By Michael Bürgi  •  May 26, 2025  •

The dozens, if not hundreds, of independent media agencies from which brands can choose to work with in the U.S., believe they can be that “partner” with a more personal touch. They each try to bring some sort of unique element to their skillset as a way to stand out from each other. 

For Mediaplus, a three-year-old media agency expansion of a German outfit called Serviceplan Group, the operating philosophy is about personal touch and being a side-by-side partner to clients. It sounds cliched and corny, but the way North American CEO Tamara Alesi and chief strategy officer Jasmine Presson (known to the industry as Tam and Jas) run the business, that culture is infused through the 48-person operation in the U.S. (the parent company is nearly 2,000). 

Despite its small size in North America, Mediaplus tries to bring a data-driven approach to its client work to find pockets of opportunity that Alesi and Presson believe a larger agency would look over or wouldn’t take the time to investigate and use to reach clients’ hoped-for outcomes. But it has the backing of a parent company with reach in 24 markets globally — Serviceplan opened an office in Beijing earlier this year, for example.

Three clients vouch for that touch as an important differentiator over other agencies. 

One, Mozilla, just reupped with Mediaplus, Digiday has learned, expanding to a global remit for its media needs, said Christina Lang, Mozilla’s global vp of marketing. Mozilla markets the Firefox browser against competition from Chrome and Safari, which are often built into products, making it an uphill climb for the privacy-driven browser. 

“I want my partners and the agencies that we work with to give me something that I have to say no to,” said Lang, explaining that she wants ideas that go beyond the boundaries of Mozilla’s historical marketing efforts in order to get out of her comfort zone. “I feel like there’s that hesitancy in a lot of partners that candidly, we just don’t get with Mediaplus at all.”

Among the media executions Mozilla initially said no to but ended up using was an out-of-home media campaign in bathroom stalls and mirrors (the ultimate place where people want privacy) targeting Gen Z college students and gaming conference attendees. 

“They drive the strategy around how we run our programs, given that we are a data-conscious organization,” said Lang. “How do you do performance marketing when you actually want to stay away from utilizing a lot of the data that other partners use? They’ve been a real partner in helping us to figure out how we can do testing to understand the performance of our campaigns.” 

For their part, Alesi and Presson eschew any notion of acting like a holding company. “We do not want to be a bulk buyer. We do not want to be a commodity trader. We do not want to be told by our board that we have to spend 50% of the client’s investment in programmatic media so that we can make a whole lot of fucking money,” said Alesi.

Gudrun Wiegandt, managing director of Ideas in Store, which consults with a number of companies, including one Mediaplus client that didn’t want to be identified, explained that Mediaplus’ approach blends humanity with professionalism, 

“If P&G were to come along and say, ‘We want to move business for Brand X from one media agency to the other,’ I would certainly say to take a look at [Mediaplus] for the U.S. specifically,” said Wiegandt, who has worked for the CPG giant in the past. “They’re part of an international network, so they’re not some garage band trying to find their tune. They’re a serious player that is independently owned in this landscape of multinational conglomerates.”

Despite not being the size of a holdco, Mediaplus offers data-driven smarts but also has the patience to explain data smarts to the less initiated, said Wiegandt. It’s great to work with “a team that is super professional, but then also is in teaching mode to make sure that the client can come along on the journey, instead of just being told, ‘this is what we will do — shut up and eat your cookie’,” she said.

Alesi, Presson and team definitely lean into finding media solutions and activations that aim to zig while others zag — often using traditional media methods that other agencies have left behind but still deliver value for the right brand. 

“Mediaplus has a clear grasp of what sets our brand apart,” said Mediaplus client Persia Tatar, CMO of Pantalones Organic Tequila, who credited the media agency’s work with making it a top-selling tequila at Total Wine & More, the largest spirits retailer in the country. “They’ve brought that positioning to life through impactful media — from eye-catching out-of-home and standout radio to smart, contextual print.”

The proverbial icing on the cake for at least one client is the personal touch that Alesi and Presson bring to the work they do. 

“What was really important for us was to have more of that boutique feel, but backed by the infrastructure and resources power of a global network that they have in Germany,” said Lara DeSignore, director of media & digital marketing for DeLonghi Group, which has worked with Mediaplus for about three years, “It was also the fact that we had that senior level attention — which continues today, even though Jasmine is chief strategy officer and Tam is CEO. They’re intimately involved in our business — they’re on speed dial. They’re there when we need them to be and, from a strategic perspective, they’re very involved in our business.”

Color by numbers

Given how big a role sports is playing in upfronts buying and selling, it’s worth looking at sports viewership across the video landscape in the U.S. According to research from media agency Involved Media, here’s what stood out: 

• Unsurprisingly, the NFL dominates U.S. viewership with 79% of respondents following it, followed by college football (52%), MLB (49%) and NBA (49%);
• 90% of sports viewers use at least one subscription VOD service, while 61% of sports viewers use all three of the following: SVODs, AVODs and linear TV;
• Given its ubiquity as a major ad supporter of sports on TV, betting is most popular among those aged 18-34 (69%), followed by 35-49 (59%), 50-64 (34%) and 65+ (13%);
• Younger age groups (18-34 and 35-49) show a clear preference for streaming services, while older age groups (50-64 and 65+) prefer broadcast/cable and hybrid setups.

Takeoff & landing

• Publicis Groupe moved even deeper into ownership of the influencer/creator world with its acquisition of Captiv8, an influencer marketing platform that it said reaches 15 million creators globally, including 95% of all influencers that count at least 5,000 followers. Purchase price wasn’t disclosed. 
• Stagwell’s Assembly launched a new marketing mix modeling app called Scene Modeled Media Attribution (MMA), which aims to help brands measure and optimize campaigns.
• Personnel news: IPG Mediabrands reportedly laid off between 35-40 staffers across its analytics division, moving the positions offshore … Sophia Zhang, North American CEO at Stagwell’s Gale agency, is leaving after only three months at the helm, and her duties will be taken over by global CEO Andrew Noel. 

Direct quote

“We’re overwhelmed by data, but where are the insights in that data, and how do those data points link together to contribute to the ultimate goal? It isn’t a goddamn dashboard.”

— Paul Woolmington, CEO of Canvas Worldwide, on the need to better understand what data can tell brands.

Speed reading

• Tim Peterson’s latest Future of TV Briefing looks at how more spending flexibility offered by Amazon and Netflix can alter the flow of dollars in this year’s upfront marketplace.
• You also don’t want to miss Tim Peterson’s conversation with upfront veteran David Campanelli, head of investment at Horizon Media, who explains the ins and outs of the upfront buying process. 
• Digiday Research’s Julia Tabisz reports that marketers plan to spend less in the upfronts this year, based on feedback from 80 marketing professionals.  

https://digiday.com/?p=579378