Media Transparency Initiative: K2 Report
Overview | Download the full K2 Report | Press Release | Marketer Action Steps
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If you have additional questions about the report, please contact us at transparency@ana.net.
New: Five years on from the report's publication, senior advertisers, agency leaders, and ANA executives have come together in a new video from ID Comms to discuss the ongoing impact of the groundbreaking 2016 investigation into media transparency in the U.S. media market. Watch the overview video and in-depth conversations below.
From October 20, 2015, through May 31, 2016, K2 Intelligence, on behalf of the ANA, conducted an independent study of media transparency issues in the U.S. advertising industry. K2 was selected to lead the fact-finding portion of the study after a request for proposal process initiated by the ANA on June 17, 2015.
Over the course of the study, K2 conducted 143 interviews with 150 individual sources, representing a cross-section of the U.S. media buying ecosystem. K2 kept the identities of all participating sources — and all the individuals and corporate entities named in their accounts — confidential from the ANA throughout the study.
Results of the study were delivered by K2 in a comprehensive report. Among the key findings:
- Numerous non-transparent business practices, including cash rebates to media agencies, were found to be pervasive in the U.S. media ad buying ecosystem.
- There were systemic elements to some of the non-transparent behavior. Specifically, senior executives across the agency ecosystem were aware of, and mandated, some non-transparent business practices.
- There was evidence of non-transparent practices across a wide range of media, including digital, print, out-of-home, and television.
The ANA Media Transparency Report: Five Years On
- Five years after the ANA's Media Transparency report, Lou Paskalis, former SVP, Customer Engagement and Media Investment at Bank of America, explains how the industry needs to work together once again to solve today's shared challenges for the benefit of all advertisers and consumers.
- Five years after the ANA Media Transparency report, Keri Bruce, Partner at Reed Smith, says the importance of transparency goes well beyond rebates.