The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) turned to K2 Intelligence to help shed light on certain nontransparent practices in the U.S. media-buying marketplace. The K2 Intelligence study, publicly released 7 June 2016, reveals evidence of a fundamental disconnect in the advertising industry regarding the basic nature of the advertiser-agency relationship. It also details evidence of the existence of nontransparent business practices, including cash rebates to media agencies, in a sample of the U.S. media ad-buying ecosystem. Within that sample, such practices were found to be pervasive, with senior agency executives being aware of, and even mandating, some nontransparent business practices.
Copies of the full report, along with related documents, are available and can be downloaded at www.ana.net/transparency.