An industry tainted?

On MBM’S position on transparency…

“What we charge clients at the bottom of an invoice is what we're paid. Our policy is not to take any rebates from publishers that are not declared to clients, so for us, it's not an issue to be transparent in that regard.

You're not an agent if you're not doing the best for your clients. As soon as you have an arrangement with a media publisher that says you'll be provided special benefits...then you're arguably not doing the best job for that client because your recommendations are already biased.” – Mccready

“Transparency's always been a personal ethics thing for all three of us. We probably haven't been as vocal about it as we should have been, because it is a big deal, and it's an issue for me personally. I think I feel almost tarred by that brush of people saying that we don’t have the client’s interests at heart or that we’re misusing or misrepresenting how money is being spent.“- Delany

On its effects on the industry…

“The area is an issue for us because it's happening in the market. When the UK'S trade body tells the public that it doesn't believe media agencies have the best interests of their clients at heart anymore, that's a real worry for anyone in that space. If you haven't got that, then there isn't an industry anymore. It worries me that our industry gets tainted.” - Bale

On what needs to be done…

“I think we all have a responsibility, and clients need to stop being complicit in this too. Clients who don't believe their agency is being transparent should be asking questions from them and getting the right answers. There are a lot of different ways agencies make money...and that's okay as long as the client understands the cost of doing business.” - Delany