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When consumers bash ads on social media, brands make quick decisions to withdraw them. But, it's the media buyer who does the dirty work.
But, then what? Then begins the dirty work; media planners and buyers, who haggled with media owners, especially TV channels, to put the ads on air, have to go back to them and get them removed. Easier said than done.
While some media agency professionals shrug it off saying it's part of the job, others would much rather do without the last minute stress. A look at what they said about the all too frequent affair.
Edited Excerpts.
Dinesh Rathore, chief operating officer, Madison Media Omega
Pratap Bose, managing director and chairman, The Social Street
The media agency does what the client tells them. They don't take an independent decision. It is a joint decision between the client and the agency. More often, it is the client's call. The channel logs closing on Friday evening is a technical issue. If you have logged into Star and the tape is already gone, then obviously you can't do anything.
Divya Radhakrishnan, founder and director, Helios Media
When it is a brand, people turn it upside down. It is only going to be pulled out due to request. The channel is not going to pull it off, right? If they do that, then where will they go for inventory at the last minute? A reasonable amount of lead time would need to be given to pull off. It is not bound by the law that it needs to be pulled off, but it is a moral thing. For that you would need to have a stipulated lead time. You can't be unreasonable about it.
Mallikarjun Das, chief executive officer, Starcom MediaVest Group
This is just one instance. There could be a possibility where you have to pull out an ad because of The Advertising Standards Council of India's (ASCI) rule or any other reason. I feel it is a bit of nitpicking. These issues existed before (the advent of) social media and will continue to be there. Not all channel logs close on a Friday. There are some channels which require just a day's notice, but still the odds break down to 60-40 per cent from Monday to Thursday versus Friday to Sunday. Agencies face many such pressures and this is one aspect of operational pressure. The media agencies obviously understand it. At the end of the day, the agency, the client, and the channel work as partners. To my knowledge, we never have had issues with our media partners.