Negotiating a first buy
A first buy in a new channel is usually negotiated on rate, because rate is the familiar lever. The terms that determine whether the campaign can be verified and measured are worth more, and they are frequently available for the asking.
A network that wants a long relationship has reasons to concede them.
What is worth more than rate?
Store-level delivery reporting, a defined make-good mechanism, the ability to run a holdout, and access to outcome data for measurement. Those four determine whether the buy produces evidence.
A cheaper buy that cannot be measured leaves a brand with no basis for the second buy, which is a poor trade at any rate.
What should be asked on measurement?
That the holdout is agreed, the measurement design documented, and the data provided at store level. Networks with transaction data can support this and the arrangement should be explicit.
Independence of the analysis is worth raising. A network analysing its own campaign is doing something reasonable, and a jointly agreed design reduces the discount a sceptical reader would apply.
What about term length?
Short, for a first buy, with an option to extend. A long commitment before any evidence transfers all the risk to the brand and removes the network's incentive to demonstrate value early.
Networks frequently offer better rates for longer commitments, and on a first buy the evidence is worth more than the discount.
What about exclusivity?
Category exclusivity for the flight is a reasonable ask and it may be more valuable than a rate reduction. In a short loop it changes the competitive environment on the screen materially.
What should be agreed about the store list?
That it is provided, that it can be selected against distribution, and what happens if it changes materially during the flight. Store churn is normal and its treatment should be in the terms.
What can a network reasonably decline?
Rates below its economics, obligations it cannot control — an individual operator's behaviour — and data it does not have the right to share. Those are legitimate refusals and a buyer pushing on them is asking for something unworkable.
Distinguishing those from the things a network simply prefers not to provide is most of the negotiation.
What sets the tone for the relationship?
Asking the verification questions early and constructively. A buyer who asks how delivery is measured is a buyer the network will report to carefully, and that is worth more over a year than a rate concession.
Frequently asked questions
Should a first buy be small?
Small enough to be a test and large enough to be measurable, which is a power calculation rather than a budget instinct. A buy too small to measure produces no evidence for the second one.
Is rate negotiable in this channel?
Usually to some extent, as in any media. The more productive negotiation is about terms that make the campaign evaluable.
What if the network will not agree a holdout?
Ask why. Operational reasons may be genuine and a refusal in principle limits what the buy can prove, which should factor into the decision.
Should I ask for a rate card?
Asking is reasonable and practices vary. What matters more is understanding what the rate includes: plays, stores, creative services, reporting.
How long should a first contract run?
One flight with a measurement design, typically. Extensions can be negotiated once there is evidence.
What about payment terms?
Ordinary commercial terms apply and they are worth aligning with the reporting cycle, so that reconciliation happens before final payment.
Is exclusivity expensive?
It varies and it is frequently more available than expected, particularly for a first buy where the network wants the relationship. Asking costs nothing.
What should I avoid conceding?
Store-level reporting and the make-good mechanism. Those two are what make everything else verifiable.
What is the single best question in a first negotiation?
How will I know what actually ran. The answer shapes every other term. Industry standards work is discussed by bodies such as the IAB.
### What should be agreed about the second buy?
The criteria, not the commitment. Agreeing in advance what result would justify continuing turns the first buy into a step rather than a trial with an undefined end.
It also gives the network something to aim at, which is a reasonable thing to offer a supplier you want to perform.
Where the first buy includes a measurement design, the criteria should reference its output rather than a general impression of how it went.
Should the first buy include creative services?
For a brand new to the channel, frequently yes, because creative produced by a team that knows the medium avoids the common failures. It is also a way to judge the network's understanding of its own format.
What is the most common first-buy mistake?
Buying too small to measure. A buy sized by budget instinct rather than by a power calculation produces an ambiguous result and no basis for the next decision.
Should a first buy include a rate card discussion?
It is reasonable to ask what the rate includes and how it is structured. The more productive part of the negotiation is usually about reporting and measurement rather than about the number.
What should be avoided?
A long commitment before evidence, and conceding store-level reporting. Both are difficult to recover in the second negotiation.
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