like their partners in the canadian news industry, the country’s media agencies are undergoing unprecedented transformation. the national post is holding conversations with leaders of canada’s largest agencies on the fast-changing fundamentals. this week, devon macdonald, president of cairns oneil, a toronto-based full-service media agency based in toronto, speaks to writer rebecca harris.
how have the fundamentals of media planning and buying changed in recent years?
what i see is a change from media delivery and planning for delivery of media to an integration of media and an integration of data within media. providing those connection points for customers and for clients has really changed how media is planned. clients want to be able to understand what data they can get out of it, what proof points they can get out of it, to tie it back to their business. and so, you almost have to start at the end to get to the beginning about what your final output is going to be. what are your final results going to be – from a business perspective, not a media delivery perspective. and i see that changing and increasing every year.
how is your agency winning new business these days?
the agency was founded on the insight that there’s a gap in the canadian market for clients to choose from. on one hand, there are large-scale operating companies that service global clients and at a significant scale, but often struggle with resourcing and retention and agility in servicing clients. on the other hand are boutique agencies or smaller independents that struggle with scale and depth and technology. that void existed when the agency was founded nearly 13 years ago, and i think it still exists today. and so, what clients find appealing about our offering is we do have scale, experience and depth in media, with a very open and transparent model and access to information and access to costs, with high servicing as well.
what big consumer shifts are on your radar?