Indie reps discussย how their role and responsibilities have evolved
By A SHOOT Staff Report
If the movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial were made today, the title character would not be phoning home. Instead he’d be emailing, texting, online posting and PR strategizing in order to connect with home–or for that matter anyone or anything else.
Indeed phone calls have gone the way of 3/4-inch cassettes in the repping business, which has evolved on varied fronts. As part of our continuing Summer Survey Series in which industry professionals discuss their roles, work and lessons learned along the way, SHOOT reached out to a cross-section of indie reps to get their takes on the changes they’ve experienced in the business, the nature of their roles and responsibilities, and how they go about connecting with key decision-makers.
We posed the following questions:
1) How long have your been an independent rep? Please list the companies that you currently represent.
2) Please define your responsibilities as a rep and how they have evolved over the years.
3) How has your marketplace expanded with the advent of longer form branded content and varied platforms? While agency creatives and producers remain prime contacts, have you extended your reach to clients, smaller boutique specialty ad/marketing/digital shops, entertainment cos., etc.?
4) Has an increase in in-house agency production and resources impacted your business and how have you adapted to this dynamic?
5) What are the advantages of being an independent rep? The drawbacks?
Click here to see and scroll thru the survey responses. Or click on the NAME below.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads โ essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More