or who measures it, or what platform you measure, the viewability definition for digital video ads on any platform outside of TV is laughable. And it won't be long before TV itself will mostly conform to that same low, low threshold as more and more households watch TV via an app, and it conforms to "digital viewing".  Add to this the fact that the best we have come up with as "new ratings" is to use the hollow gross "impressions" metric as non-duplicated currency means that most advertisers that look at their monthly media analysis are looking at predominantly "empty calories". 

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