How the Criteria for Choosing Agencies and Media Have Changed for Advertisers in Wartime

The speed of project implementation, the price of services, digitalisation, language and a socially active position are the main trends for choosing an agency and media, according to the recent research published by the All-Ukrainian Advertising Coalition together with Factum Group.

According to the research 'Trends in the Management of Marketing Communications in wartime', about a third of advertisers revised the criteria for choosing advertising agencies (29%) and the strategy for choosing media (34%).

The speed of project implementation and the price of services become important criteria for choosing an agency. Also, advertisers name other important things that are client orientation, flexibility, efficiency, effectiveness, reputation, agency experience and knowledge in situational marketing.

"There is a tendency to give small tasks to small agencies and freelancers. The main criteria are experience and technical capabilities in these tasks, the ability to quickly create teams, and the cost of work," said a retail representative during an online survey.

A representative of the pharmaceutical company noted that "flexibility, lack of a flow approach, the ability to introduce practices from other businesses" is important for them.

Digitisation is becoming the main trend in the choice of media. In particular, the audience of advertisers notes the growing role of messengers and TikTok in the media mix. Companies also talk about the request for Ukrainian-language media and those that take a socially active position.

A representative of the housewares company during the survey noted that the focus is now on the Internet, but this may be a short-term trend for them. 'Instead of TV – Telegram channels, bloggers' – this is how the representative of the FMCG company answers the question about changes in the media selection strategy. To the same question, a representative of a company producing children's goods says that he chooses Ukrainian-language and socially active media for himself.

33% of companies are developing in-house expertise in media planning and buying. The advantages of this process are, first of all, economic benefits and convenience. The trend of transition to top marketing positions of specialists who previously worked in advertising agencies contributes to the development of in-house expertise, because there is an 'advertising' background. This applies not only to media buying, but also to content creation.

Also, companies note that it is sometimes cheaper to buy media directly than through an agency, but this is not always the case. So, depending on the price, a decision is made whether to cooperate with an agency or directly.

Also, having an internal media manager is more convenient for some companies, especially when there are quite a large number of brands. There is also an opinion that this minimises unnecessary worries due to greater trust in 'your' person (without manipulation, unnecessary audit, etc.).

However, when it comes to creative and outdoor advertising, advertisers are more likely to contact an agency. Even those companies that actually have an in-house advertising agency agree that they cannot completely abandon agencies in the development of creative works, especially in atypical, complex or extremely important projects. 

"We will not take away creativity, because it requires a different culture, I think people are creative there, they should work in a creative environment and develop there," - the representative of the food IT company comments.

Also, companies refuse in-house planning and purchase of outdoor advertising due to the complexity of the process, because in this area there is a very large number of operators engaged in placing OOH advertising.

The research was organised in cooperation with the research company Factum Group in order to assess the impact of the war on marketing communications. The survey was conducted in August-September 2022 among 118 leading advertisers in Ukraine. The survey was attended by marketing directors, other representatives of marketing departments and heads of companies that are permanent participants or jury members of Effie Awards Ukraine, as well as advertisers participating in the annual industry researches.