Do you know the story of double-agent Kim Philby, a British intelligence officer and a spy for the Soviet Union? He’s regarded as one on the Soviet Union’s best spies in Britain, because at some point he was heading the department devoted to countering soviet espionage.
Why am I bringing him up?
Media agencies have an embedded conflict, balancing between serving the client’s best interests and the agency’s P&L.
Many clients ask agencies to deliver media training to their marketing and procurement teams – after all, they should be the experts in the field, right?
Kim Philby in his counter-espionage role was doing enough to show his eagerness and dismiss any suspicions regarding his real role, but at the same time, hr was omitting crucial information and enabling his treason to continue.
The agencies can surely teach you about media – no doubts about that. However, when it comes to proper media governance and management, are you sure they are the right people to teach you this, given that it directly counters their interests?
If you want to learn more about good media governance processes, let’s have a conversation.