Opinion

Q&A with Omnicom Media Group’s global investment CEO Barry Cupples

Barry Cupples

Barry Cupples is a year into his role as global CEO of investment for Omnicom Media Group, one of the world’s biggest buyers of media, after seven years running OMG APAC as CEO.

In this interview, the New York-based Londoner talks about what he misses about Asia, the challenges and opportunities of programmatic trading and why media agencies could have been quicker to embrace new media.

Why are you based in New York and not London, where traditionally much of the world’s media innovation happens?

I am based across both with a lot of travel between both. It reflects the reality of where the industry has gone and where it’s going. In recent years, we’ve seen an incredible amount of change around the key things that had to change about media – metrics, currencies and so on. And then along comes programmatic. Who would have thought that it would have arrived so quickly and heralded so much change and upheaval. And it’s no longer new. It’s a developed industry now. More has happened in the last five years than in the last 50.

What will happen in the next two years? I find the possibilities wildly exciting. But the fact is, the platforms and insights to light them up are being developed faster in the US because that’s the source for most of the data, the learnings around these platforms are being picked up on and refined very quickly in the US, and we’re working on how to export that knowledge and understanding for relevance wherever we can.

Any particular learnings that stand out?

The part I am really encouraged by is that age-old question: True ROI or when will we get evidence for messages influences the consumer transaction? The attribution journey has become really interesting. We are close to the end goal, which is the consumer opting in and telling us what they want to see and accept via messaging and their subsequent action regards purchase. The technology continues apace. Yes, privacy is still a big issue and we have obstacles to overcome, but we are getting ever closer to what media expenditure should ultimately be able to deliver for our clients, which is selling more product.

But won’t programmatic mean that clients cut back on spend, and so media agencies are squeezed even more?

No. Not in my view. Companies will sell more stuff, because their brands have greater insight and targeting to talk with consumers. Selling more product should mean they will create more money to reinvest in media.a.

What do you make of the new that WPP is launching a second agency trading desk to sit alongside Xaxis within GroupM?

I can’t answer this question fully, as I don’t have the inside track on what Group M are doing, But it’s clear that they’ve hit barriers with Xaxis’s undisclosed model [where the trading desk does not disclose to the client how much margin it makes on online media trades, known as arbitrage]. With our model it’s been clear to clients how we operate and the way in which we are developing to drive value for them. I feel we got it right the first time.

It seems that the issue of arbitrage is just finding traction in Asia, with some clients, such as Pete Mitchell of Mondelez, getting increasingly upset by it. How do you feel the issue will impact this region differently?

Yes, it’s just catching fire here. But that doesn’t mean the issues are any different. They’re the same.

Clients need to be assured that what they’re buying is of high quality; they don’t want to be involved in fraud, and by that I mean a lack of visibility [clients not knowing where their ads are running or that they don’t appear in full]. Another issue is that measurement is not keeping pace with how quickly the software is advancing in programmatic.

Do you miss working in this region? 

Oh God, yes. For good reasons. The food, the vibrancy, good friends, colleagues and the sheer challenge. Asia is so fluid. It’s such a vast territory with so many issues that you’re constantly learning. I miss that. I am learning a lot in the new role also but I don’t think there’s anywhere to rival Asia regards a challenge.

When you left, Cheuk Chiang took over your job as Omnicom Media Group APAC CEO, and Susana Tsui took the helm as regional CEO of PHD. Steve Blakeman remains in charge of OMD APAC. How do you think they’re doing?

I knew Cheuk would be fantastic. Steve’s doing great job, as OMD is a big brand so the expectation is high. Susana inherited a brand with serious momentum, but she has similar traits as Cheuk. She’s a challenger in her own right. I think all three are doing a great job. I am very proud of them.

How much of OMG’s investment globally goes on, say, mobile versus TV and how is that changing?

The reality is that emerging media is still in the minority. Even if it made up 20 or 30 per cent of the business, it’s still the minority and legacy media is still dominant. Plus there’s the circumstantial reality that metrics for the various media clients buy are not aligned, which means migration to newer media is not as fast as it could be in some cases. That’s not a condemnation just another barrier we have to overcome together.

So why is it that all you tend to hear at conferences is how digital is everything?

The industry tends only to want to to talk about the sexy stuff. When I hear the phrase TV is dead or outdoor is dead, I laugh. What rubbish. Even the decline of print. It’s simply moving online. I still love other media as much as the sexier stuff. And I missed out radio, theatre of the mind. That’s online and digital now. Everything in a while will be platform based. What we call traditional media is alive and well.

What do you make of the notion that media agencies are taking longer than they should do to embrace new media such as mobile because you make less margin on, say, buying mobile than you do TV? And that because mobile is so complicated, young staff must work for hours longer executing a campaign.

I refute that sentiment; I’m not sure we’ve dragged our heels moving into programmatic and that it generates less fees. We work in an FTE-based industry. That means developing the structure and talent you need to deliver what a client needs. You need to invest in yourself to avoid exactly what you describe – to ensure that new areas do not mean horrifically long hours. If you don’t put the right eco-system in place, it’ll be a recipe for failure for any business with your talent migrating to stack shelves.

What want to achieve over the next 12 months?

See my kids more. Spend more time with my friends. Play a few more rounds of golf. See Arsenal play crap football more. I want to stay engaged and happy. This business is constantly challenging and scary, and it’s no respecter of reputations – it’s about what you do tomorrow. The media business is a great leveller. I never get up and think that the day is going to be humdrum.

Any other professional ambitions for this year?

I’d like to crack the conundrum of the global deal. I want to find the route that drives a deal where clients genuinely get value that is tangible market by market from a global alliance, and not just 5 or 6 markets but through the entire network.

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