Taking control of the programmatic supply chain.
A national automotive brand with strong agency partners wanted institutional knowledge and control over where its digital media money went, what it bought, and who owned the data.
Situation
Digital media ran across two agencies and multiple tiers of buying. The brand had limited visibility of the sites its impressions ran on, the fees taken at each layer of the supply chain, and the fraud and viewability protection in place. The agencies were good. The governance around them was thin.
What we did
We analyzed the media state across all tiers, ran independent site-level and competitive reporting, reviewed blacklists and third-party verification, and mapped the supply chain layer by layer. We introduced a log-file data ownership clause and a contract template that set out transparency, verification, and audit rights. We identified consolidation opportunities across vendors and formats, and reframed KPIs around media effectiveness and attribution rather than delivery metrics.
Outcome
A framework for a materially better conversation with the agencies, on the brand's terms. Transaction-level data ownership. A contract standard that has since been reused across other engagements.
Facing something similar?
Fifteen minutes. We’ll tell you whether the pattern matches and what we’d do first.