Pursuits
Ad Firms Padded Profit at Client Expense, Study Said to Find
- Yet-to-be released report said to criticize agency practices
- Former Coca-Cola executive calls for probe by U.S. authorities
This article is for subscribers only.
Ad agencies and their media-buying firms have systematically enriched themselves at the expense of their U.S. clients, according to a report commissioned by an industry group that represents large advertisers, said a person who has seen the document.
The report is set to be made public early next week by the Association of National Advertisers, which includes companies such as Apple Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and General Motors Co., according to a person close to the investigation. It will lay out a variety of ways in which global ad agency networks used the combined buying power of advertisers to pad their bottom lines, according to the person, who asked not to be named before its release.