On Middlemen: Publicis And VivaKi’s Kegelman Discusses The Online Advertising Value Chain

AdExchanger.com recently asked several members of the advertising ecosystem about "Middlemen" and, specifically:

"Are there too many parties trying to insert themselves into the online advertising value chain? How do you see this playing out?"
The following contribution is an agency perspective from Sean Kegelman, SVP, Partnerships & Ventures, Publicis Groupe's VivaKi.

The question of - if there are too many parties in the value chain - is about who is adding value (and who isn't) and how interests are aligned (or not aligned).

Advertisers and media companies each have a specific goal: the former to use online advertising to achieve a goal specific to their marketing objectives; and the latter to monetize their media assets.

Today, outside of direct media buys, a bunch of players get in the middle to help assist in transactions between the two (agencies, ad networks, tech platforms, data providers, etc.). When these players are adding value by providing a more efficient or more effective way to operate, then their presence can be justified.