Media planners are puppets
Not all of them, but the ones around me are. They get wined and dined by sales reps and in exchange, they give the the reps business. They get completely manipulated by the industry, and many of them are unaware of it. Um, hello. You work 9-6 and then you spend evenings at dinner with someone who just wants business from you, and you think that you have a great job with great perks?
Here’s a conversation I had today with one such media planner. I realize I’m being a little pushy, but I was trying to get what I wanted out of her.
[17:31] Me: what are you doing tonight?
[17:31] Media Planner: work dinner
[17:31] Me: oh with a vendor?
[17:32] Media Planner: yeah
[17:32] Me: you go to a lot of vendor dinners don’t you
[17:33] Media Planner: sometimes
[17:33] Me: what’s the purpose of them?
[17:34] Media Planner: i dunno
[17:34] Media Planner: relationship building
[17:34] Me: what does that mean?
[17:49] Media Planner: i dunno
[17:49] Me: oh